Yet reports that some large companies are considering doing just that have begun circulating as employers fight to bring people back on site for at least 50 percent of the time.

Late last year, an internal memo to ANZ staff, shared by The Aussie Corporate Instagram page, showed the bank cracking down on staff who worked from home more than half the time.

It warned that if employees didn’t “meet the standards expected [of 50 per cent attendance], it may factor into your performance rating and PRR [Performance and Remuneration Review] outcomes at the end of the FY24 year.”

More recently, PwC’s UK boss warned that young workers who don’t come into office at least four times a week will be replaced with artificial intelligence.

The threat to link on-site work to performance, the pay packet — and even to keeping one’s job — is a sign that post Covid 19 lockdowns, both employers and employees are struggling to find the right balance between working on-site and remotely.

“There is no one simple answer to this,” says Dr Fiona Macdonald, policy director at the industrial and social department at the Centre for Future Work.

“While some employees are happy to go into the office a few days a week, in some places people don’t want to be in the office at all. It’s pretty problematic for organisations in how they manage that.”

While many organisations continue to include flexible work policies following the pandemic years of 2020 to 2022, the creep of presenteeism and messages that those working from home may suffer from being “out of sight and out of mind”, as well as being seen as less productive, are intensifying in some sectors.

“We have organisations which are overwhelmingly staffed by men, and while I don’t think most men consciously think they don’t want women in their workplace, there is definitely less understanding about people’s life circumstances if you don’t have diversity,” says Macdonald.

And while for many the model to return to working how we used to — 9 to 5, on-site — seems easier to implement, experts believe companies need to move beyond that and try harder to offer flexibility.

“It’s well past the time where we’re thinking workplaces need to be based on male models of working in the 1970s,” Macdonald says, but points out that many workplaces have not been structured around hybrid and flexible work.

“Managers haven’t been training to think about it,” she adds. “It takes effort to figure out how to organise staff who are working remotely some of the time, and what is the best way to get them to come together and work well as a team.”

The problem is that the “cat’s out of the bag” when it comes to hybrid working, with people now expecting some degree of leniency from their bosses. For many women, the flex work policies implemented during Covid were a godsend, and enabled a much more reasonable work-life balance.

Demanding that staff return to work physically will disproportionately impact those with caring responsibilities (usually women), says Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO at Australian HR Institute.

“Rigid office attendance requirements might inadvertently create barriers to workplace participation for those with caring responsibilities, who we know are more likely to be women.”

Families and home life have always adapted to organisations, points out Macdonald: maybe it’s time that organisations adapt a little to life. Men also need to get on board and fight for the right to hybrid work.

“If we want more men to do more caring, men need to be demanding these changes too,” she says. “Unfortunately change comes slowly: it’s two steps forward, one step back”. 

Fortunately, some data suggests the situation is not quite so gloomy. McCann-Bartlett points to AHRI’s most recent survey, which, after talking to 452 employers, found that while more employers are specifying how many days a week employees should work on-site, most (that can) are maintaining a hybrid work model.

“Very few employers are requiring employees to return to the physical workplace five days a week,” says Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO at Australian HR Institute. “AHRI’s research shows that in 2023, only 7 per cent of employers required full time employees to attend physically all five days”.

The research also found that nearly all (97 per cent) of organisations offered some form of flexible working arrangement aside from hybrid working, such as  part-time work (85 per cent); flexi time (53 per cent); compressed hours or compressed working weeks (45 per cent); and career breaks (44 per cent).

Senior lecturer in work and organisational studies at the University of Sydney Business School, Dr Meraiah Foley, believes organisations are “finding themselves in a pickle trying to work out what is the right balance between having people physically present to build culture, foster innovation and help train new graduates, and allowing the kind of flexibility people have become used to”.

“People like working remotely and having autonomy and flexibility, and in many instances, people aren’t returning to their workplace to the extent organisations would like them to,” she tells Women’s Agenda.

Seemingly every week, cases about “battles” between employees and employers fighting for balance are aired in public, including a sales rep being awarded $26,000 in compensation after being fired by his employer over “lack of commitment” for working from home on compulsory on-site days; a scientist failing to get his job back following the sack for secretly working overseas; and Fair Work upholding that a remote working lawyer was unfairly fired for trawling music, books, comic and PlayStation websites while on the clock.

Foley says any organisations that plan to dock pay based on office attendance are extremely problematic, and a return to the “idea that productivity is time spent in the office… and not based on outputs and outcomes”.

“It’s also extremely problematic from a gender equality perspective, as it’s just going to reward people who don’t have caring responsibilities or who have the capacity to work long hours,” she adds.

The post Is corporate’s push to be back in the office harming women? appeared first on Women's Agenda.

