Following the NFL Super Bowl on Sunday night, the 77-year-old posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, taking credit for the pop star’s enormous success over the years.

In his post, Trump refers to the Music Modernisation Act that was passed under his watch as US president, legislation that helped artists earn royalties and licensing fees easier on music streaming services.

“I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization Act for Taylor Swift and all other Musical Artists,” Trump wrote.

“Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will.”

Swift hasn’t officially endorsed a presidential candidate yet for this year’s election, however she did publicly announce her support for President Joe Biden in 2020.

“There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt President in the History of our Country, and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money,” Trump continued in his post.

“Besides that, I like her boyfriend, Travis, even though he may be a Liberal, and probably can’t stand me!”

Previously, Swift was known for keeping her politics to herself and very rarely demonstrated any political leaning in her art and in her presence in the public eye.

However, in the 2018 midterm election, Swift endorsed Democrat Senator Phil Bredesen and urged her fans to vote the same.

Her 2020 Netflix documentary Miss Americana includes footage of moments before she made the endorsement in a post on Instagram. While Swift’s father was concerned about security risks and potentially damaging headlines outing her opposition to Trump, she said it was something she felt she needed to do, regretting not speaking out sooner.

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A post shared by Loni Love (@comiclonilove)

Swift was particularly opposed to Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn – who ran against Democrat Senator Bredesen and ultimately won – based on her extreme right-wing views against women and the LGBTQIA+ community.

“She votes against fair pay for women. She votes against reauthorisation of the violence against women act, which is just basically protecting us from domestic abuse and stalking,” Swift said in the footage on Miss Americana.

“She thinks that if you’re a gay couple or even if you look like a gay couple you should be allowed to be kicked out of a restaurant.

“I can’t see another commercial [with] her disguising these policies behind the words ‘Tennessee Christian values. Those aren’t Tennessee Christian values’. I live in Tennessee. I am Christian. That’s not what we stand for.”

Conspiracy theories

Trump’s comments on Taylor Swift comes off the back of far-right pundits accusing the pop star of being a “Pentagon asset” who will “rig” the upcoming presidential election in November in favour of the Democrat party.

Some referred to Swift as an “election interference psyop” who will turn Swifities into Democrat voters. Others have accused Swift of being a puppet for the NFL and Democrats, referencing her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, saying she will also rig the Super Bowl match.

While Swift has not addressed the accusations, President Joe Biden has not shied away from them, and instead, his social media team has taken the mickey out of it.

Just like we drew it up. pic.twitter.com/9NBvc5nVZE

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 12, 2024

In an unanticipated move, Biden also created a TikTok account on Sunday night – presumably to appeal to younger voters – that already has nearly 100,000 followers.

The post Donald Trump believes he is the man who made Taylor Swift ‘so much money’ appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Proceedings at the Federal Court of Australia began last Thursday, with the United Workers Union representing the former employees at Perfection Fresh.

The women who are the complainants of the lawsuit were contract workers, hired externally by a labour hire company. They were employed at the Perfection Fresh Two Wells Glasshouse, located outside of North Adelaide in South Australia, where the alleged sexual harassment occurred.

Two former employees at Perfection Fresh have been accused of perpetrating the harassment, and Perfection Fresh has confirmed with Women’s Agenda the employees no longer work at the company as a result of the accusations.

Industrial and Employment lawyer April Zahra said while this is a major case happening in Australia, it is “nothing new” in terms of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces.

“There is no place for sexual harassment in the workplace ever,” Zahra said. 

“These women are working with their union and courageously coming forward to hold a powerful organisation accountable, and to make workplaces safer for all women, especially farm and seasonal workers.

“Unfortunately, the information this lawsuit is bringing to light is not new. Sexual harassment is not only prevalent against farm and seasonal workers, but is common in all Australian workplaces.”

A spokesperson from Perfection Fresh told Women’s Agenda said the company is responding to the allegations accordingly.

“Perfection Fresh takes any allegation of sexual harassment extremely seriously. It has workplace policies and procedures on appropriate conduct, as well as processes for raising complaints and the protection of complainants,” the spokesperson said.

“Perfection Fresh treated the complaints made against two employees very seriously when they were raised and responded accordingly.”

The spokesperson said the company has terminated the employment of the accused employees in both cases of alleged sexual harassment.

“Perfection Fresh acknowledges the very serious nature of the complaints and the impact of the alleged conduct on the women involved,” the spokesperson said. “We remain committed to providing a safe workplace for all workers.”

“As the allegations are currently the subject of proceedings before the Federal Court, Perfection Fresh cannot make any further comments about these matters at this time.”

Workplace sexual harassment

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Personal Safety Survey 2021-2022 highlights just how common workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault is.

