About us
Beginnings
The establishment of the Older Women’s Network in Australia goes back to 1985 when a number of older women and workers in the NSW Combined Pensioners Association (CPA) made a bold decision to establish a network focused solely on older women and the issues that specifically concerned them.
With funding from the Family and Children’s Services Agency and the Myer Foundation, a pilot project was developed within the CPA called The Older Women’s Network Educational Program. Two project workers were employed in 1986 to research, design and conduct workshops for older women on a broad range of issues including health, housing and home maintenance.
At the completion of the one-year project in 1987, the Older Women’s Network was established as an ongoing, self-help group whose aim was to empower older women through participation in decision-making about issues that concerned them.
In 1988, a small grant was received from the Australian Women’s Weekly bicentennial project, Women Celebrate 88. Older women from the Older Women’s Network, Combined Pensioners Association and Women's Liberation joined forces to write a series of satirical scripts and lyrics which they performed on the lawns outside Old Parliament House, Canberra. This event marked the beginning of the Sydney Theatre Group - often described as the jewel in OWN's crown!
Another small grant was received in 1988 from the Consumer Health Forum to run a series of health workshops for older women. To this day, health and wellbeing remain central concerns for OWN members.
In 1990 OWN moved into premises owned by the City of Sydney at Millers Point and in 1991 it was incorporated.
There are 14 OWN Groups in NSW.
A national body, OWN Australia, was established in 1993 to act as a lobby group for older women and to liaise with other national women's organisations. OWN Australia is coordinated by representatives from OWN groups in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT.
Ten years after incorporation, OWN Inc. was de-incorporated, and the new peak body, OWN NSW, was incorporated. A new group, OWN Sydney, was also established. Link to NSW Structure in ABOUT US.
With a small recurrent government grant from the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care and dedicated volunteer workers, the Older Women's Network in NSW has grown into a strong and dynamic organisation, managed and run on a day-to-day basis by older women volunteers.