Angela Pollard wrote this reflection on the day:

The event was “Femcee’d “by Cara Kirkwood (Bugalma Biyhn Aboriginal Women’s Refuge) with a Welcome to Country by Nancy Walke, followed by five speakers on the theme of “celebrating 100 years of women’s paid and unpaid work”.

Speakers were:
1. Angela Pollard, Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre:
“A Tale of Two washerwomen and their daughters” an overview of 100 years of women’s struggle for equal rights based on real stories of her family, and that of Nancy Walke, member of the Bundjalung nation. 
2. Jan Barham, Mayor of Byron Shire, on the importance of increasing the representation of women in local government.
3. Sally Mc Manus, Secretary of the Australian Services Union, on the fight for equality in employment.
4. Dr. Yvonne  Hartman, on the impact of the “Welfare To Work “ laws on women carers.
5. Lavender, representing the Coalition of Activist Lesbians (COAL) on the importance of acknowledging the contributions of older feminist lesbians in the struggle for women’s rights. 

A free lunch was then provided, followed by 100 Years of Women’s Legal Rights Trivia Quiz hosted by Cathy Kerr and Sunni Dawson, of the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre. Entertainment was provided by the Country Women’s Terrorist Association whilst workshops were being set up.

Inter-Relate Family Services held children’s activities (puppet-making and artwork) throughout the day. Community Information stalls were staffed by local community services, craftswomen and charities, from 10am until 2pm.  

The following workshops were held in the afternoon:
• Lesbian Rights are Human Rights: Lander representing COAL
• Lesbian Parenting: ACON
• Lesbian Art: Susan Joyce, artist
• T-Shirt Screenprinting:  Northern Rivers Women and Children’s Accommodation Services
• Bellydancing; Connecting Mind and Body Fran Jones
• Hip Hop Workshop on Women’s Rights’ Creative Peoples Collective
• Yoga; Menopause and Menstruation: Christine Peebles

At 6pm, a debate was held: ”Nothing much has changed for women in 100 years”   The Debating team members were: Mary Willis, Rose Hogan, Rosalie Kennedy, Punita Boardman, Kim Gibson, Rhonda Ansiewicz, and adjudicated by Kym Glynn. The debate was followed by dinner and free entertainment by Misha, Two Color Mountain and DJ Amber Mc Bride. The celebrations closed at 10pm.

Participants
Numbers fluctuated throughout the course of the day, with different participants according to the activities on offer and the time of day (given that it was a twelve hour celebration). On average, 80 women were present at any one time; with 150 women estimated to have attended at least one activity.

Feedback from participants
Feedback from participants was overwhelming positive, with comments like:
• “I wish I could stay longer”,
• “all the speakers were fantastic – they really made a great start to the day – can I have a copy of the Washerwoman speech”
• “the Femcee was great – very witty and helped ensure the mood was just right between celebration and remembering the importance of women’s struggle.”
• “the feeling here is really wonderful, a very special day.”
• “the trivia quiz was  a great ice breaker to get women talking to each other’’
• “this is women at their best , all pitching in to make a special day’.

There was one negative comment about the suitability of marquee space for some of the workshops and several women expressed concern that they had seen the publicity at very late notice and felt more women would have come if there had been more publicity. 

Organizers
Women’s Resource Service (Byron Shire), Bugalma Biyhn Aboriginal Women’s Refuge, Coalition of Activist Lesbians, Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre, Northern Rivers Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Scheme,  ACON Northern Rivers, Lismore Women and Children’s Refuge, Interelate Family Services, and Australian Services Union (Northern Rivers).