But the gap’s still there. It’s not closing fast enough. And right now, we’re failing to take even the simple steps that could contribute to boosting the superannuation savings of women. 

According to new research from Roy Morgan this week, 70.9 per cent of women have superannuation, compared with 66.2 per cent in 2012. That’s seen the gap on balance ownership closing by 3.9 per cent, with 74.8 per cent of men having it in 2012, a figure that remains unchained today. 

Meanwhile, Roy Morgan has also found that the average superannuation balance for women has grown faster than men since 2012. For women, it grew by 38 per cent in the past decade to an average $154,000. For men, it grew an increase of 26 per cent, to an average of $216,000. 

So what’s seen it closing? According to Roy Morgan, it may come down to an increased focus on the issues and the importance of closing the gap, as well as the need to improve retirement funding for women. That suggests it’s coming down to women taking action themselves, rather than policies or bigger initiatives to address the issues.  

On Women’s Agenda, we’ve certainly seen this to be true – with this gap gaining significantly more attention in recent years than a decade ago, and more women seeking to address their personal balances. We’ve also seen the alarming figures on women retiring into poverty – and the stats finding that women aged over 55 are the fastest cohort of homelessness in Australia, to be getting more airtime during discussions on these issues. We hear these figures over and over again, and women are increasingly seeing the risks the personally face financially as they are getting older.

There are a number of contributing factors that create this gender gap including the gender pay gap, and the fact more women are likely to have employment interruptions if they become parents. 

Employment interruptions are one explanation – but they shouldn’t be a justification for women retiring with significantly less, especially given these interruptions usually occur in order to undertake unpaid care work, typically when having young kids. 

But as Roy Morgan notes, women across all age groups who are currently working have lower average incomes than men, and the average wage for women as a percentage of that earned by men drops for every age groups. Women aged 18 to 24 for example, earn 85.8 per cent of wage of their male counterparts – which is actually the narrowest gap across all age groups. The figure drops to only 70.6 per cent for women aged 65 and over. Roy Morgan finds that this lower average income for women with superannuation is due to the fact nearly half (45.3 per cent) of employed women work part time, compared to 23.5 per cent for men, based on their latest March 2023 employment figures. 

As Michele Levine, Roy Morgan CEO notes, there have been significant gains in employment and women’s workforce participation over the past decade – rising from 57.9 per cent in 2012 to 64 per cent in March 2023, but women are still far moe likely to work in part time jobs than men. 

“Clearly part-time work is associated with a lower annual income than full-time work and this continues to contribute to the ongoing gender superannuation gap. The latest figures on income show that average female incomes are at only around 76% of the male average, which in turn leads to lower superannuation contributions and balances compared to males,” Levine said.

“In addition to lower average incomes, females are more likely to have interrupted employment. However, despite these negative factors operating against them, women have made gains in closing the superannuation gap to men – although progress is slow and additional policy actions should be seriously considered to close the gender superannuation gap.”

So what next? Roy Morgan notes the policy reform suggestions that have been put forward by Women in Super, including that governments provide an additional $1000 into the accounts of women and low income earners to help boost balances, that the $450 monthly pay threshold which see thousands of women missing out on super contributions each year be removed, and that data on the impact that future super change will have on women in published. 

Roy Morgan’s research comes from its Single Source survey, and based on in-depth personal interviews with more than 500,000 Australians over the past decade, including 300,000 with superannuation. 

The post The gender superannuation gap is slowly closing but we need stronger measures appeared first on Women's Agenda.

In under a decade, we’ve seen significant progress on the representation of women, the embrace of First Nations people and cultural diversity, and the important inclusion of the LGBTQI+ community.  

We’re far from the finish line, but reflecting on what’s been achieved shows us what’s possible and what we should expect from the next decade and the one after that. 

Some codes of course have come further than others, and the AFLW’s commitment to inclusion is ever-building and led with true conviction.  

Executive General Manager Inclusion and Social Policy, Tanya Hosch says that’s because celebrating and championing diversity is critically important for everyone involved—players, fans, and all those in between.   

“Having representation matters. One of the strengths of the NAB AFLW competition is that many players, coaches, and members from the wider football industry are proud to embrace their identities and are open to share this with the league and its fans,” she says. “The AFL is on a journey to being more inclusive and continues to actively consult and build an understanding of what it means to be a sport for all.” 

This commitment will be bolstered over the weekend as fields, flags, guernseys and socks turn rainbow in celebration of the annual NAB AFLW competition’s Pride Round.  

Running from October 14-16, it’s the third time the NAB AFLW competition will hold a dedicated Pride Round, embraced by all 18 teams including Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide, and Sydney Swans which joined this year.    

