In 2021 I was mid-way through my PhD program and three months pregnant. Until that point, I hadn’t thought much about parental leave—it’s the law in Australia, right? So it was a shock to discover...
Category: Commentary
Pay gap transparency is only the beginning
February 27 2024 could be a turning point for gender equality in Australia. That’s the day the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) will publish gender pay gaps for Australian private sector...
How do we bring a feminist lens to governance?
What does it mean to bring a feminist lens to governance? A comprehensive new publication edited by Marian Sawer, Lee Ann Banaszak, Jacqui True, and Johanna Kantola has brought together...
Waltzing Matildas: How is Australia Faring on Gender Equality?
The following is a shortened, lightly edited excerpt of a speech given by Australian politician, diplomat, gender equality advocate and author Natasha Stott Despoja AO, at the National Foundation...
Actually, body positivism is empowering women to live
‘Get out of the way, you fat fuck’. These are the words a young bloke yelled at me from his moving car as I walked across a carpark in suburban Canberra. He swerved his car toward me, I assume to...
We’re making progress in preventing gender-based violence
On Friday, as around 5,000 people took to the streets of Melbourne for the Walk Against Family Violence, which every year kicks off the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, I found...
Taliban’s gender apartheid tightens, suppressing women’s rights,
Today is the International Day to End Violence Against Women. The Taliban’s regime of gender apartheidcontinues to stifle women’s rights and voices. The Australian Government has removed human...
Reflections on heart, head and climate action
I have always been in awe of both the natural world and the human psyche, pondering over how individual self-development can be used to facilitate a shift in the collective response to the climate...
“You can’t judge someone’s health by their appearance”
Fresh from casually dancing and singing with the Bee Gees offstage at the Whitehouse during Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s State visit to the US (true story!), Australian of the Year Taryn...