NOWSA was first formed in 1987 based on the ideals of building a grassroots, independent and autonomous network of women students. The first NOWSA Conference was held in Brisbane in 1988 and over the years has grown to become a key event on the feminist annual calendar. Its goal is to provide a supportive base from which to organise wom*n-centred campaigns, fight sexism, skill share, support activism and mobilise women students on campus and in the community.

NOWSA’s main gathering is the NOWSA conference where for one intense week, women gather from all around the country to listen to speakers, participate in workshops, come up with ideas for campaigns, skill & resource share, and get to know other amazing women! This year the conference is in Adelaide and we will be subsidising women who are keen to attend. For more information on the ’08 conference, contact

Jade White- NOWSA ’08 Conference convenor
whit0721@flinders.edu.au
0406 693 370

Hey everyone,

I would like to take the opportunity to introduce myself, my name is Jade White and I am convenor for the NOWSA conference to be held at Flinders University from July 7th to 10th this year.

On behalf of the organising committee I would like to say first of all that we are all incredibly excited about NOWSA ’08 and really keen to make it an amazing event for all involved. We have a wonderful and enthusiastic committee, with each person bringing their own skills, abilities, ideas and unique personalities to every meeting, resulting in some fantastic plans and ideas. As well as this we are fortunate to have previous NOWSA organisers, the Student Council President, the Flinders University Women’s Officer and National Women’s Officer onboard, making the job much easier.

Now for all of you lovely ladies, here’s a bit of a sneaky peek at what we have planned for this year. The main theme of our conference will be “Feminisms: Past, Present and Future, the dirt on the women’s movement.” We aim to celebrate the various feminisms and the amazing work that women have done. We’ll look at the successes, troubles and lessons learnt of women’s activism in the past; explore the issues, campaigns and goals of the present women’s movement and look forward to the future; at what we aim to achieve and be inspired as well as inspire others.