All AFL Field and Boundary umpires will wear rainbow-coloured sweatbands, while Goal umpires will exchange their traditional white flags for Progress Flags, acknowledging trans-visibility and people of colour. 

Port Adelaide star, Gemma Houghton describes it as a “fantastic platform” and a meaningful exercise for anyone—especially kids—who might be struggling with their identity.  

“We see so much representation this weekend and see young kids who might be struggling with their sexuality. I think it’s a fantastic platform for them to feel accepted, and not judged for being who they really are,” she tells Women’s Agenda.  

“I think it just shows that we take a stand. And obviously, everyone’s more powerful together when we stand united.”  

Responding to opinions of certain commentators who deride dedicated inclusion rounds as “woke politics gone mad”, Houghton simply shrugs.  

“I think we should use the competition to have a voice for minority groups. And it just makes sense to use football in a positive way”, she says.  

She notes that overwhelmingly, players support the AFLW’s pledge to inclusion.   

“As athletes, we always say that footy is about more than playing the game. It’s about the connection with fans, with each other, and about being accepted for who you are. 

“The movement that it’s [The AFLW’s] already had and the impact it’s had on the community. I think it’s so visible and so widespread that it’s almost a universal language. And it connects people from all over the world with the messages that it brings,” she adds.  

Houghton also credits trailblazing queer players for their courage in showing the world who they are. And of course, Kara and Ebony Antonio’s story is one that stands out.  

Hailing from Perth, the couple first met at Swan Districts in the WAFLW. They were engaged soon after when Kara popped the question, before tying the knot in 2019 to become the first married couple to play in the AFLW competition. 

Houghton, who attended and took part in the ceremony as a bridesmaid for Ebony, says the pair epitomise inclusion in the game.  

“They just paved the way through their actions and how they include everyone” she says, adding that the pair are “definitely trailblazers in the competition and for the community.”  

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A post shared by Kara Juddy Antonio (@kdjudd15)

Outside of Pride Round, the AFL continues to champion progress through its ongoing partnership with not-for-profit organisation Pride In Sport and its support of the National Gallery of Victoria’s recent Queer Exhibition. 

The league also established an inaugural Pride and Allies Committee, delivering LGBTQI+ education sessions for its staff and all 18 AFLW Clubs alongside Pride Cup, Proud 2 Play and Pride In Sport. 

“We want all people to feel welcome in our game, as players, fans, members and officials,” says Hosch. It’s that simple.  

The post ‘We should use the competition to have a voice’: Trolls and haters won’t dull the AFLW’s Pride Round  appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Wear It Purple Day is a grass-roots initiative from young LGBTQI+ activists that aims to celebrate diversity, to commemorate the years of queer rights activism as well as raise awareness of the struggles queer folks have had to face here in Australia. Over the years it has shifted from negative mental health impacts and self-harm prevention to also celebrate rainbow young people and pride.

Wear It Purple Day is now a day celebrated outside of (more progressive) education settings; it’s something you are more likely to come across in a corporate office – those once 14-year-old queer activists standing up for losing their friends are well and truly in the workplace and wanting a safer and more inclusive job. You might even see purple cupcakes more commonplace at a local bakery, or see a local landmark lit up with purple lights.

While LGBTIQA+ campaigns and public support is seemingly mainstreaming in its celebration of inclusion, it can for some of us still feel like we missed the memo on queer being cool and profitable – particularly when so many live in fear and are fundamentally unsafe in our lives.

While we have celebrated the day since 2010 – and since welcomed marriage equality – Australia continues to have a problematic relationship with the LGBTQI+ community, often offering an olive branch with one hand and a discriminatory and harmful law with the other.

Politics is an excellent example. In February politicians were lining up to march with the queer community at the Midsumma Pride March while at the same time, the Religion Discrimination Bill was passing through the Lower House of Federal Parliament.

Yes, the bill stalled, but not before tens of thousands of protesters gathered across the nation to protest against the passing of a bill that would’ve had severe negative impacts on the queer community.

If the Religion Discrimination Bill was passed, religious schools would have had more legal grounds to discriminate against queer students, parents and staff. We would have unwound any progress we have made on conversion therapy, a cruel practice that still hasn’t been banned in all states.

It is not enough to protest or wear purple. Although we encourage all forms of colourful civic action, you have to support systemic change that gives agency, rights and support to the queer community.

As a starting point, conversion therapy should be banned at a federal level, not left up to the states. Gender affirmation therapy, as well as gender-informed, trauma-informed and culturally informed healthcare should not only be allowed but be affordable and accessible to provide better care for the queer community.

