National gathering of First Nations women aims to bring ‘gender justice’ to Indigenous issues

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, June Oscar. ‘We envision an intersectional movement, a movement for gender equality, that leaves no women behind.’ Photograph: The Guardian

First Nations women have the right to move beyond “holding society together, healing, reducing harms and violence, and guaranteeing cohesion and healthy environments for everyone” and be free to imagine “gender justice”, the social justice commissioner June Oscar says.

More than 900 First Nations women are meeting in Canberra this week, the first national gathering of its kind, to bring “a necessary First Nations gender lens” to everything from housing to education, healing and economic development.