Regional women invited to attend financial empowerment workshops – Rockhampton, Monto and Coalstoun Lakes
Women in the Rockhampton and North Burnett regions are being offered the opportunity to attend financial empowerment workshops in their local area in early March.
Designed to give women the skills and tools to improve financial wellness, the one-day workshop, Rewiring Women's Wealth & Wellness, will be held in Coalstoun Lakes on March 2, Monto on March 3 and Rockhampton on March 4.
An initiative of Rabobank's southern Queensland and northern New South Wales Client Council – a locally-based group of the bank's farming clients who meet to discuss issues and implement initiatives to contribute to the sustainability of rural communities – the program has been designed to give regionally-based women access to financial education in the communities in which they live.
The interactive workshops, which are free of charge, have been developed for rural women to "reflect on self-worth and net worth". Facilitated by Zoe Lamont, co-founder of Verve Super, the sessions will focus on individual goal setting and the development of money management strategies to achieve those goals.
Rabobank Client Council chair for southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, Sally Rigney from "Myall Plains", Thallon, said she hoped the workshop would "help women shake off the dust" as they came together to set their goals for the years ahead.
"Many of us are so worn out with the drought, so the day is all about rewiring ourselves, in a fun and informative setting," she said.
Focused on understanding finances and financial options – including savings, debt, investment portfolios, superannuation and insurance – Mrs Rigney said the workshops would give women the opportunity to articulate their short, medium and longer-term goals and the steps to get there.
"I was lucky enough to attend one of Zoe's workshops in 2016, at which point I set a goal that I have since achieved," she said. "Having not done anything like that for a long time it gave me the opportunity to step back and reassess where I want to go."
Running similar workshops for women in Roma, St George and Goondiwindi in 2016, Mrs Rigney said the local Client Council had been "working on getting Zoe back to Queensland ever since" as there was "such a buzz down the main street of each town" following the workshops.
Rabobank regional manager for southern Queensland and northern New South Wales Brad James said the workshop – initiated through the bank's Client Council – was one way the bank, together with its farming clients, could address some of the big challenges facing the ag sector, with building long-term industry capacity a key objective.
"Women play such a crucial role in their business, community and family and we hope that by attending this workshop they feel empowered to go out there and achieve some of their goals that may have seemed unattainable before," he said.
Funded by Rabobank's Client Councils, the workshops are open to clients and non-clients of Rabobank and there is no cost for women to attend.