Colonisation, British law adherence and erasure of sister girls, brother boys and gender diverse First Nations people are part of a shameful Australian LGBTIQA+ history. Back in my home country of Brunei, anyone who publicly comes out as queer in 2022 faces capital punishment and can be stoned to death. The government justifies their cruel practice, stating that “you can still be a ‘gay person’; you’re just not allowed to act ‘gay’”. The justification is made on the assumption that we can just separate a crucial aspect of our identity from our individual selves. Hence, we are forced to remain in the closet where we’re unseen, unheard and unaccepted.

There are more than 70 countries that continue to criminalise LGBTIQA+ people and their justification is made on the basis of ‘morality’ and ‘religion’.

Queer folks have the rights to live without fearing for our lives and being mistreated in society. We don’t want Wear It Purple Day to exist in a vacuum, we need concrete actions to create structural and systemic in the form of legislative, policy and leadership changes that address equity across society.

I don’t want young queer people to continue to be overrepresented in dire stats, or doxed online in viscous bullying for who they are. But I do want to see them get the support and affirming healthcare they need, the right to education they deserve and pathways to leadership they excel in.

We will continue to show up, share our stories, forge new paths of leadership, eat the purple cupcakes and pull out our rainbow socks for the occasion but know that we need so much more from allies. Our voices matter, we deserve to be heard. We deserve to be accepted and treated as equals and to lead a new wave of change.

What can you do?

The post We need more than purple prose: Wear it Purple Day must be backed up by real action and real change appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Stubbs, who attended a fire service meeting last year in December, claimed that white men were not being given equal opportunities and insisted that the number of women in the fire service should be reduced. 

“The government – and I think this is wrong – is bringing in quota programmes across the public sector, but only where it benefits women and minorities,” said Stubbs. 

“In areas where it’s mostly men it has to be 50/50, but in areas where it’s mostly women there’s no change.”

“Things like the control room have 84 per cent women and I would like assurance that steps are being taken to reduce that.”

The comments were met with public outcry, and Stubbs has subsequently apologised after facing a wave of backlash.

“I have reflected on the comments I made at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority meeting. I sincerely wish to apologise for any harm or offence caused by the comments I made,” Stubbs said in a statement. 

In response to the situation, police and crime commissioner, Donna Jones, whom Stubbs had served under, said she supported the equality work of the fire service. 

“As the first woman to be elected as police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and Isle of Wight and also the first woman to be the executive leader of a city unitary council in Hampshire, I am committed to inspiring women and girls across all of our communities.”

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service has claimed that equality quotas in the service do not exist. Despite this, Jones has encouraged more commitment to ensure there is diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 

“Equality for everyone is something that is within our reach. I support equality and diversity work being undertaken by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.”

The county’s police and crime panel’s sub-committee had met to discuss the complaints against Stubbs, and the Local Democracy Reporting Service has learned that he has since stepped down from his role. 

“Following the comments made at the Hampshire Fire and Rescue authority meeting in December, Luke Stubbs offered his resignation from the role of deputy police and crime commissioner and I have accepted it,” said Jones.

“I wish Luke well for the future.”

The post ‘Too many women’: Deputy police chief quits after backlash from controversial comments appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Talking loudly was not always something that came naturally to Jo, but as her career has progressed, she’s learnt not to be afraid of it.

Jo Masters is currently EY Oceania’s Chief Economist, and has spent her career dabbling between economics, and finance strategy, trading and FX Sales.

In the early days of her FX trading career, there was one time in particular where her voice wasn’t heard and because of that, an order wasn’t filled, and a client relationship was damaged.

“The humility and tenacity and resilience it took to get that client relationship back to being a trusted advisor is something that’s really stayed with me,” Jo tells host Kate Mills on the podcast.

“I started that role and I had no idea what is was about or how I was going to do it… The key lessons for me were that it’s okay to feel scared and daunted.”

As an economist, Jo has worked hard to figure out what her personal purpose is and what should drive her energy.

“That has been a difficult journey, but it’s helped me frame and shape what I do, and what I want to do next, and how I challenge myself,” she explains.

For Jo, that means making economics as relevant and relatable to as many people as she can.

“That’s everything from doing work with school kids, through to my decision to join EY, which has a platform right across corporate Australia.

“I want people not to be scared of economics, to understand it and understand how it impacts them.”

In this way, one of her biggest concerns is about equality, and making sure we can continue to provide economic opportunity for young Australians, and for new Australians.

This rings true for Jo on a personal level too. She’s a mother of two teenage daughters, and admits she worried about their ability in the future to live in Sydney and buy a home and be able to have some flexibility, if they decide to have children.

“One of the unintended consequences of some of the policies we put in place to tackle the global financial crisis has been that those people who own assets have typically done quite well and those people that don’t have assets, it has been increasingly difficult to get into the market,” she says.