The research found 1.7 million Australian adults (8.7 per cent) experienced sexual harassment in 2021-2022. One in three people in Australian workplaces were being sexually harassed, a range that has remained unchanged in the last six years.

Zahra from Slater and Gordon said there is more progress to be made in tackling the issue of workplace sexual harassment.

“Many people think that due to growing awareness, incidences of sexual harassment are diminishing. However, in the legal field we can see this is not the case,” Zahra said.

“In my work, myself and my colleagues, continue to see serious sexual harassment claims, with no sign of them slowing down.”

Sexual harassment disproportionately affects women from migrant and refugee backgrounds. Last year, a report from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) found almost 50 per cent of migrant and refugee women have experienced sexual harassment.

The report also found women who were working in temporary or casual roles were more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment and that many believed their race or religion were motivating factors for the harassment.

A lot of the horticultural industry is made up of temporary migrant workers, and Zahra from Slater and Gordon said the case against Perfection Fresh is unfortunately not the first of its kind.

“The migrant status of the workers on these farms means that these women are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and other forms of exploitation,” Zahra said.

“It is no exaggeration to say that organisations need to do more to keep their workers safe. These twelve women, through their union, have been able to speak up for vulnerable workers everywhere and we stand behind them.”

In December last year, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announced new regulatory measures to enforce positive duty in preventing unlawful conduct in the workplace. 

The measures require employers and persons conducting a business or undertaking to “take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate, as far as possible, unlawful conduct”. Crucially, the changes enforce active measures to prevent sexual harassment, discrimination and other unlawful conduct, as opposed to responding to or managing unlawful conduct after the fact.

However, when the positive duty changes came into effect, advocates, including human rights lawyer Prabha Nandagopal, were concerned the changes would not reach the intersections of women in Australia; that is, the changes would not help women of colour, migrants and refugees, First Nations women and more.

The post Twelve women sue Perfection Fresh for workplace sexual harassment appeared first on Women's Agenda.

At a Christmas family gathering in December last year, Dwan Young’s family surprised her with the Guinness World Record certificate, officially naming her as the record holder.

Young, who lives in Utah, USA, has been skiing for more than 60 years, trying her hand at the sport when she was 29 years old. Since then, she along with her family have been skiing at the family cabin at Bear Lake.

Speaking with KSL TV, Young said her granddaughter Becca contacted the Guinness World Records to see if her grandmother was eligible for the title. Then, at Christmas, the family presented her with the award.

“I thought it was a joke,” she said.

While Young has been skiing for years, she said it was her family that helped her transition from skiing on two skis to the slalom, which is no easy feat for anyone, let alone a 92-year-old.

“My kids kept saying, ‘Grandma, bend your knees! Keep your arms straight and let the boat pull you out!’” Young said.

“Now, at my age, I’m getting out of the water on two and just dropping one.”

Water skiing isn’t the only sport Young plays, and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

“Actually, I’m still playing tennis twice a week, and I’m doing water aerobics in the winter,” she said.

While her grandkids want their grandmother to give surfing a go, Young is happy to stick with what she knows.

‘What an honour.’

Since 1961, Dwan Young, who is originally from Salt Lake City, has been water skiing. But she admitted to Guinness World Records last month that she still gets nervous before a ski.

“I always get butterflies before I get in the water,” Young said. “In the water, I feel excited.”

Young was thrilled to receive the record certificate from her family, which was totally unexpected for the 92-year-old.

“I could not believe it. I still can’t believe it,” Young said. “What a surprise and what an honour.”

These days, Young only skis in Bear Lake, where the family summer cabin is. But she told Guinness World Records that if she could ski anywhere in the world, Lake Geneva in Switzerland is her dream spot.

For anyone wanting to have a go at something new, Young said your age should not matter.

“Do not be afraid to try a new sport when you are older,” she said.

“You are more capable than you think.”

The post ‘You are more capable than you think’: 92-year-old breaks water skiing record appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Driving it on a two-lane country road in Barnawartha in regional Victoria wasn’t any easier. At one point in her first drive, another truck started barrelling towards her.

Kathy’s mind echoed the words of her dad, who used to tell her how powerful trucks are – and the damage they can do should you get on the wrong side.

When she shared her fear with her driving instructor, he had one thing to say to her.

“Kathy, you are a truck.”

A mere three months after passing her truck driving test, 48-year-old Kathy is driving trucks all around the country. She’s one of the very few women in Australia doing so: just three per cent of truck drivers are women, according to government statistics.

It’s also the most freedom, control and empowerment Kathy has ever had in her life, after she escaped from an abusive relationship. Her new job is a way to take her mind off her past trauma, put the foot on the pedal and leave it behind in the rearview mirror.

“You have control (in a truck) – with domestic violence, you don’t have any control. You never know when they’re gonna go off. You never know whether you’re gonna get a black eye. You never know whether you’re gonna end up in hospital.

