Women in power: the push to get more diverse female candidates in Australian elections

A group of Indigenous women and women of colour at a Politics in Colour workshop in Cairns, far-north Queensland, to support women running for political office. Photograph: Nick Newling

Almost every council in Australia has a gallery of “dead men”, says Licia Heath. In the Cairns regional council, the gallery of past mayors – overwhelmingly white and male – is in the civic reception room.

Underneath their gaze, a change is taking place. A group of Indigenous women and women from other culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are meeting to learn how to launch their own political campaign.