“I worry about that growing divide and the tailwind of the family that you’re born to. Associated with that is just how important it is as a nation that we continue to offer economic opportunity. We are a country that’s been built on that, a migrant nation built on the opportunity to better your circumstances, or those of your children and grandchildren.

“As we come out of this COVID environment, we need to continue to offer that for young Australians and new Australians.”

For Jo, this is where leadership comes in. She says diversity of leadership, and diversity of thought is essential if we are to be proud of the Australia we will have in 10 years’ time.

 “I think it’s important to acknowledge that we are shifting the dial [on leadership], but it’s important we don’t lose momentum on it,” Jo says.

“I don’t believe that you can’t be what you don’t see, but I think it’s much easier to be what you can see. So, I think we need to continue to role model lots of women from different industries, with lots of different pathways.

“It’s important that women leaders show their vulnerability and authenticity. It’s okay to acknowledge that it’s been tough, that you’ve had to ask the hard questions.”

This is also where the role of expertise comes into play, according to Jo, particularly as we are faced with the urgent reality of pulling ourselves out the current recession.

“To me, in economics, there is rarely a right or wrong, there’s a whole range of grey, of things that could be good,” Jo says.

“They all have intended consequences and unintended consequences. For me, the role of the expert is to ask the right question; to try and broaden the conversation; to make sure we are thinking about those unintended consequences.”

And despite there being a rise in political discontent at the moment, Jo says during the COVID crisis, we have also seen the best of ourselves.

“We had neighbours checking in on people who were self-isolating, we had supermarkets opening up for the elderly and the less mobile, we saw state and federal governments working together, we saw trade unions and business groups sitting down together trying to work out overnight what we needed to do around industrial relations to keep people in work and businesses turning over,” she says.

“We’ve lost a little bit of that, and I really hope we can find our way back there. We are going to have to pull in the same direction if we’re going to have an Australia in 2030 that we’re proud of.”

The Leadership Lessons podcast series, hosted by Kate Mills, is a set of interviews with brilliant female leaders across industries, sharing their perspective on the critical decade ahead.

The Leadership Lessons is supported by Salesforce.

The post Feeling daunted by your next move is ok: Economist Jo Masters appeared first on Women's Agenda.

A new report from Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London analysed over 500 pieces of research into the impacts of women leaders. It shows that women in politics play a key role in creating a political system that delivers on issues that create a more equal and caring society.

Women in politics bring more consideration to creating better outcomes for women and girls, but also to issues that directly improve the lives of men and boys.

On average, women politicians work harder than men to accurately represent their constituents, which is linked to a stronger sense among voters that the government is responsive to their needs.

Increased representation of women helps to counteract corruption in politics, while states that have higher numbers of women in office are less likely to go to war and less likely to commit human rights abuses.

Women in politics tend to prioritise social issues like healthcare, education and welfare. The report indicates this focus may be because women, on average, tend to have greater experiences of deprivation than men and are more likely to have taken on caring responsibilities in their life.

The authors of this report say it was comissioned in early 2020, before the world descended into the depths of the COVID-19 crisis. They now say the report’s contents could not be more timely, as the world grapples with how to recover from the pandemic.

Politics is so often tarnished by division and one-upmanship, but during this time, women leaders have brought a collaborative and inclusive leadership style to parliaments around the world. And this is exactly what the report says women leaders do.

“Understanding the gendered nature of political leadership and decision-making is more important than ever as we collectively rebuild and hopefully move towards are more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future,” said Shannon O’Connell, Director of Programmes at Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Professor Rosie Campbell, Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, said: “This is a unique and important piece of work that makes an unequivocal case for the multitude of ways that politics, governance, economies and societies thrive when women take their place as leaders.”

The post Having more women in politics leads to greater equality, less corruption & better represented constituents appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The co-captain of the World Cup winning US soccer team Megan Rapinoe looked straight down the barrel of the camera to deliver Trump her assessment.

“Your message is excluding people. You’re excluding me, you’re excluding people that look like me, you’re excluding people of colour, you’re excluding Americans that maybe support you,” she said.

"Your message is excluding people. You're excluding me. You're excluding people that look like me. You're excluding people of color. You're excluding… Americans that maybe support you."

US Women’s National Team co-captain Megan Rapinoe's message to Pres. Trump. pic.twitter.com/4PbKx0hSxv

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) July 10, 2019

With the World Cup trophy beside her Rapinoe said it’s time for ‘a reckoning’.

“You’re harking back to an era that was not great for everyone — it might have been great for a few people, and maybe America is great for a few people right now, but it’s not great for enough Americans in this world,” she said, still directing her message to the President.

“You have an incredible responsibility as the chief of this country to take care of every single person, and you need to do better for everyone,” Rapinoe said.

