What if we told you that a highly-recognised Canberra businessperson is running for The Greens. Would it take you by surprise?

Across all parties, Canberrans have a truly diverse collection of candidates. It says a lot about our city and the ease in which we embrace a wide range of demographics, ethnicities and sexual preferences.

Among these unique aspirants is Veronica Wensing. Voted the ACT Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 2009, Veronica’s path to politics is an extraordinary one. Over the course of an hour, The Shaker realised that the way we do business is not necessarily all about making money.

(laughs) Well, Marita and I actually went to boarding school together. I had come from Canberra, and her parents were missionaries in the Northern Territory. They were tough times back then… we met at the age of 13 and had to quickly learn to stand up for ourselves.

One thing about boarding school is that you tend to form very close friendships – largely due to the fact that you’re together 24/7. We were also a bit naughty, so that helped forge the relationship.

At the start, I hated boarding school, but it was certainly the right move for me. I was being bullied at public school and my parents could see that I was flailing, so they made the big call to send me to a girls’ school in Goulburn.

 

So, it was practically “Here’s your bus ticket”?

Pretty close. It certainly showed me that my parents didn’t issue empty threats!

What I found there was a far better focus on my studies - which certainly helped me realise what potential I had – but it also introduced me to people from all over Australia with many different backgrounds. That was also an important part of my education.

In the end, I excelled at school. Well done, Mum & Dad!

Where to from there?

Well, my first job was selling Husqvarna sewing machines! My mother was an expert at sewing, and I kind of convinced the interviewer that I knew everything about the craft… despite the fact I had never sewn anything in my life. That lasted for three years, and I never used a needle or turned on a machine, but once I sat down and had a go I realised that I was so familiar with the product that I could really make it sing!

After ten years I made it up the ladder to be the Victorian State Manager, but it was time to move on and head back to Canberra.

 

 

What forged the change in career and a return to Canberra?

I was only in Melbourne for a year, but that was part of a strategy to escape a domestic violent relationship. That part of my life has been really important in forming my life since I left town (and as a public figure it is crucial that I shine a light on the issue).

When I got back here, I reflected on how my life had changed and the support my family had provided. It was then that I decided it was really important to give something back to the community and try to help people who were struggling to escape situations similar to what I had experienced.

This led me to join Lifeline as a volunteer. I had a feeling I wanted to be involved in community services, but wasn’t sure where I wanted to focus my energies. Lifeline was really useful at that stage because you never know who is going to be on the other end of the phone.

Unsurprisingly, given the training and exposure that volunteering had given me, I became more and more interested in the issue of domestic violence and the women who were trying to survive it.

 

It seems that Lifeline really is at the frontline of issues such as domestic violence…

Absolutely. However, with a new focus, I went to work for Lowana Young Women’s Refuge (now closed) where I could be more involved in the support and recovery of women aged 12-17 who were stuck in these situations. They were escaping homes where they were victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

I was there for around eight years, and it was an experience that changed my life.

From a humble start as a casual relief worker, I spent my last year at Lowana managing the service. It was here that I started to become quite politically active.

 

…and is that also where your business skills started to come in to play?

Absolutely. Many of the people working in these organisations had a huge amount of energy and focus on those we were trying to help, but I could see that there wasn’t much organisation within the business to support them and to ensure that every ounce of benefit that we were capable of providing made it to those who needed it most.

Bringing in a more solid structure was a huge pay-off for the refuge. It changed the way we conducted the business, gave the staff pathways and development opportunities that were relevant, and brought an even greater sense of goodwill from all of those involved in the operation.

 

Where did your growing political motivation fit in?

Given the role, and what we had to confront on a daily basis, it was always there. However, my next job was working for the national peak body for domestic violence services. Here, I felt as though I had finally won…

…it was never a competition–there was no one else in the race–but I’d won against my experience of being in a domestic violence situation and managed to turn that massive negative into a positive.

