This new museum project spotlights the Victorian women who shaped Australia

The digital storytelling project created with feminist storytellers She Shapes History celebrates women from the Yarra Ranges who defied expectations and broke barriers throughout Australian history.

While figures like garden designer Edna Walling and opera singer Dame Nellie Melba are well known, the project uncovers lesser-told stories including Alice Anderson, the first woman to drive the Black Spur, Eileen Steenson, a pilot who flew solo from Australia to England, and Aunty Dorothy Dot Peters, whose advocacy brought recognition to Aboriginal servicepeople.

Badass Women of the Yarra Ranges

• 18 October to 7 December
• Yarra Ranges Regional Museum, Lilydale
• Video stories available online at sheshapeshistory.com.au/yarra-ranges
• Museum studio display and Connections gallery open during maintenance works
• Curator chats: Wednesday to Friday, 11am to 12pm and 1pm to 2pm

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She Shapes History is a social enterprise founded by Sita Sargeant that spotlights contributions from women and marginalised communities often left out of mainstream historical narratives. Through walking tours, digital content and events, the initiative makes history accessible and engaging by sharing stories traditionally excluded from the history books. The organisation recently published She Shapes History: Guided Walks and Stories About Great Australian Women.

The project features three main components: short video stories filmed on location across the Yarra Ranges with Sita Sargeant available online, an illustrated adventure map by Amandine Thomas transforming the region into a women’s history road trip, and a museum studio display where visitors can chat with curators, watch the video series and contribute to a growing honour wall of remarkable Yarra Ranges women. Curators are available Wednesday to Friday between 11am and 12pm, then 1pm to 2pm.

For more information, head here.