This year for International Womens Day we are highlighting amazing and Inspiring women doing amazing things in their fields.
NINA KENNEDY
Australia’s world champion Nina Kennedy was born in Busselton and holds the national record in the pole vault. She competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 World Athletics Championships. She is currently gearing up for the Paris Olympics.
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CAPTAIN CAROL DOOLEY
Carol had the courage to go where other women had not previously ventured, and went on to excel in her chosen fields, becoming the ‘first’ woman to do so in multiple instances.
She started her working life as the first ever female electrical apprentice at Mount Newman Mining Company, at Port Hedland. There were no female ablutions at this time; there were no anti-discrimination laws, and she had to fight to obtain equal rights to her male colleagues. Not one to be deterred, she later entered another male dominated workplace, the Marine Industry.
Carol went on to become the first female International Ship Master from WA and forged a stellar career as a Foreign-Going Unlimited Ship Master, Pilot and Marine Manager.
In 2014 she was appointed as a Director of the Board of the Australian Maritime College (federally recognised maritime university). She was the first female Director of this College, who was also a Ship Master.
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BOBBI LOCKYER
Born and based on Kariyarra Country in Port Hedland, Bobbi Lockyer is an artist who has collaborated with some of the world’s biggest brands, including Adobe, Getty Images and Nikon, as well as having her work published in Vogue Magazine. She also recently released a line of designs for Woolworths. Bobbi’s designs were shown at New York Fashion week and at the Women Changing the World Award 2023 held in London, she walked away with the Entrepreneur of the Year award, the First Nations Leadership award, and came in third place for the People’s Choice Women Changing the World – Cultural Diversity and Inclusion award.
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RACHAEL HAIN
Over the last 15 years Rachael Hain has demonstrated her passion for advancing the status of women in WA through the establishment of two charities; Ready to Work Inc in 2008 which transitioned into Dress for Success Perth in 2016, which is part of a global movement of change to empower women.
The grassroots charity with 85+ volunteers and six part-time staff provides professional clothing, career development workshops, and one-to-one job-readiness support to women through its Subiaco-based ‘boutique’, and across WA through its regional and remote outreach programs.
Dress for Success Western Australia’s work closely aligns with the priorities and goals at the centre of Stronger Together: WA’s Plan for Gender Equality, the WA Government’s framework for action to achieve gender equality.
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KATHERINE BENNELL-PEGG
In high school, when asked to write down three different career options, Katherine only wrote down one – astronaut – and refused to add any others.
In 2023, as an employee of the Australian Space Agency, Katherine was invited by the European Space Agency (ESA) to undertake Basic Astronaut Training in Germany, becoming the first international astronaut candidate and is on her way to becoming the first Australian astronaut.
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