By Pam Kiriakidis
Building financial and confidence skills is a priority at the new Women’s Financial Wellbeing Hub in Seymour, which hosts several types of workshops for women.
Following the success of other projects by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, the SEED project, which stands for sustaining, economic empowerment, and dignity for women, is a new program designed to tackle financial barriers for women.
In the past two weeks, the SEED project has launched a variety of free workshops to assist women in pursuing employment and handling family finances, as well as the empowerment pathways program, employment workshop, financial wellbeing workshop and open hub days.
SEED project coordinator Katey Jones, who facilitates the workshops and conducts one-on-one appointments at the hub and online, said the financial wellbeing workshops were an effective program for women looking to broaden their knowledge.
“We looked at some tips and tricks to, I guess, make sure you’re still having a life, you know, little bits of fun and enjoy, but also keeping it within a budget,” she said.
“It also empowers them with the knowledge that there is no right or wrong, that there’s some tips and tricks to improve your personal situation, when you want to use them.”
In addition to learning new skills, Ms Jones said socialising was a key interest at the hub.
“It could even just be a really good way to connect with other women in your community after COVID and build up that village around them again,” she said.
The motivation behind the new hub was based on studies by the Brotherhood’s research and policy team that identified Seymour to be one of the state’s most disadvantaged towns.
SEED project manager Penny Bohm said aside from the data, conversations in Seymour also displayed that women needed a safe space to discuss their own financial journeys and build economic security.
“That’s why Seymour was chosen to be a pilot, because research shows there’s persistently high levels of disadvantage and high domestic violence rates,” she said.
“There’s a lot of underlying barriers, and as a social justice organisation the Brotherhood of St Laurence could make a contribution – it was just a good fit.
“We’ve done a lot of research about what Seymour women want, and we had a lot of conversations in early days with community stakeholders.”
Ms Bohm said while the hub was focused on upcoming workshops, the team was open to communicating on future workshops to improve real opportunities for women and their families.
“If women are saying they want to learn more about a particular topic, we can put together something that is what they’re asking for,” she said.
The Women’s Financial Wellbeing Hub is located at 47A Anglesey Street, Seymour and is open on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9am to 5pm. For more information and to register, visit or contact the SEED project administrator on 0482 188 099 or via email seedproject@bsl.org.au.
