From India to Canberra, with love ... and compassion for all women everywhere

Madhumita Iyengar wanted her daughters to grow up knowing they had a voice.

A voice that could lead them to reach whatever goals they aspired to in life. And a voice that would stand them in good stead when it came to fighting discrimination, prejudice or injustice.

Madhumita came to Australia from her native India, a country where she was exposed to some aspects of life she would never want anyone, regardless of ethnicity, to endure.

“I studied economics,” she said, “so I had some experience working with underprivileged people.”

Arriving in Canberra in 2002, she started work as a public servant but struggled to deal with the demands of a high-powered job with a young growing family.

Still, Madhumita found time to help others.

“I didn’t really expect to see some of the issues I experienced in India when I came to Australia,” she said.

“Even though I had this young family and a full-time job, it became my passion to help people, to be a counsellor, to find available services to help them. This included cases of domestic violence which I knew happened at home but I was shocked to find out they happened when we came here.

“Over time, I realised there was no structure here to help those women. I felt that gender inequality and domestic violence needed to be dealt with at a community level so I started talking to community leaders.”

Madhumita was inspired to do something by a family friend, the late Sue Salthouse, a former ACT Senior Australian of the Year committed to social justice.

Sue used a wheelchair after a horse-riding accident at age 45. But rather than complain, she saw it as a challenge and a means to understand first-hand living with a disability.

Madhumita said she learned much from Sue who was killed in a car accident in 2020.

“Sue was our mentor,” Madhumita said. “We met often, talked about different issues. She told me life was always going to be busy and that you had to make time to get things done. She told me not to wait until my children had grown up before I started helping people.”

She also credits her family for supporting her community work – husband Hari and daughters Manaswini, who is a teacher, and Amolika who is studying to be a doctor.

“I found doing the community work with my job in the public service quite difficult. But now, with my girls grown up, I want to follow my passion before I get too old.”

Starting small, she began hosting community events and special days for women.

In 2013, she established Initiatives for Women In Need (IWiN) a volunteer-led organisation based in Canberra to support women and children – particularly those from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and families experiencing domestic violence and discrimination at home and at work.

This has expanded to include policy advocacy and research on other social justice issues affecting women and their families – including mental health and wellbeing, job market barriers for migrants, overseas skills non-recognition, workplace flexibility, racism and sexual harassment in the workplace, and culture sensitive services for women and youth.

IWiN’s latest social enterprise project, Her Kitchen Table, was designed to create jobs for women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. It now runs as a social enterprise in the ACT as a cultural meal subscription service that utilises the traditional cooking skills of multicultural women facing barriers to the Australian job market.

Today, as chair of the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum as well as IWiN, Madhumita continues to devote her time to helping women in need.

Those interested in IWiN’s work are invited to Connecting The Dots, a STEM Women Networking Event at the ACT Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, 24 July from 6 pm. The event is free but bookings are recommended.