What an absolute thrill it is to be here. Editing a website that champions, supports and celebrates female success in all of its guises is a privilege, and that privilege is compounded today.
The fact that almost 400 people have gathered in this room to acknowledge and celebrate female talent and leadership is no small feat. For us at Women’s Agenda it is an absolute pleasure to see our online community brought to life in this fashion.
For Angela Priestley and Marina Go who established Women’s Agenda two and a half years ago, I can only imagine your pride today.
This event is proof one of our defining objectives; to create new female role models, to uncover the achievements of unsung leaders, to raise the profile of ordinary women doing extraordinary things.
Why is that our objective? Because we want to tell Australian men and women a new story about women.
Why do we need a new story? Because the current story isn’t working.
When an author can sell a million copies of a single book and be reduced to “plain of feature and overweight” in her obituary, as the late Colleen McCullough recently was, it is clear that the story isn’t working.
When a seeded tennis player can finish a match at an international tournament and be asked to give a twirl, like Eugenie Bouchard was at the Australia Open, it is clear the story isn’t working.
When it is revealed that the gap between what men and women earn in certain areas of management, in Australia in 2015, is as high as 45%, it is clear.
When Alan Kohler presents research on the ABC News about female-led companies in America and can’t show a corresponding graph for female-led companies in the ASX because there aren’t enough to form a sample size.
When the first two months of a year haven’t even finished and already 15 Australian women have been killed at the hands of a partner or an ex-partner.
When a country like Australia can rank number 1 in the world for educating women but rank 52nd in the world for female workforce participation and yet barely create a ripple in the news.
When appointing a woman to cabinet doubles the representation of women at the highest level of government.
All of these things illustrate that the story isn’t working.
I have learned many things editing Women’s Agenda but if there’s one lesson I return to time and time again it is this. Women in Australia aren’t under-represented because of anything lacking on their part.
There is no shortage of talent, education, skill, capability or determination among Australian women. That is not the same as saying that every single woman in Australia is capable of leadership or greatness. That is not true.
But it is also not true that women retain a smaller piece of power & representation in Australia because they’re deficient. They’re not.
Australia’s systems, our infrastructure, our workplaces and our attitudes, are deficient in supporting, accommodating and recognising female talent. The reasons for that are undoubtedly complex and varied, but ultimately they are underpinned by a series of assumptions that fit an old story.
Assumptions that we need to challenge. Every single day.
Assumptions that we can challenge by reminding ourselves, our families, our children – frankly anyone who will listen – that women are more than how they look and what they wear.
That women are more than their relationship status and any children they have or don’t have.
That children are a family’s responsibility – not a mother’s.
That a career and a family are not mutually exclusive.
That working isn’t a frivolous pursuit. That it is a legitimate path to fulfilment, economic empowerment and independence.
That women are just as capable of leading companies, countries and banks as men are.
Shining a light on the women who happily and easily defy the odds won’t alone create change but it can certainly plant the powerful seeds that might.
That is why Women’s Agenda exists and it’s why we’re gathered here today. It’s why I want to thank every single person in this room. By being here you are supporting us in our endeavour to create a new story and a new conversation for women. It is my sincere hope that each of you might leave here, even more emboldened to live it.
I want to thank and congratulate every finalist we are here to honour and celebrate. You are the new story and your accomplishments are proof that the new story is a future worth chasing.
This is the second year I have been involved in the NAB Women’s Agenda Leadership awards and the calibre of entries is just extraordinary. Shifting through them is unbelievably humbling and inspiring, even if a little detrimental to one’s self esteem.
But it makes our job of writing about the incredible talent and potential of women in Australia incredibly easy. We are a small team but what we lack in numbers we make up for in passion, belief and determination. And we work really hard which is why I want to thank everyone at Women’s Agenda and Private Media who made today possible, thank you.
Let’s get on with the new story.