Director for Social and Preventable Health at Gidgee Healing, Kay Smith said the concept behind the breakfast is for all working women to get together outside of work hours and sit, have good conversation and an enjoyable meal.

“It’s an opportunity for them to talk about anything and everything except work,” Ms Smith said.

“The whole concept was conceived by the realisation that I was running into people at meetings and not having the time to catch up and ask how’s the family, it’s basically work, work,work.”

The Naidoc Corporate Women’s Breakfast has been an annual event for the last five years and it is an opportunity to bring in guest speakers, sometimes from out of town.

“This year, due to the theme being ‘Because of her we can’, we bought in our local women. They are leaders within their own families, the community and in their employment.”

Guest speakers Aunty Mona Phillips, a respected Elder within the community and Linda Ford an advocate for Indigenous Social work told their stories of coming through hardships and reaching for the sky in a personal journey.

“Aunty Mona has been instrumental in quite a lot of organisations and programs in Mount Isa and Linda Ford’s story of inspiration and influence proves that a single parent can go on to accomplish anything they want to achieve.”

“In previous years we have had people speak about Superannuation, a Union spoke to us about harassment – whether it be sexual or bullying – it’s about providing an opportunity for us as working women to be the one receiving the information or doing the networking,” she said.

Ms Smith said women are special and they are the drivers behind each family. 

“We now have a lot of women sitting in senior positions and even driving organisations so we have made each Naidoc Corporate Women’s Breakfast a unique and special event.

Aunty Mona said it shows how, ‘Because of her, we can’ – you may not realise it at the time but you do learn so much from your parents, especially your Mother. And without her realising it she was showing you how to care for each other, showing you about the environment, respect and we all learn these things.

“It’s an individual journey and every hurdle you face builds your strength because you have to find a way around it, over it or even under it.”

“I’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get back up,” she said.