“Now, with this truck, I have more control over my life.”

How did it start?

Twelve years ago, Kathy’s violent and abusive relationship came to a head when she was shot in the hip by her perpetrator. He was jailed for 18 months, but Kathy has done more time recovering from the incident than he ever spent in prison.

“It really affected my life,” Kathy said.

“It’s probably not until the last 2-3 years I’ve actually started living again – starting to get counselling, work, that type of thing.”

Kathy worked as a baker for Woolworths, but with her ongoing injury, she could never return to full-time work. But an advertisement for a truck driving program, specifically targeted at women, changed everything.

“I have no experience with trucks whatsoever. But I do like driving. It’s a form of freedom and escape. When you’re driving, and you put the music on, you don’t really think,” Kathy said.

In November last year, upon seeing the ad for the Iron Women truck driving program, Kathy signed up for the three-week course. After all, how hard could it be?

It turns out, there’s a lot more to driving a truck than meets the eye. Kathy participated in two weeks of classroom theory, then had one week of on-road heavy vehicle training.

But she passed the course and passed the driving test. Now, Kathy works as a truck driver for a major transportation company in Australia – and she couldn’t be happier.

Women in the industry

According to the Australian government’s Labour Market Insights, just three per cent of truck drivers in the country are women.

The stats stack up for Kathy: when she spoke to Women’s Agenda, she was at work and observed the other truck drivers in the lot.

“There’s probably about 100 trucks here all waiting to be taken out,” Kathy said, “and there’s only two females here.”

According to research from Volvo Trucks, 76 per cent of women have never even considered a career in truck driving.

The research found a third (33 per cent) of women are hesitant to pursue a career in truck driving because of the “blokey culture”. Meanwhile, 34 per cent are worried about being physically strong enough.

While women might feel uncomfortable breaking into the business, nothing changes without women like Kathy taking charge – and it might just change their lives, like it did for her.

“It’s important we get more women in here to change the dynamics,” Kathy said.

“But also give women the opportunity to gain a skill, to gain employment, to gain purpose and meaning.

“You never know what you’re gonna get out of life until you give it a go.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, chat online via 1800RESPECT.org.au or text 0458 737 732. 

If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit www.ntv.org.au.

Feeling worried or no good? No shame, no judgement, safe place to yarn. Speak to a 13YARN Crisis Supporter, call 13 92 76. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In an emergency, call 000.

The post How a career in truck driving helped Kathy Graham heal from domestic violence trauma appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Operation Amarok V began on Wednesday last week, an intelligence-based policing strategy headed by the Domestic Violence High-Risk Offender Teams (DVHROT) in each region within the state.

Over the four days, police arrested 590 people deemed high-risk domestic violence offenders. Out of those arrested, 229 people were wanted by police for serious domestic violence offences.

By Saturday, the conclusion of Operation Amarok V, 1,183 charges were laid, 5,493 Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVOs) were imposed and police undertook 131 Firearms Prohibition Order (FPO) compliance searches.

Yasmin Catley, the NSW Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism, said the success of the Operation sends a strong message to the state.

“Operation Amarok V is the largest ever crackdown on dangerous domestic and family violence offenders, with the ultimate goal being to safeguard the community and reduce the incidence of serious harm or death,” Minister Catley said.

“This operation is unique in that it involves police strategically targeting and apprehending high-risk domestic violence offenders by using criminal profiling to identify those individuals who have both the intent and the capability to commit serious offences.”

Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon, the NSW Police Corporate Sponsor for Domestic and Family Violence, said the operation is a positive step forward in the state’s response to the epidemic of violence in the country.

“Operation Amarok V enables us to address domestic and family violence with the seriousness it warrants, akin to organised crime and homicide,” Deputy Commissioner Lanyon said. 

“It’s about precision in targeting the most dangerous offenders; the ones who pose a significant threat to victims, to family members, to other members of the community.

“Operation Amarok V incorporates methods that enable us to find the individuals we need to target and to act swiftly and effectively in apprehending them before they have the chance to commit further serious harm.”

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Personal Safety Survey (2021-2022) found one in four women in Australia experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15 years old.

Domestic violence has already killed eight women this year, according to Destroy the Joint’s Counting Dead Women. Last year, gender-based violence killed 63 women in Australia.

Last week, the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave a speech to officially launch Australia’s 2024 International Women’s Day celebrations. He said the epidemic of violence against women should be addressed by government policy and response, and is “not a problem that women should have to solve”.

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A post shared by Anthony Albanese (@albomp)

“When women are seeking help, they should be heard and seen, believed, supported and empowered,” Prime Minister Albanese said.

“While women are shaping these policies and driving these responses, ending this epidemic of violence has to involve men stepping up. Because violence against women is not a problem that women should have to solve.

