Narromine's Lynda Edwards finalist in 2023 NSW Women of the Year Awards

Ms Edwards, a proud Wangkumara and Barkandji woman, is among six women who are finalists in the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award category - and she said it's her community and family she has to thank.

"It's not just an award for me, but for my whole community," she said.

ALSO READ: 'A safe space': Kirsty finalist for Aboriginal woman of the year

Ms Edwards is a passionate volunteer and advocate for the financial rights, fairness and inclusion of First Nations people across NSW and Australia.

She has worked for almost 17 years in the financial sector, initially as a financial capability worker and then as a financial counsellor, sharing her expertise of the financial sector to educate and increase the financial literacy of the First Nations community.

Ms Edwards played a key role in the campaign which highlighted Telstra's mis-selling of telco products to people in remote communities, for which Telstra incurred a $50 million ACCC fine.

Prior to this, Ms Edwards was Aboriginal Liaison Officer with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and an Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer within the NSW Police Force.

Ms Edwards' work with Catholiccare Wilcannia-Forbes, and then with Financial Counselling Australia, has been pivotal in leading campaigns calling out unethical sales tactics and building financial health across the region.

Her work has resulted in significant improvements in the way financial services engage with, assist and support First Nations people and community.

Ms Edwards said it was "an honour" to be a finalist, and she wanted to use the publicity to lobby for new legislation around small credit contractors and pay-day lenders to prevent them from targeting vulnerable people.

"I see these injustices, these unconscionable businesses targeting First Nations people because of that vulnerability, and it really gets me going in terms of advocacy and lobbying for change," she said.

Ms Edwards "always had a head for numbers" and, growing up in a disadvantaged community, experienced financial injustice herself.

"When you think about First Nations people, money's only been in my society for just on three or four generations. In the western society it's been in the community for thousands of years. So it's new to our people," she said.

"Can you imagine people in those remote communities - they have less experience with money - savings , investments, knowing what the economy is like, home ownership, all that sort of stuff.

"I think about my grandfather when he was working, he was paid in rations. My mum knew a little bit about money and was good with money but never had the opportunity to create any type of wealth or own her own home."

Ms Edwards said, through her work in the community, she was "trying ... to let people know, there are groups that are trying to talk to financial services, to government, about what equity looks like in First Nations communities, not just equality".

Ms Edwards is joined as a finalist in the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award category by Dubbo's Kirsty Hargraves, a proud Tubbagah and Binjan Woman from Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi Country who has worked for more than 10 years at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

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Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said the annual awards play an important role in recognising inspirational women from diverse backgrounds, not only in our region, but across the state.

"These awards are a wonderful opportunity to honour the women and girls who are making a real difference to our community," Mr Saunders said.

"Kirsty and Lynda are an inspiration to us all, and it's wonderful to see them getting the recognition they deserve.

"Congratulations to both women, and thank you for the contribution you're making to communities across the region, and across NSW."

Winners will be announced on Thursday, March 9 at the 2023 NSW Women of the Year Awards Ceremony at the International Convention Centre, Sydney and livestreamed online.

The awards are part of NSW Women's Week, which runs from Monday, March 6 to Sunday, March 12.