Business is booming for western Queensland women who are capitalising on the use of Information Technology to expand their business ventures.

Sue Brownlie, mother of three, manages a 52,000 acre sheep and cattle station with husband David. “When the children left home for boarding school and University I needed a part time job for interest sake and to supplement our income. We live in a fairly isolated area so finding part time work of any nature is hard to come by.” .

Brownlie started her own business of selling patchwork quilt designs to retail business through the internet. Her business profits have increased 400% in the first six months of on-line trading. “We probably never anticipated this result,” said Brownlie, from Longreach. “But we were always confident it would be successful.”.

Adma Sargood found herself in the same position and established her own online Stock agency with the help of her IT literate brother in London, Business Manager brother and husband. And then there’s the story of freelance journalist Sally Cripps, who writes for QLD papers from her property in Blackall:.

“I previously sent my articles by fax and then by a Tandy computer which was a very slow process and did not work during the day in summer because it was too hot. I’ve since upgraded my machine and use a news wire system, now newsrooms receive pieces instantly.” .

Anne Daley from the Longreach School of Distance Education has organised a “Wired Women in the West” initiative to encourage more women to do the same. The aim of the program is to show women how to use and search the internet effectively and enable them to produce a more effective small business using technology. Three CQU staff members are delivering workshops in Longreach this week as part of the WWW initiative, with an underlying focus on IT career paths for women.

“Eighty women with varied interests and skills will participate in the program, creating a strong network of skilled women in our local community. This factor will be one of the greatest strengths of the WWW – Wired Women in the West project,” said Daley.

The State Government is very conscious of the need to raise IT skill levels in regional Queensland. The Wired Women in West initiative was made possible by a $25 000 grant from the Queensland Government Information Industries Bureau Department of Innovation & Information Economy.