“Men have to be prepared to take responsibility for our actions and our attitudes. To educate our sons, to talk to our mates, to drive real change in the culture of our sporting clubs, our faith and community groups and our workplaces, including this workplace right here.”

The post NSW Police arrest nearly 600 domestic violence offenders over four-day operation appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Just weeks after sexually-explicit AI-generated images of Taylor Swift were circulated and viewed on his social media platform X more than 47 million times, Elon Musk trivialised what is a very real threat for women when it comes to these technologies.

On Sunday night (Monday morning in Australia), Musk posted a meme that shows just how little he cares about this threat.

“Boobs rock, it’s a fact,” he wrote on the post.

It’s the billionaire, Silicon Valley bro version of an 11-year-old boy typing “5318008” on his calculator and turning it upside down so it spells “BOOBIES”. I can picture an adolescent-like giggle escaping from Musk as he put fake boobs on the woman in the meme, wrote the caption and posted it to his 172 million followers on X, his very own platform.

But the truth is – the meme was immature, tone deaf and the clearest indication we have that Musk just isn’t funny.

Luckily, I am. And I want to show him how meme-making is really done.

The AI blame game

If there was any real accountability for Musk and people wanted to bring him down for making fun of a very real issue, I wonder if he would point the finger at AI.

Because that’s the pattern we’re seeing. When the pornographic images of Taylor Swift were distributed all over the platform, people vaguely blamed it on technology. No humans were accountable.

When Victorian MP Georgie Purcell’s body was edited and aired on a national television news broadcast, Nine News director Hugh Nailon cited AI as the reason the image was altered. No humans were accountable.

I’m tired of the AI blame game. It’s about time we point the finger at the real problem here – the people running the show.

SpaceX’s lawsuit

It’s an interesting choice Elon Musk has made to meme-ify image-based sexual harassment when his company SpaceX is facing a law suit for sexual harassment and discrimination.

In January, the California civil rights department informed SpaceX of seven complaints made by former employees at the rocket-making company. The complaints were in relation to managers nurturing a hostile work environment which allowed jokes about sexual harassment to go unnoticed. According to the accusations, women were paid less than men at the organisation, and any employee who complained about the conditions was dismissed.

Last week, Bloomberg broke the story that, as a result of those complaints, SpaceX is being sued for sexual harassment and discrimination.

Did Musk miss that memo? Because I don’t think prompting AI to alter an image to make a woman’s breasts bigger is helping the case, nor is making a meme about it.

Women’s bodies and AI technologies

Elon Musk owns one of the world’s biggest social media platforms. Ultimately, this guy gets to decide what goes on the platform and what stays off.

Last week, Women’s Agenda published an article about a woman who was kicked out of a shopping mall for wearing a midriff top. In the article, the main image showed a picture of her stomach.

When we posted the stories on social media, we ran into a problem. The article was blocked and unable to be posted on X.

Why? Because of the main image. Because of the woman’s stomach.

To be clear: AI-generated pornographic images of women are able to be widely distributed on the platform, seen 47 million times before Musk and the team at X notices a problem. But a woman’s belly? Not ok.

Women’s bodies are still being regulated by men – online and beyond. The men running the online world don’t see a problem with deep fake images, because it doesn’t affect them: rather, they see it curated for their pleasure and their pleasure only, because “boobs rock”, right? But stuff like this can ruin names, reputations, lives and so much more. 

Of course, regulation on the technology itself is important. Giving people the ability to create this dangerous content gives people the choice to create this dangerous content. That’s why so many women in AI are calling for more regulation and a stronger gender lens in government regulation of AI.

But don’t try to tell me it’s a robot’s fault. Because Musk’s poor attempt at being funny speaks volumes to how men in these spaces (still) disrespect women. 

Maybe it’s not giving people the choice to create the dangerous content that is the problem. Maybe it’s the fact we’re letting them get away with it.

The post Elon Musk made a meme about the sexual exploitation of women’s bodies online. So I made some memes about him. appeared first on Women's Agenda.

According to a report from 9News, 20-year-old Madison Green was at Dalby Shoppingworld in the Western Downs region of Queensland, grocery shopping for her grandmother.

A security guard stopped her and asked her to leave. Green caught the interaction on camera, which was provided to 9News.

“What’s your issue?” Green asks the security guard.

“I can see your stomach,” she replied.

The security guard from Valhalla Security Services said Green needed to wear “any shirt that covers your whole stomach… because that’s the law”.

Green argued there were stores in the shopping centre that sold midriff tops like the one she wore on the day of the ordeal. Meanwhile, mid argument, another woman in the shopping centre walked by, wearing a midriff top.

“She’s not wearing a top,” Green said to the security guard.