Aside from establishing herself as one of the world’s best footballers in recent months Rapinoe has made it clear she will fight hard for issues off the pitch – particularly around social justice, equal pay and women’s rights.

It’s clear she is not deterred by the President’s attempts to silence or criticise her. Rather she will use every platform she’s given to deliver her honest and impassioned perspective.

On Tuesday at a ceremony celebrating the World Cup champions in New York Rapinoe shared a powerful ask.

"This is my charge to everyone: We have to be better. We have to love more. Hate less. We got to listen more and talk less," Megan Rapinoe says. "It's our responsibility to make the world a better place." https://t.co/7LJHPDVRm9 pic.twitter.com/5s5OuS4Gsx

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 10, 2019

“This is my charge to everyone: We have to be better. We have to love more. Hate less. We got to listen more and talk less. It’s our responsibility to make the world a better place.”

The post ‘You’re excluding people’: Megan Rapinoe’s powerful message to Donald Trump appeared first on Women's Agenda.

It amounts to a landslide on a sensitive and divisive subject in a deeply Catholic country. Ireland was once viewed as among the most conservative nations in the world with good cause: it only legalised divorce in 1995.

But it seems the people of Ireland are no longer so wedded to tradition and are instead inclined towards change.

In May of 2015 the Irish people voted to legalise same-sex marriage, the first time a popular vote delivered this change.

Now, in 2018 the people of Ireland have cast their votes overwhelmingly in favour of  overturning some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws. As it stands in Ireland  women are prohibited from aborting pregnancies unless their lives are at risk — even in the cases of incest, rape, and fatal fetal abnormality.

1,429,981 for Yes. Together for Yes. Together for Change. Together for Tomorrow. #together4tomorrow pic.twitter.com/FXqxOOya1B

— Together for Yes (@Together4yes) May 26, 2018

The Irish Government plans legislate by the end of the year which will mean, for the first time in history, the women of Ireland will not have to travel to access abortions.

They will no longer need to import abortion pills illegally, without access to medical care or support.

The Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the result represents a “once in a generation vote”.

“The people have spoken. They have said we need a modern constitution for a modern country,” he said. “What we’ve seen is the culmination of a quiet revolution that’s been taking place in Ireland over the past 20 years.”

He said Irish voters “trust and respect women to make the right choices and decisions about their own healthcare”: something that has not historically been afforded to women in Ireland.

Today, we made history. Retweet if you’re proud of our country. #RepealedTheEighth #RepealedThe8th pic.twitter.com/PSBvn3gsbf

— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) May 26, 2018

Campaigners have been seeking to repeal the 8th Amendment for many many years. It was introduced after a 1983 referendum which means no-one under the age of 54 in Ireland had voted on this issue before.

It was thus rightly described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the people of Ireland to have their say on women’s reproductive rights and the people were clear.

In nearly every age group, men and women, across social classes voted to change the constitution.

Ireland #RepealedThe8th & my mom made the front page of the New York Times with her choir Voices for Choice (ft songs including Don't Stop Repealing) <3 pic.twitter.com/KyUOisIsaE

— Sally Hayden (@sallyhayd) May 27, 2018

Women and men from all around the world travelled back to Ireland for the vote and the #HomeToVote hashtag is testament to the intent and collective desire for change.

It has been described as a showing of the internet at its absolute best: inspiring and kind and it’s hard to disagree.

Cost of flights from Hanoi to Dublin: 800 euro. Length of journey: 20 hours. Chance to #repealthe8th: PRICELESS. #hometovote #Together4Yes pic.twitter.com/oROnKcBXcF

— taika waititi's gf (@HoorayForNiamh) May 22, 2018

My 'drop of golden' son just landed in Cork airport. He is #hometovote and will be voting YES for his sister, YES his mum & YES for a better day for women and a kinder Ireland. Our family all #TogetherForYes #together2vote @CorkTogether4Y pic.twitter.com/fK9Dc7nCi6

— Colette Kelleher (@ColetteKelleher) May 24, 2018

Boarding a 13 hour flight from Buenos Aires to London. London to Dublin tomorrow. No one at airport knows what my repeal jumper means. No one here knows why I'm travelling. If this feels isolating for me, can't imagine how lonely it must be 4 her, travelling 2 the UK #HomeToVote

— Ciaran Gaffney (@gaffneyciaran) May 22, 2018

I'm coming #HomeToVote ! Will be traveling 5,169 miles from LA to Dublin and will be thinking of every Irish woman who has had to travel to access healthcare that should be available in their own country. Let's do this, Ireland! #repealthe8th #VoteYes pic.twitter.com/fZDxUIGrs9

— Lauryn Canny (@LaurynCanny) May 23, 2018

It is impossible to consider the result in Ireland without feeling moved and hopeful. The resounding victory is a reminder that history really is ripe for the making. It is a reminder that it’s possible for individual citizens to unite, to mobilise and to campaign to deliver change.

