Not one, but two women from the Western Plains Region have been announced as finalists for the prestigious NSW Women of the Year Awards 2023.  

Anne Dennis (Walgett) and Lynda Edwards (Narromine) have both been recognised for their tireless dedication and positive change work within their communities with nominations for the NSW Woman of Excellence Award and the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award, respectively.  

Both women have expressed how humbled they are to have been nominated and speak with great passion about the meaningful work they each undertake every day.  

"It’s really quite humbling to think that people would take the time and the effort to write out a nomination to recognise the work that we do day in day out, particularly when I come from quite humble beginnings,” said Anne Dennis.  

Cr Dennis is a Gamilaraay woman who was born on Namoi Reserve and has lived most of her life in Walgett. She has spent the past twelve years serving the NSW Aboriginal Lands Council. 

Cr Dennis is one of nine councillors on the NSW Aboriginal Lands Council, solely responsible for representing the entire North-West region, an area that circles through the communities of Walgett, Lightning Ridge, Coonamble, Brewarrina, Moree and Narrabri.  She has been selected as a finalist for the NSW Woman of Excellence Award.

 Cr Dennis says that building partnerships that will help deliver better educational outcomes and social justice for Aboriginal people is a huge part of her role. 

“We’ve always relied heavily on seasonal work such as cotton chipping, shearing and harvest work, but these days it’s becoming more necessary to leave your community to go to university or study online. 

“Really building the capacity within our community so that important partnerships are formed will help Indigenous people take their place in the local economy and give us the ability to actually contribute,” she said.  

A strong background in education spanning more than 30 years, as well as her involvement with community organisations and a pursuant belief in equity derived from her very humble beginnings have all instilled within Cr Dennis a deep sense of responsibility to advocate for her community.  

“The opportunity to be able to do better and to improve the quality of our lives by working together with others is extraordinary,” she said.  

“Particularly the role that women play that they’re not always recognised for is that they’re the people that give me the strength to do what I do because while our communities are so different, the outcomes we want are the same.”  

Lynda Edwards, Coordinator of the Financial Capability Community of Practice at Financial Counselling Australia also believes that her drive and motivation is sparked by the community around her.  

“The advocacy and lobbying work that I do on a national level all comes from this amazing proactive network of these wonderful financial counsellors and capability workers that are forever sending me information about what’s going on on the ground and case studies which really helps with the work that I do on a national level,” she said.  

“Being an aboriginal person and growing up at the time of the 1967 referendum when I was just three years old and not even recognised as a citizen of this country, I’ve always wanted a life for myself and for my kids where they have equity in their life and a chance to actually be involved.”  

Lynda is a descendant of the Wangkumara people of far west NSW, and is passionate about building inclusion, fairness and financial resilience for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia. 

Lynda Edwards (Narromine), facilitates a national network of Aboriginal and Torres straight Islander financial counsellors and capability workers across Australia in her role as Coordinator of the Financial Capability Community of Practice at Financial Counselling Australia. She has been selected as a finalist for the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year 2023.

“At the time of colonisation, Aboriginal people were excluded from the economy, so money in our society is a very new thing,” she explained.  

 “My work centres around working out how we can build that capacity in our people to discover what it is that they need to be financially secure.”  

Lynda says that to be acknowledged as NSW’s Aboriginal Woman of the Year would be a testament to the work going on in her sector to bring financial equity to First Nations people across the country.  

“The really humbling thing that I’ve seen in my role as a financial counsellor is asking people what their financial dream is and hearing someone say that just to have food in the cupboard and a roof over their head is their financial dream.”  

“It would be wonderful for my sector for me to win that award because it would be acknowledging the hard working people that are working with me to improve the lives of these people living below the poverty line,” she said.  

Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor said that she is amazed at the impact women such as Lynda and Anne are making in their communities.  

“I’m always inspired by the calibre of women nominated for these awards and the outstanding contributions they are making in their communities across the state. 

“There were almost 400 nominations, showcasing incredible women from all walks of life who are championing positive change. These finalists are an inspiration to us all and it’s wonderful to see them getting the recognition they deserve,” she said. 

There are seven award categories in the 2023 program, including the Premier’s Award for NSW Woman of the Year, which is selected from a pool of category winners. 

“On behalf of NSW, I extend a massive congratulations to all the finalists. You are all incredible individuals who make enormous contributions to our communities.” 

Winners will be announced on Thursday, 9 March at the 2023 NSW Women of the Year Awards Ceremony at the International Convention Centre, Sydney and livestreamed online. 

The awards are part of NSW Women’s Week, which runs from Monday, 6 March to Sunday, 12 March.