“Well, I saw you first, and she’s on her way out,” the security guard said.

“So I can’t wear a top but this lady can?” 

“I saw her after I saw you, and you’re a smart ass, so now you can leave.”

The guard threatened to call the police and ban Green from the shopping centre. She then followed Green into the grocery store.

“Leave me alone, stop following me,” Green said.

“It’s my job,” the guard replied.

Following the incident, Green spoke to 9News, saying she felt intimidated and shaken.

“I’m a woman and I know for a fact I’m allowed to wear these things,” she said.

“It’s 2024, I don’t see any issue with it whatsoever.”

Dalby Shoppingworld confirmed with 9News the woman wasn’t breaking any centre rules for wearing a midriff top. The spokesperson from the shopping centre also said the security guard would not be working at the centre in the future.

The male gaze

It’s not the first time this week alone that women’s clothing has featured in headlines – for all the wrong reasons.

On Monday night, a man from the Gold Coast went on The Project to discuss a letter he published in the Gold Coast Bulletin.

In the letter, Ian Grace asked the Mayor of the Gold Coast, Tom Tate, to ban women wearing thong bikinis in public. He said the swimwear makes him “uncomfortable” and “sends the wrong message”. Steve Price, a panellist on The Project, said he “tends to agree” with the man’s perspective.

Grace said while a woman in a thong is a “nice view”, it would make him uncomfortable if that same woman is later “serving me a coffee”.

Sarah Harris, co-host on The Project, asked Grace why he felt the need to look, to which Grace said “you can’t help it”.

He later went on to say he would take women who wear revealing clothes in business meetings less seriously.

“I have seen women at fairly high-level networking meetings that were very much exposing their breasts and you think, ‘Well, you’ve kind of lost a bit of business credibility straightaway’,” Grace said.

Harris wrapped up the interview shortly after, saying she was “lost for words”.

Throughout history, women fashion designers have been changing the way women dress, providing women with an outlet of freedom of expression and liberation from the male gaze.

However, many people continue to hold prejudiced views against women who wear revealing or “promiscuous” clothing.

At best, people believe women are taken less seriously by men. At worst, people believe it puts women more at risk of rape. 

A survey in the UK from The Independent found more than half (55 per cent) of men and two fifths of women believe a woman is more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted if she wears revealing clothes.

The post Is it against the law to wear a midriff top? This woman was told it was appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The 51-year-old mother was last seen leaving her home at 7am on Sunday February 4 for her regular morning jog. 

Samantha Murphy’s husband, Mick Murphy, thanked the community for all the support, but called on anyone with a shred of information to contact police.

“People don’t just vanish into thin air,” Mick Murphy said to reporters on Thursday, outside the family home. 

“Someone’s got to know something.”

Their daughter, Jess, spoke through tears about her missing mother.

“Mum’s a really strong woman and she’s far too determined to give up this fight,” Jess said.

“I know she’s out there somewhere, so if you could please continue to search for her, to give us something to work with, we’d really appreciate it.

“Mum, we love you so much and we miss you.”

The family contacted police hours after Samantha Murphy was last seen when she failed to return home from her jog.

This week, police have conducted a widespread search for the 51-year-old in the Canadian Forest area, the Mount Helen area and to the East of Geelong Road.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ballarat police asked neighbours of the area to review any CCTV footage they may have, and called on people driving in the area between 7-11am on Sunday February 4 to review dashcam footage.

“Police and family have concerns for Samantha’s welfare due to the length of time she has been missing and her disappearance being out of character,” the statement said.

“Anyone who sights Samantha is urged to contact 000 immediately.”

On Thursday, Acting Inspector Lisa Macdougall from Ballarat police spoke to reporters saying police are “keeping an open mind and considering all possibilities”.

“We are being extremely thorough and methodical with that investigation,” she said.

“There are no suspicious circumstances that we’ve identified at this stage.

“We are hopeful and we are continuing to search, which is why we are out there utilising all of our resources to throw everything at the search.”

Catherine King MP, the Federal Member for Ballarat, thanked everyone in the community who has been involved in the search.

This has been a very distressing few days for so many in our community with the disappearance of Samantha Murphy.

Thank you to the many, many volunteers who have stepped up to help alongside @VictoriaPolice and @vicsesnews.

— Catherine King MP (@CatherineKingMP) February 7, 2024

On Wednesday, CCTV footage that was believed to have captured Samantha Murphy jogging was ruled out, as another woman in the area came forward and identified herself in the footage.

Several items have been located during the search for Murphy, but police have concluded they are not “related to her whereabouts” at this time.

The community has rallied behind the Murphy family to help find Samantha. Mick Murphy thanked everyone for the support they have shown, including sending food for the family throughout the week.

