LUMEN Winter 2019 - Flipbook - Page 10
H
annah Wandel is a change maker.
Transforming the lives of young rural
women, Hannah lives by the philosophy
'if you want to see change, you have to be
the change'.
And the 2019 ACT’s Young Australian of the Year and
University of Adelaide 2019 James McWha Rising
Star Award winner is certainly getting out there,
clocking up 32,000 km last year on an epic road trip
visiting 81 bush communities across the country to
empower 3500 teenage girls.
Hannah was only 24 when she founded the not-forprofit organisation Country to Canberra, which runs
programs that provide education, leadership and
mentorship opportunities to young women in regional
and remote Australia.
Aspiring to being a journalist since childhood,
Hannah studied a double degree in Law (Honours)
and Media before starting her dream job at Southern
Cross Austereo. It was here her idea for Country to
Canberra was conceived.
"We’ve been able to meet people like
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Julie
Bishop and Tanya Plibersek, and empower
and reach thousands of young women."
Working in the Adelaide newsroom, Hannah became
dismayed by what she saw as a barrage of sexist
stories about then Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
“Whether it was about her hair, clothes or partner,
I found the terminology surrounding the Prime
Minister quite sexist,” she said.
“I started looking further into gender inequality in
our parliament and board rooms, as well as into issues
like domestic violence and the gender pay gap and I
became really passionate about creating this change.”
Although Hannah had experienced gender issues
throughout high school and saw firsthand the
struggles faced by young women from the country,
it wasn’t until this point that Hannah really felt she
could take action.
After some soul searching, Hannah quit her job,
moved to Canberra and started a career in the
public service.
“I didn’t feel empowered to do something until I was
faced with [gender inequality] day in and day out.
I experienced it as a teenager but didn’t have the
confidence to go out and talk about it. I had to
dig deep and say enough is enough and generate
that change.”
While working her way up in the public service sector
(she is currently Acting Director of the Drought
Taskforce at the Department of Infrastructure,
Regional Development and Cities), Hannah steadily
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THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
