Yesterday when I posted asking you to vote in the Agenda Setter awards, I wasn't aware that voting was closing the very same day.  So I apologise for asking you to do something that clearly you could not. Read More

Three years ago on International Women's Day I launched the Make Care Fair alliance with the goal of getting policy makers to seriously rethink childcare and readjust policies, systems and those all important places across Australia to better serve the needs of Australian families.  I've learned a lot in this process, and have had the opportunity to speak with many community leaders and politicians to push the case for a complete overhaul of what is clearly an outdated and .  This lobbying has been recognised with a nomination in the Agenda Setter category of the NAB Women's Agenda Leadership Awards, and now I need your help to progress to through the voting stage. Read More

This is a long overdue update on the Make Care Petition which many of you will know I launched almost two years ago to get childcare reform on the political agenda.  At the time of the petition launch we ran a survey and 86% of respondents said they would give their vote to the party with a tax-deductible policy on childcare.  I guess we'll soon have the chance to test that theory with the election date announced.   Read More

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced today that the next Federal election in Australia will be held on September 14, sparking what may be be the longest political campaign we've ever seen here.  So how do the major parties currently compare on policies targeted at the female vote?  Rose Powell - who started her career here right here at sphinxx and is now a writer for Women's Agenda has prepared this fantastic summary (great stuff Rose, keep up the good work for us!) Read More

With a 9:1 male/female expert ratio on the BBC1 News at Ten, it's no wonder the network is looking for female talent to add to its expert panel. So what is the biggest obstacle women face in getting on air?  Themselves and the Imposter Syndrome, according to organisers of Expert Women's Day, hosted by the BBC Academy in conjunction with Broadcast magazine last week.   Read More

With perfect timing to round out my Women in Media theme of the week, Australia’s own Queen of Media, Ita Buttrose OBE AO, has been crowned Australian of the Year and says she will use the recognition to drive community change.  Like many Australians, I grew up watching Ita on TV advertising editions of Women’s Weekly and, for young girls in any case, she was the one we all wanted to be.  Elegant, poised and painted nails! That was before I learned of her career achievements, which really earned her the respect of business leaders the world over.  News of her appointment broke as I was driving home on Friday from my adventure co-hosting Sydney Live with Ben Fordham (a huge thanks to Ben for taking a punt and putting Kayley and me live on air with you; and while it was all for fun this time we hope to be back on-air soon taking on serious issues from a woman’s perspective).  But back to Ita and all of her amazing achievements which include: Read More

BIG NEWS here today is that I’ve just received a call from Ben Fordham’s Sydney Live team at 2GB inviting me and Kayley Harris to co-host Ben’s Happy Hour program tonight from 5-6pm.  Kayley and I have been working on a concept to bring women’s voices and views to the testosterone-charged airways of commercial radio stations across Australia, and so it’s a BIG WIN to have the chance to test our idea on air tonight.  We would LOVE you to listen in, and importantly CALL IN to the Radio’s open lines between 5-6pm Sydney time this afternoon to voice your support, please dial 131 873.  It’s LIVE CALLERS this afternoon that we need to get the programmers to get behind us. Read More

I was planning to write a post about The Boob himself (aka David Koche) on Sunday afternoon but ended up out of action after pinching a nerve in my back (ouch!).  Thankfully while I've been laid out, Clementine Ford published an opinion piece yesterday at smh.com.au that gets to the crux of the issue: the lack of female voices in our main stream media. 
As Ford says, "The problem with recent comments about breastfeeding by Channel Seven's David Koch isn't so much about ignorance, it's that they are legitimised by a broadcast media populated by bumbling blokes in a society that heralds laddish masculinity. Koch is clearly not a stupid man. His blokey everyman schtick sits comfortably with the kinds of values we allow to dominate Australian broadcast media. Our idea of acceptable Australian masculinity is reinforced by the kinds of male voices we allow to set the mainstream social agenda - think Kyle Sandilands, Sam Newman, Chris Smith, anyone on the Footy Show and all of 2GB. There's very little room for intelligence and thoughtful compassion, with most broadcast strategies deferring to an entirely outdated construction of masculinity whose cornerstones are mateship, blokeyness and hilarious sexism.

Society allows its (extremely well paid) male hosts to behave like undisciplined little boys, and consequently it also excuses and punishes their transgressions as such. What can you do? Their humour is ''edgy''. Boys will be boys. Here come the PC police! We're sorry if you were offended." Read More

Here's an event that those entrepreneurs amongst you may find of interest and which I'm delighted to promote on behalf of the team at Women on Boards.  The 2013 SME Business Governance Symposium series is a partnership between Women on Boards, National Australia Bank and Women Chiefs of Enterprise International and the series has been designed in recognition of the large number of SME owners in the WOB network to provide a high quality forum that covers issues faced by SMEs including: Read More

Imagine being taken from your mother when you are two years old (or for parents reading this, having your child taken from you at age 2)… being “re-homed” in a Government or religious institution where you learn the skills to be a house servant.  This will become your occupation from age 9, except that it’s no ordinary job: in your role as a domestic servant you will be raped and beaten by the master of the house; ignored by the mistress of the house; and treated as a second class citizen by the children of the house. Read More