It has not been an easy road and it certainly hasn’t happened by accident. It is in no small part due to Together for Yes, a grassroots campaign group made up of over 70 organisations, groups and communities representing a diverse cross-section of Irish civil society.

Here it is, the final result. 66.4% Yes, 33.6% No. Ireland has #Repealedthe8th pic.twitter.com/UCT0pQXRLt

— Irish Political Maps (@IrishPolMaps) May 26, 2018

To say it is overdue for the women of Ireland to have autonomy over their own bodies and healthcare is a gross understatement. Too many women have paid far too high a price for not having this right.

“The wrenching pain of decades of mistreatment of Irish women cannot be unlived,” Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.

It is true. The pain suffered by women in Ireland cannot be unlived or undone but because of the people of Ireland from 2018 on, this mistreatment is no longer inevitable. The women of Ireland are finally having their reproductive rights respected. Choice will now be delivered.

People power cannot be underestimated. Here in Australia that same people power is needed for the very same reason. We may not have Ireland’s history but the women of Australia still face too many hurdles in accessing abortions.

Never forget that women in Tasmania are being forced to travel to mainland in Australia 2018 right now for abortions – just like the women of Ireland – as a result of market failure and the failure of governments to act. https://t.co/ZhxpWlVijg

— 𝕤𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟 (@samanthamaiden) May 25, 2018

The post Ireland’s historic referendum & ‘a quiet revolution’ that cannot be underestimated appeared first on Women's Agenda.

She was the youngest person to be shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for political writing on her blog ‘Penny Red’. She has reported on radical politics, protest, digital culture and feminism from around the world, working with activists from the Occupy movement and the European youth uprisings. She has 130,000 followers on Twitter and in 2012 won the British Media Awards ‘Twitter Public Personality of the Year’ prize.

Because the 30 year old London based writer is a passionate and prolific woman she has sustained considerable backlash: she is frequently taunted as worthless, as ugly, and has death threatened regularly. And, yet she persists.

Sexists and racists are resorting to online sabotage. But they still won't win | @LolaOkolosie and @PennyRed http://t.co/OBPFYiUe2M

— The Guardian (@guardian) June 18, 2014

She told Pacific Standard magazine: “While I get a lot of honest and well-meaning callouts from fellow travelers, I also face a great deal of targeted harassment from alt-right and misogynistic trolls—sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic bullshit, just the most disgusting things you can imagine. When those things are happening at the same time, it can be pretty hard to decide what to ignore and what to take on board. It can be difficult to judge how open to be without putting your mental health at risk.”

She is insightful, provocative and wholly uninterested in being conciliatory and agreeable for the sake of it. She is far more interested in fighting for freedom and says now, more than ever, it is vital we don’t capitulate and accept a diluted definition of freedom.

Until November last year she was planning to take some time away from political journalism and pursue fiction writing.

“I had a lovely daydream about spending most of my days moving made-up people around an invented world and occasionally chipping in with columns calling President Hillary Clinton out for inevitably not doing enough to support women of all backgrounds,” she told Pacific Standard.

The election of President Trump shattered that dream and have meant the stakes for justice have never been clearer.

Another prolific British feminist, Caitlin Moran, has said of Penny: “I can’t really think of another writer who so consistently and bravely keeps thinking and talking and learning and trying to make the world better.”

"Free speech" is so often used simply as plausible deniability for prejudice and abuse, says @PennyRed #QandAhttps://t.co/gFlK0TJ2pO

— QandA (@QandA) September 3, 2017

Penny is in Australia this week. She will be on ABC’s Q&A on Monday night and she will speak at the School of Life to share her own story on Tuesday. Women’s Agenda caught up with her ahead of the visit.

How do you maintain the fight for justice and keep persevering even in the face of extreme backlash?

“We all have to make judgement calls about how much of that fight we can take on. Writers and public speakers do a very specific kind of political work, and it can be isolating and stressful, it can be risky, but at the same time, there are other far more direct forms of activism being done by people who never get asked this question: how do you carry on?

The community organizers, the union stewards, the nurses and translators and lawyers and everyone knuckling down, now that the stakes have become so much clearer, to try and shift the destiny of the damn species. The best work I know how to do is to describe that fight, including on an intimate, emotional level. I’m interested in how people maintain their fight – but you’ve also got to remember that not everyone does. People burn out and exhaust themselves, crumple under the pressures of simple survival on top of sustained harassment, including by the state. For me, it’s about working out where best to spend the finite amount of energy I have. It’s about focus, and networks, and recognising that you can’t do it all yourself. And occasionally – although I struggle with this – taking breaks.”

