We honour the life and legacy of Trish Crossin AM, a fierce advocate for working women and a foundational figure of the Northern Territory Working Women’s Centre.
Trish was a founder of the NT Working Women’s Centre and her commitment to the Centre was absolute. She understood what the NT WWC meant for Territory women, particularly those facing isolation, discrimination and insecure work, and she would not accept a future where the NT WWC did not exist.
Trish played a critical role in securing and protecting funding for the NT Working Women’s Centre at times when its future was uncertain. She was relentless. Trish was known for turning up, pushing hard and refusing to leave offices.
She did not accept vague assurances or half answers. She stayed, pressed and negotiated until WWCs were properly funded because she knew how essential the service was for women across the Territory.
That same determination shaped her contribution to the broader movement. As a member of our national governance committee, Trish was helping establish Working Women’s Centre Australia as a national body, always bringing the NT perspective and her years of experience working with WWCs across the country. Trish was passionate about WWCs having an open door, to all women, no matter their circumstances at work.
In 2023, Trish delivered a keynote address at the NT Working Women’s Centre thirtieth anniversary that left a lasting impression on me. She spoke passionately about the Territory, the early days of the NT Centre and the hard fought battles to build and protect it.
Trish spoke powerfully about the battles women faced in building and sustaining Working Women’s Centres. She questioned the logic and fairness of having to repeatedly battle for funding, as though the value of the work needed to be proven over and over again. She described women doing countless unpaid hours, often while raising children, managing families and holding down jobs, working tirelessly to argue their case to departments, politicians and communities simply to keep these vital services alive.
I learned a great deal from hearing that history told so powerfully, and I was especially keen to share this history with the the new WWC network, as we had just welcomed five new Working Women’s Centres.
After her speech, I approached Trish to ask whether I could have a copy of her speech, so that the history she shared could be documented and shared across the network. Trish laughed and said yes, then showed me her notes. They were just three illegible dot points. Trish confirmed that she could not even read the bullet points, she had prepared.
Trish was speaking from the heart, telling the story of the NT Working Women’s Centre and has the room captivated. She was, of course, well practised at public speaking, but telling a story with such honesty, depth and connection is something else entirely.
As the first female Senator for the Northern Territory, Trish was tough, whip smart and principled. She spoke her mind clearly, but she also listened to difference and platformed people who were not always noticed.
The legacy of Trish Crossin AM lives on through the NT Working Women’s Centre, the national Working Women’s Centre network, and the countless Territory women whose working lives are safer and fairer because she did not give up, worked late and didn’t leave the room until WWCs were funded.
A young Trish photographed in front flag.
Our hearts are with Trish’s husband Mark, her son Paul, and her daughters Melinda, Amanda and Kate.
Trish often spoke to me about how deeply proud she was of her children. Knowing who I am, and who Trish was, our conversations naturally turned to her daughters and their work. It was clear to me that Trish’s legacy extended beyond her community and the Working Women’s Centres. She had also passed on her strong sense of justice, courage and conviction to her children. She was so proud.
Vale Trish.
Words by Abbey Kendall, CEO Working Women’s Centre Australia
The latest release of Diversity Council Australia’s 2025-2026 Inclusion@Work Index – the fifth edition of our flagship, biennial research mapping inclusion across Australia’s workforce in now avaliable.
Drawing on insights from a nationally representative survey of 3,000 workers, the Index provides one of the most comprehensive pictures of how people across Australia are experiencing both inclusion and exclusion at work. It remains a critical benchmark for tracking progress, understanding emerging risks, and identifying where evidence-based action can have the greatest impact.
This latest Index offers a timely snapshot of workplace inclusion in a shifting social, economic and political context. The findings show:
· strong and sustained worker support for diversity and inclusion
· record levels of organisational action to improve inclusion
· more workers reporting inclusive workplace experiences, alongside encouraging declines in discrimination and everyday exclusion
· ongoing, disproportionately high levels of exclusion for marginalised workers, reinforcing the need for sustained action.
The findings reflect encouraging progress, while highlighting the continued need for evidence-based action.
A synopsis of DCA’s findings is attached for your reference, and the full report is available on request via comms@dca.org.au.
Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations, Skills and Training. Inquiry into the Operation and Adequacy of the National Employment Standards. Submitted by Working Women’s Centre Australia (WWCA) in collaboration with the national Working Women’s Centre (WWC) Network.
Hi everyone,
We’ve been asked to share the below research opportunity with the network in case anyone might be interested in participating.
Researchers from the BRIDGES at Work project are currently looking to speak with people for interviews as part of their research project: Cultivating systemic safety to prevent workplace sexual harassment. If this is something you’d be interested in being involved in, or you’d like to find out more, please feel free to contact the researchers directly using the details here.
WWCA is just helping to circulate the opportunity, so if you’re keen, please reach out to them directly.
Hello colleagues
I’m writing to invite you to participate in an interview for the BRIDGES at Work research project: Cultivating systemic safety to prevent workplace sexual harassment.
The project is a national collaboration between Adelaide University (formerly the University of South Australia), Griffith University, The University of Queensland and several partner organisations from the human rights, work health and safety, and violence prevention sectors. It is funded by the Australian Research Council with support from the partners.
At this stage, we are seeking to learn more about the origins of sexual harassment in the organisational system, looking deeper into aspects like organisational culture, social dynamics, job and task characteristics, technology, and the physical work environment. Gaining a richer understanding of these risk contexts is expected to inform new evidence-based systemic prevention strategies, which will be tested later in the project.
Your involvement in the project will be via a one-to-one interview to explore your insights regarding how the risk of sexual harassment arises, from a systemic perspective. The participant information sheet, attached, provides further information about the project and what’s involved.
After reading the information sheet, if you are interested to take part, please reach out to Dr Ashlee Borgkvist ashlee.borgkvist@adelaide.edu.au (cc’d here) to arrange a suitable day and time.
In addition, we would appreciate you sharing this invitation with members of your professional networks who may also be interested to contribute their views. Experts and professionals who have experience dealing with workplace sexual harassment incidents or complaints in their professional role (such as conciliators, lawyers, case managers, investigators, HR and WHS managers, frontline managers), from a prevention or response angle, are eligible to participate.
Thank you for supporting this research.
Kind regards,
Michelle Tuckey | Lead Chief Investigator
Professor Michelle Tuckey (she/her) | PhD BPsych(Hons)
Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology | Adelaide University
Senate Select Committee on Work and Care, 2022
National Working Women’s Centre Submission to the Senate Select Committee on Work and Care, 2022
Review of the Fair Work Act Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave Bill), September 2022
Submission to the Inquiry by the Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary Standards, September 2022
Review of the Model Work Health and Safety Laws, 2018
Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Workplace Relations Framework, 2015