The Andrews Labor Government is providing women across Victoria with the tools and connections to advance their leadership ambitions ahead of local government elections next year.

Some 65 women are participating in the second wave of the Women Leading Locally program as Victoria moves closer to achieving gender equality in local government.

Participants were selected from across the state with a focus on regions where women are underrepresented in councils. The 60 participants from the first year of the program will graduate in August.

Victoria set a national high mark for female local government representation at the 2020 council elections, with women making up 43.8 per cent of successful candidates.

There is more work to be done to achieve gender equality on councils, particularly in rural areas.

Women participating in the program also represent other historically underrepresented groups including Aboriginal women, young women, culturally and linguistically diverse women, women living with disability and women who identify as LGBTQI+.

Round two participant and Wadawurrung woman Kelly Ann Blake from the Loddon Mallee region welcomed the push for increased participation by women in leadership roles in rural Victoria.

As a biodiversity project officer for the Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation, Ms Blake is committed to leading by example in raising community awareness about native habitat and wildlife preservation as a means of bringing people together.

Through the Women Leading Locally program, she plans to assist women from underrepresented groups to effect community change where it is needed most.

Women Leading Locally is being delivered by the Institute of Community Directors Australia in partnership with Women for Election. To find out more, visit localgovernment.vic.gov.au.