A Facebook page called Find Samantha Murphy, created by Cindy Hobbs, has nearly 13,000 members, who are sharing tips that may be relevant to Murphy’s disappearance.

“This is a public group for locals to share search efforts, and discuss topics to help find Sam,” the page’s description reads.

“Please stick to facts about the case but feel free to ask questions.

“THANK YOU for being here, even if you are unable to search, just your presence in this group helps spread awareness.”

The post ‘Mum, we love you so much’: Search for Samantha Murphy enters its sixth day appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The startup, formerly known as EasyRent, provided subletting options in New Zealand and Sydney, before pivoting the business to expand in New York City.

Earlier this year, Kiki announced it would be launching a “girls only” club in the US city in an Instagram post, a decision that received significant backlash.

On Wednesday, Toby Thomas-Smith spoke in an Instagram video posted on Kiki’s account, addressing the situation from last month.

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A post shared by Kiki Club (@kikiclub.nyc)

“I have a lot to own and apologise for, since putting out that post four weeks ago,” Thomas-Smith said.

The co-founder first apologised to the people who found the decision “offensive and disrespectful”.

“I was extremely naive referring to Kiki as the first girls club in NYC and for not articulating the true reasons behind this direction,” he said.

When it was first announced, the Kiki co-founders cited the hire of its first female worker as the reason behind the decision, who “enlightened” the all-male founding team on the supposed problem of women meeting women in NYC.

“It was incredibly offensive to all the women founders who’ve been working and researching to improve the safe environments for women to live in,” Thomas-Smith said in his apology.

According to Kiki and Blackbird, the venture capital fund that invested in Kiki, women comprised 70 per cent of Kiki users. Thomas-Smith said it is women who engages with the subletting company the most, which encouraged the group to pursue the “girls only” club.

However, Thomas-Smith said the startup’s time in NYC so far has “lacked the special feeling” and the “strong level of connection in the community” that they had in Sydney.

“We’re still ultimately committed to subletting and our mission of changing how the world lives, but because we’ve been missing the connection piece, this has required our full focus the past few weeks,” he said.

“Again, I’m deeply sorry for how I went about communicating this focus in such a poor way. I won’t make these same mistakes again in the future.”

Blackbird’s response

Venture capital funds have a significant gender problem. In 2023, just four per cent of startup funding went to all-female teams in 2023, with all-male teams continuing to dominate across all deals done.

At the time of Kiki’s announcement, a lot of backlash was directed at Blackbird, Australia’s largest venture capital fund. Blackbird invested a 16 per cent stake in the all-male founded startup when it was based in Sydney and known as EasyRent.

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Many commentators criticised Blackbird’s lack of response since the saga. But four weeks later, General Partner at Blackbird Ventures Samantha Wong released a statement on behalf of the company.

Her statement addressed the criticism surrounding the gender issue in Kiki and in VC funding in general, one Blackbird is “committed to improving”.

“As a former female founder who struggled to raise venture funding for her startup, and as a female general partner who has raised $160M over two separate funds for the New Zealand Blackbird funds that I run, I am empathetic to the challenge of fundraising as a woman,” Wong said.

“I can fully appreciate the frustration at inequity in funding for female founders that I saw in commentary on this story.”

Wong firstly clarified “a few facts” in relation to Kiki’s girls only club.

“Despite what you may have read, Blackbird did not back a women’s club, nor did Kiki ‘fail’ in Sydney,” Wong said. 

“We, along with numerous other investors, invested in Kiki to expand its subletting platform, off the back of its strong traction in Sydney, where it was known as ‘EasyRent’.

“At the time of our investment of 16%, EasyRent had been live in Sydney for 12 months, was essentially bootstrapped and was profitable.”

Kiki then made the “bold and risky” move to expand its business in NYC and “own the subletting category globally”, which Wong said has a “logical basis”.

“Women made up 70% of Kiki users in Sydney, but when they moved to New York, they experienced an imbalance of supply and demand, and didn’t have the ‘community magic’,” Wong said.

“As we all know, startup founders experiment and learn and sometimes adjust as they go. They do not always get everything 100% right. We see it as our role to provide support to them through the learning, shifting, ups and downs of the startup journey. 

“So that’s where our focus has been working with Kiki over the last few weeks.”

In 2022, Blackbird invested in 22 companies; 23 per cent of those companies had at least one woman founder in the founding team.

“While this is broadly in line with industry standards, it’s nowhere near where we want it to be,” Wong said. 

“We are committed to continuing to provide transparent reporting about our progress, acknowledging that we need to do better.”

Blackbird has several programs designed to mentor, coach and develop more women startup founders.

“There is much more work to do, and we’re committed to doing it,” Wong said. “We will continue doing our part to build an ecosystem we can all be proud of.”