I’d used the violence and the power to my benefit–and hopefully the benefit of thousands of others–and the opportunity to gain even more support for women in situations similar to what I had experienced was within my grasp.

 

 

It can be difficult for those passionate for a cause to move away from the coal-face. Did you ever feel distanced from the people you were trying to help?

For me, that was never an issue – because I was one of the people I was trying to help. Also, I had to remain really close to the issues by reading all the research that was being down on domestic violence, by telling the stories of victims to Members of Parliament, and constantly remaining focussed on the powerless whom I represented.

It wasn’t until the Howard Government cut funding from a huge amount of social services and NGOs that I had to leave. Once that happened, I became more focussed on local Canberra issues through the ACT Council of Social Services, and did the odd shift in refuges to get back to continue helping on the front line…

 

Did you yearn to get back into managing an organisation?

I certainly did. An opportunity arose to take over the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre (CRCC). When I started, the service was also at a risk of losing its funding, it was poorly organised and had a reputation as a collective of ‘lefty femi-nazis’ that nobody took seriously – so there was plenty to do!

 

 

Was there a particular innovation that you implemented to turn the CRCC around?

I worked really hard with the police… and there was plenty of resistance from them to work with us. At the time the cultures were too different.

At the beginning, I considered it a success if the result of a meeting was simply to have another meeting. The police seemed to think that we weren’t professional enough, so why should they bother?

I copped that – but only to a point. At the same time, within our organisation I was making sure that a new style of professionalism was being implemented. Reporting structures were changed… all staff were required to have some sort of tertiary qualification… it was a radically different approach for the CRCC.

This meant that I could turn around to the police and convince them that we were serious and competent. Things began thawing with the police as they realised that the centre was well-equipped to support the scenes they were confronting.

At this stage Chief of Police was Shane Connelly, and he agreed to a three-month trial where if someone disclosed to police they were victims of domestic or sexual violence, that we would be called.

It was an initial success, and led to a much longer arrangement. It was really satisfying to see cultural change occurring on both sides of the fence, and that we could eventually align our resources to deliver significant outcomes for the women involved. That relationship continues today, and the memorandum of understanding that exists.

In the first year, we had 22 call-outs for our services from the police. In the second year? Over two hundred.

 

That’s a great achievement… but must have created a huge resourcing issue…

It did, but it also gave me the leverage I needed to turn around to government and ask for more funding. The result demonstrated improvements around the way we liaised with police and that both organisations were achieving a huge success in an area that can be so traumatic.

 

To achieve a result like that requires a really deep understanding of change management

It does. As part of the funding we’d received to professionalise the CRCC, I undertook a course in leadership, and what was happening at the Centre was moving so fast that I was able to directly relate my studies to the working environment.

 

…and eventually you won ACT Telstra Businesswoman of the Year

That is definitely still a surprise! I’d been encouraged to enter the nomination process, and slogged my way through writing my application – finally submitting it late on the night that nominations closed.

I pretty much thought, “Well, that’s it!” Apart from doing the formal interview, I didn’t give the process much more thought…

 

…and then…

…and then I found myself walking up to the stage to collect the major award in front of a room filled with women that I greatly admired. It was truly unexpected, but I really knew the path that had brought me here.

It only took 20 seconds – between hearing my name called and walking up to the stage – I decided to tell the room that one of the reasons I was here was that I was also a survivor of domestic violence. Until that moment, I’d never mentioned this part of my history to anyone I’d worked with.

 

 

Why? When being a survivor of domestic violence is so intrinsic to what you’ve achieved?

If you tell people that you’re also a survivor, you can be diminished because your approach is no longer considered professional and overly emotional. I’d seen people criticised as ‘acting purely for themselves’ and I didn’t want my efforts and passion to be reduced to such a simple motivation.

At that moment, with the credibility of just winning the Telstra Business Woman of the Year award, it was the moment to make such an announcement. I’d truly won.

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Veronica Wensing is standing as The Greens' candidate for Yerrabi in the ACT election this Saturday 15 October.