SLSQ Women's Forum 2024

Published: March 06, 2024

Do you remember the 1980s blockbuster Fame when Coco Hernandez belted out "Fame, I'm going to live forever"?

For those that do, it doesn't feel that long ago hey? It was 1980 and the perm was in along with legwarmers and the mullet. It was also the first time in history that women were allowed to become lifesavers. 

A lot has changed since then (except, disappointingly for many, the mullet) and women have made fantastic strides in lifesaving now making up nearly 50% of membership statewide.

Unfortunately, women are still underrepresented in leadership positions making up 14% of these roles. Our Club is in the privileged position of having three out of the five executive positions held by women. And two of them, Gail King and Kathy Sundstrom attended the SLSQ International Women's Day forum on the Gold Coast on 6 May with Queensland Governor General, Dr Jeannette Young. 

There were three key takeaways from the forum where SLSQ also officially announced its new Gender and Diversity Inclusion Policy. These were:

-for women to be supported in stepping up,

-sometimes they may need start small, and

-have a supportive team

...and then, just do it!

 

It was also encouraging to see the support from SLSQ towards changing the culture in surf clubs to be more inclusive.

 

Coolum Surf Club also held a highly successful Women's Forum at our Club on Saturday where we discussed how we can better support each other. 

We will be looking to introduce some of the suggestions going forward! Thanks to everyone for joining in and the support of all our members, in making Coolum a fantastic safe space for everyone.   

- Kathy Sundstrom, Club Secretary