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Labor garnered support from the Greens and the crossbench in the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening, guaranteeing the Bill will come to a final vote in the Senate on Thursday morning.

Last year, the Greens tabled the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) Bill 2023 with similar proposals. While that Bill did not pass, the discussion is back on the government’s agenda.

The Fair Work Amendment (Right to Disconnect) Bill 2023 will add the “right to disconnect” after work to the National Employment Standards to “ensure employees are not required to monitor, read or respond to email, telephone calls or any other kinds of communication from an employer outside their working hours”, the explanatory memorandum says.

There are current safeguards in place defining “unreasonable working hours”. SafeWork Australia’s Code of Practice Managing psychosocial hazards at work lists “long, irregular or unpredictable work-hours (e.g. doing shift work or being on call)” as a psychosocial hazard in the workplace.

However, there is currently no specific legislation that gives employees the right to “disconnect” or “switch off” from work.

Similar laws that grant employees those rights exist in several countries around the world, notably France and Germany.

So, how will the laws actually work? We spoke with Fay Calderone, an employment lawyer and partner at Hall & Wilcox, to learn more.

Clearing up the blurred boundaries

Your working hours may be 9-5, but you may find yourself checking emails, answering calls or responding to text messages outside those defined hours.

Under the proposed legislation, you may no longer have to do that.

The changes to the law would not prohibit employers from sending the texts or the emails; rather, it would grant employees the right to ignore them and leave it to address during work hours. 

Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke MP says the laws would mean “absolutely no penalty can be brought against them” for doing so.

Calderone noted the pandemic’s role in “blurring the boundaries” between work life and home life, which has resulted in “availability creep”. She speculates the changes may form part of the existing adverse action provisions in the Fair Work Act, which prohibit adverse action (such as warnings or termination of employment) being taken against an employee on certain protected grounds.

Adverse action taken against employees for setting firm work boundaries disproportionately affects women and carers who have more unpaid domestic or care responsibilities outside of the workplace. 

“Maybe (the proposed laws) will fill the gap for unpaid work, and particularly for women who work reduced hours due to carers’ responsibilities, but this would require more carrot that stick,” Calderone told Women’s Agenda.

‘More stick than carrot’

The National Employment Standard in the Fair Work Act already provides the maximum working hours for full-time employees to be 38 hours per week. Full-time employees can only be expected to work “reasonable additional hours” considering various factors, such as work, health, safety and the employee’s personal circumstances, including family responsibilities. An expectation to work unreasonable additional hours is a breach of the Fair Work Act.

If the Senate votes in favour of legislating the “right to disconnect” Bill, Calderone said it would act as “more stick than carrot”: that is, employees will be able to seek the assistance of the Fair Work Commission for a “stop order” against their employer, and may have protection from adverse action if they disconnect.

The “carrot” potential was the concept of an “availability allowance” for periods during which communications are made to employees outside ordinary working hours. It does not seem this will form part of the new ‘right to disconnect’ provisions in the Closing Loopholes (No 2) Bill. 

“The availability allowance may have gone some way towards closing the gender pay gap by ensuring women are remunerated for work outside their ordinary hours in circumstances where this is not available to them under an Award or Enterprise Agreement,” Calderone said.  

“The proposed changes are part of public campaign that opens up the conversation even further, and provides some more detail, rigour and stick consequence that may accelerate the pace of change.

“It may also be open to employers to pay an ‘availability allowance’ as a matter of policy to increase the reasonableness of the requirement to work outside of hours or as part of the ‘reasonable business grounds’ justifying out of hours contact.  

“There are no reports which presently suggest this will be the case and this can only be considered when we see the details of the proposed laws.”

Changes for women?

Calderone also wonders if the “right to disconnect” legislation’s definition of the term “reasonable working hours” and the “reasonable business grounds” permitting outside of hours contact will allow for subjectivity for carers, most of whom are women.

“It’s not clear – I haven’t read anything that suggests that will be the case, other than existing discrimination legislation and flexible work provisions,” Calderone said.

“I think there’s an aspect of it that will protect women and carers if it comes through, like the ‘no penalty’ provisions.”

The changes to the legislation would be desirable for women, Calderone said. Having the right to “disconnect” from work would give women and people with caring responsibilities “comfort” that they are not expected to take that call, answer that email, reply to that text or meet that out of hours deadline that has been imposed on them.

But Calderone expects not many women and carers would take a complaint to the Commission to obtain a “stop order”, even if the legislation was passed.

“I just can’t see that many working mums going off to the Commission and saying her employer is making her work unreasonable hours,” she said.

“This more frequently occurs in unionised workforces, with groups and people gathering together, which is not often the case for working mums, particularly those working flexibly.”

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The Crime Amendment (Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence) Bill 2024 announced the introduction of the proposed reforms in parliament on Wednesday.

