Girl Guides Australia Updated Mission
Dear Guiding sisters around Australia,
I am excited to share that Girl Guides Australia has updated our Mission:
Empowering girls and young women to discover their potential as leaders of their world
Girl Guides Australia has been on a journey to consider our strategic priorities for the next five years. Woven into our considerations we questioned our Mission; the Mission that Guiding across Australia embraces.
Our updated Mission reflects the Guiding experience and endorses the value of Guiding today, tomorrow and in the future.
We know that through girl-led programs championing fun, friendship and adventure, Girl Guiding empowers girls and young women to find their voice, discover their potential, explore possibilities and make a genuine difference in their world. From the moment a girl makes her Girl Guide Promise and promises to “do my best”, she commences a leadership journey that nurtures and celebrates who she is, and what she brings to her world.
It became clear that a focus on LEADERSHIP must have a place in our Mission. When we use the word ‘leaders’ it is referring to more than being an ‘out the front’ leader, it includes being an active member of a team, taking control of your own life and reflects how each member of Girl Guiding is already a leader in their own right, no matter their age.
The Mission has been developed in collaboration with the Girl Guides Australia Young Women’s Forum and in consultation with our State Girl Guide organisations who have also provided their endorsement. We will continue to build on the strengths of the last 100 years using language relevant for today. Girls and young women will remain at the heart of all we do and ‘empowering girls and young women’ remains the headline of our Mission.
The phrase ‘discover their potential’ was adopted as it allows scope for each girl and young woman to embrace their own Guiding journey.
The inclusion ‘of their world’, enables girls and young women to choose where their impact is felt and encompasses the communities they associate with. It also acknowledges the global scope for impact girls and young women have access to including as a member of WAGGGS.
The new Mission is not only for Girl Guides Australia but for all of Girl Guiding in Australia. It will enable Girl Guiding in Australia to continue to connect with girls and young women through language that is relevant, meaningful and reflects their own Guiding experience.
You will begin to see the Mission in our communications, on our website and in our publications.
Please look for ways to embrace our Mission, include it in your communications and share with the wider community.
I also encourage you to please reflect on how you are empowering girls and young women to discover their potential as leaders of their world.
Happy Guiding,
Rosemary Derwin
Chief Commissioner
Girl Guides Australia