After running for almost 50 years, a Girls’ Brigade company in Perth is facing its final weeks.
Riverton Girls’ Brigade will officially close on September 23, due to declining attendance and a changing relationship with its host church. The girls, their parents and volunteers are mourning the loss.
Founded in 1978, the Riverton company has been part of a long tradition of female youth organisations in WA. Since respective WA beginnings in 1927 and 1915, Girls’ Brigade and Girl Guides have been part of many girls’ lives. While Girl Guides is the more popular option, with 1200 girls currently participating in WA compared to Girls’ Brigade’s 345, both organisations lost attendees after COVID-19 and have struggled to boost numbers to pre-pandemic levels.
Girls’ Brigade WA state commissioner Marilyn Louwen said this reflected a broader cultural shift, as youth organisations have become less ingrained in society.
“COVID did make people reassess and that’s okay. Because there are so many things out there that girls can get involved in.”
At Brigades and Guides, girls get involved in weekly after-school sessions. They participate in outdoor adventures, games and activities, and community events for the purpose of friendship and personal development. While both programs require families pay annual fees, Girl Guides is part of the WA government’s KidSport initiative which subsidises this cost for eligible children.
With almost 4500 participants in WA, Scouts is a popular all-gender alternative, but Guides and Brigades create spaces uniquely for girls.
According to experts, young girls in WA face serious challenges.
Youth Affairs Council WA project coordinator Claudia Bedford said this included lack of access to healthcare, restrictive beauty standards and gender expectations exacerbated by social media, and limited opportunities in sport and leadership.
According to a 2022 report published by the WA Commissioner for Children and Young People, girls are being left behind, a concern captured by statistics about WA girls’ mental health and general wellbeing. For example, only 30 per cent of female young people strongly agree they are involved in making decisions about their lives, compared to 42 per cent of male young people.
Girl Guides WA leader of learning and development Helen Matusik said Guides remained relevant because it addressed these challenges.
“Girls learn to manage themselves and learn the skills they need for life, in an informal educational setting, with a program that is very diverse.”
Helen Matusik
In Mrs Louwen’s opinion, what sets Girls’ Brigade apart is its ability to prepare girls for life through an all-round program. Similarly, the Girl Guides’ mission statement encourages girls to become leaders in life. The programs must now decide what this means in a changing world.
Ms Bedford acknowledged Guides and Brigades created empowering, safe spaces for girls but emphasised the ongoing need for this to be the case everywhere for all girls and women. The organisations, she said, must also be mindful of accessibility and the way religious affiliations may create bias.
Religious affiliation is the main difference between Guides and Brigades, which otherwise run similar programs catered to girls between ages five and 18.
Mrs Louwen spoke admiringly about Guides as a nonreligious organisation, but said within Brigades, the Christian faith-based element provided stability and hope. She said that, while the process was slow and complex, Girls’ Brigade was growing overall and had much more to offer communities.
It may be in comparatively smaller ways than in the past, but both Girl Guides and Girls’ Brigade said they will keep doing their best to support WA girls.