The Bill was created based on several outstanding recommendations from the 2017 Final Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It also supports the government’s National Stragey to Prevent And Respond to Child Sexual Abuse (2021-2030).

The Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC MP said the Bill has the potential to improve the experience of victims and survivors of sexual violence in our justice system.

“Sexual assault can have devastating, cumulative and long-lasting effects on the lives of victims and survivors, their families and communities,” Dreyfus said.

“These reforms support victims and survivors engaged in the Commonwealth criminal justice system, while maintaining due process protections and ensuring that defendants continue to be tried fairly and impartially.

“The reforms were developed in consultation with stakeholders, including victims and survivors and their advocates. I thank them for sharing their experience and expertise.”

If the legislation is passed, any “evidence” related to the complainant’s sexual reputation will become inadmissible in Commonwealth criminal proceedings in order to reduce “traumatisation of complaints and/or witnesses during proceedings”.

“Evidence of sexual reputation is not to be admissible on the basis that such evidence is too far removed from evidence of actual events or circumstances for its admission to be in the interests of justice in any circumstance,” the Bill’s explanatory memorandum reads.

“The court must not grant leave unless it is satisfied that the evidence is substantially relevant to the facts in issue in the proceeding and (if the evidence relates to the credibility of the vulnerable adult complainant and is to be adduced in cross-examination of the complainant), the evidence has substantial probative value.”

Other changes to the criminal justice system for cases related to sexual assault, should the Bill be passed, will include the introduction of evidence recording hearings for vulnerable people, which can be tendered as evidence in future proceedings.

The Bill would also allow complainants and witnesses in sexual assault cases to “speak out about their experiences” in a self-publishing format or through a third-party, such as a media organisation, “should they wish to do so”.

Last month, the government announced an inquiry into how the justice system responds to cases of sexual violence, in a bid to improve the experiences of victims and survivors. 

The government has committed $14.7 million to the First Action Plan of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-203, a plan which the inquiry falls under.

The National Women’s Safety Alliance (NWSA), headed by director Katherine Berney, posted on social media commending the government’s announcement.

“Excellent news today with the introduction of the Crimes Amendment Bill,” NWSA said.

“NWSA and our members participated in numerous consultations to ensure this archaic practice could be removed.

“Someone consenting to previous sexual activity, should not be considered in a rape complaint ever. Great to see this commitment from the government for tangible change.

“Thank you to all our members who participated in our consultations and shared your lived experience – we see you and we believe you.”

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The real estate and investment management firm made the announcement on Wednesday. Her role will involve working closely with key clients and stakeholders to deliver global, regional and local Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) strategies.

JLL’s CEO Dan Kernaghan said Collins’ new role will help establish change for an inclusive future for the company.

“Kara’s appointment as the Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion underscores JLL’s steadfast commitment to driving positive change and creating a more inclusive future,” Kernaghan said. 

“Her leadership and passion will undoubtedly inspire our employees to embrace diversity and champion equitable practices throughout our organisation.”

Collins joined JLL in 2018 as a senior property manager and outside her role, she led several state and national DE&I committees.

Collins’ hard work in the industry, paired with her commitment to DE&I, has not gone unnoticed: she received JLL’s Australian and APAC DE&I Award in 2020 and was a finalist in the WA PCA Property Leader of the Year Award in 2022.

Julie Skinner, the Head of HR at JLL Australia and New Zealand (JLL ANZ), said she is thrilled with Collins’ appointment.

“JLL ANZ’s inaugural appointment of a dedicated Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leader is a commitment to champion change for the future of our clients, communities, and team members,” she said.

“Welcoming Kara Collins into the DE&I Leader role is an extension of her six years of commitment to JLL’s clients and an opportunity to innovate in our DE&I deliverables to all stakeholders.  I’m thrilled to be working with Kara on these initiatives and we have an exciting, continued journey ahead of us.”

Collins will be working closely with Nashunda Williams, the global Head of DE&I, who is looking forward to working with her.

“Kara’s past accomplishments and experience reflects her commitment to fostering inclusive and equitable environments, where employees feel welcomed, valued, and empowered,” she said. 

“We look forward to the positive impact she will have in driving JLL’s DEI journey and creating lasting, transformative change.”

Collins said she is excited to get stuck into her new role at JLL ANZ, a company she has worked at for six years.

“JLL has continuously shown a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and I am honoured to be entrusted with leading these efforts for Australia and New Zealand,” she said. 

“I am excited to work with the passionate DE&I teams and leverage JLL’s extensive resources to ensure our workplace is an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and can thrive.

“We are fortunate that our clients are keen to partner with us in our Diversity endeavours, and we do not underestimate the role we can play in ensuring that the communities in which we operate are inclusive for all. I look forward to personally supporting our team in their partnership with our clients in this important work.”

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