About Girls Rock! Adelaide

Girls Rock! Adelaide is a not-for-profit youth organisation. We take inspiration from a network of incredible initiatives across Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Aotearoa and around the world. We believe the fun, creative and healing presence of music is essential in the lives of young people and that a more inclusive music industry benefits us all.

We work to:

🤘 create space for young people to engage and contribute in local music communities

💪 empower girls, all trans youth and gender-diverse youth in music

✊ amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard.

Music, art, and creative expression are our tools in building a constructive and celebratory movement. We strive to foster a positive, inclusive atmosphere where young people can grow and experiment free from judgement.

Girls Rock! Adelaide was established in 2018 by Hannah Fairlamb, Sianne van Abkoude, Elli Cleary and Anna Jeavons. Our organisation was officially launched in February 2019 at Lion Arts Factory with performances from Courtney Barnett and Nancy Bates.

We successfully delivered our Rock Camp program in 2019, 2021 and 2022, a set of Synth Workshops for kids and adults in September 2021, a Jam Sessions program in 2020 and 2021 in collaboration with Northern Sound System, as well as a range of fundraisers, networking events and curated festival stages at Laneway Festival and A Day of Clarity. In 2019 we received the SA All Ages Achievement award at the National Live Music Awards.

Rock Camp

Rock Camp is a day program that runs over the space of a week (Monday – Friday, 9am - 4:30pm) during school holidays. Campers form a band for the week, learn an instrument, participate in creative workshops, see live bands, and collaborate to produce an original song. At the end of the week campers experience what it’s like to perform live to an audience of family, friends and supporters at our Rock Camp showcase.

The program would not be possible without the support of volunteers, mentors, instrument instructors, musicians, support staff and those who provide their time and expertise throughout the year and during the program itself.

Girls Rock! Adelaide Team

Girls Rock! Adelaide has been run by a committed team of volunteers since 2018.

Our current committee:

Director
Sianne van Abkoude

Coordinators
Elli Cleary
Anna Jeavons
Grace Mitchell

We also acknowledge the hard work and valuable contributions of our past committee members, Dearna Newchurch and Maryse Zannette, and co-founder and co-director Hannah Fairlamb (2018-2022).

The Girls Rock! Adelaide volunteer community is made up of a diverse range of people driven to empower and amplify marginalised voices through music education, mentorship, performance and more.

Rock Camp is led by and for people of marginalised gender identities — this includes women (trans and cis), gender-diverse folks, and trans men. We recognise that gender is self-identified, and that there is a variety of language people may use to best express their experience of gender. We believe that the best team to inspire young people and provide role models reflects a range of ages, backgrounds, sexualities and identifications.

The Girls Rock! Movement

The first Girls Rock Camp, Rock 'n' Roll Camp 4 Girls, took place in Portland, Oregon, in 2001. Since then over 80 camps have been started worldwide with camps in Canada, Sweden, France, Germany, Iceland, Brazil, Peru and more.

Girls Rock! Australasia is aligned with the global Girls Rock Camp Alliance. The Girls Rock Camp Alliance was founded in 2007, as an international membership network of youth-centred arts and social justice organisations. Have a peek at some of the other orgs around the world here.

The first Girls Rock Camp in Australia was established in Canberra in 2015. An Australasia network of camps was formed in 2018 at a conference in Newcastle, with representatives from Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney, Wollongong and Aotearoa in attendance.

Girls Rock! Australasia

We are proud to be part of a network of Girls Rock! organisations established across Australia and Aotearoa. Each chapter is independently run by a team of musicians and educators passionate about empowering girls, all trans youth and gender-diverse young people through music education and mentorship.