Does the work you do take a toll?

“For me the hardest thing, to be quite honest, is working alone so much of the time. I routinely take on far too much, because I have eyes bigger than my belly when it comes to writing gigs. What has finally got me to pace myself is understanding that I can’t just push myself until I burn out and collapse, as I had a habit of doing – because what happens then is my brilliant friends have to swoop in and do the emotional work of putting me back together. I don’t want them to, but they’ll do it anyway, just like I do when one of them is in trouble.

Bouncing from burnout to burnout was more acceptable in my early twenties- but I’m thirty now, so it’s time to take more responsibility for my long-term health. I think mental health is a feminist issue. Mental health and wellbeing are profoundly political.”

You have had a number of high profile stoushes with various right-wing pin ups, and it often gets vicious and personal. How do you handle that?

“I’ve interviewed fascists and baby right-wing stooges a fair few times, including online, and I do find it hard to turn off either my anger or my empathy. It’s important to draw a hard line between understanding why people do despicable things, why people join those movements and become radicalized, and condoning the behaviour. That’s one of the failings of modern political discourse – too often we think understanding and condoning are the same.

My advantage in situations like this is all about the way I present personally and physically- it’s the particular privilege of being a tiny white lady with a squeaky voice and a ready giggle. I’m almost never regarded as a threat. I seem like I might be sympathetic. Of course, it also means I’m rarely taken seriously, but there can be upsides to that too, in my line of work.

Every writer and journalist ought to understand that their experience of the world is computed by their experience of race and gender- the impressions they come away with, the access they get, how people treat them, all of that is affected. Only straight-presenting white guys are surprised when I say this. They think theirs is an ‘objective’ viewpoint.”

The post Laurie Penny on feminism, freedom & how to avoid burning out appeared first on Women's Agenda.

“It will test us if it plays out over the next few months as it have over the past 24 hours.”

He is a former prime minister and she’s a councillor so they enjoy, and endure, a public profile few siblings experience.

https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/895118830850031620

While some families can keep their battles behind closed doors, Abbott and Forster cannot. And not when it comes to same sex marriage.

He is one of the staunchest opponents to marriage equality, calling it a PC bridge too far.

She is openly gay and wants the right to marry her partner.

Despite this difference they are close and Forster says while the past 24 hours doesn’t change that she admits it takes a toll.

“The reality is, it does [hurt],” Forster told Women’s Agenda. “When he comes out with something like “Vote no” on the plebiscite and push back against this, it does actually impact me. It trivialises and belittles an issue that is deeply personal and extremely important to me. He knows that it’s very important to me and it really hurts.”

“This is an issue that should never have been politicized.” Christine Forster shares her thoughts on the postal #plebiscite. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/iRSB9MaQfK

— The Project (@theprojecttv) August 9, 2017

Forster says Abbott views it as a wholly political issue. How does she reconcile that with the fact it is so personal?

“It’s a question I struggle to answer. It is what it is. He takes a view that this is a position on a political issue. We’ve both known where we stand on this for quite a while and we’re not going to change each other’s minds.”

Same-sex marriage is progress that conservative Abbott is unwilling to accept.

Notwithstanding the will of the Australian public and notwithstanding the rest of the world.

Even the fact marriage equality is excruciatingly close to his own family won’t sway him.

Tony Abbott urges a 'no' vote to reject political correctness and protect religious freedom #QandA https://t.co/eTkwgXF98Z

— QandA (@QandA) August 9, 2017

For Forster the plebiscite is a contest we shouldn’t need to have and she doesn’t doubt the campaign is going to be ugly.

“It’s about equality before the law and that is not the case in Australia at the moment,” she says. “It’s going to be horrible. He’ll say something and I will respond. I will say things and he will respond. My hope is that our relationship survives.”

Will it?

“Knowing what we both hold dear, I hope so,” she says. “We have supported each other through thick and thin and this won’t change.”

If you value mutual respect: vote yes. If you want all Australians to be equal: vote yes. If you believe in free speech: vote yes #auspol

— Christine Forster (@resourcefultype) August 8, 2017

The idea that understanding is only possible when an issue impacts an individual personally is uninspiring. It woefully underestimates the human capacity for compassion.

Which makes it all the more woeful that someone in Tony Abbott’s position can see the real impact of marriage equality, and can still render it unpalatable and unimportant.

If you want the person you love to be in every sense a part of your family: vote yes #marriageequality #auspol

— Christine Forster (@resourcefultype) August 9, 2017

Technically marriage equality is about giving homosexual couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. But the effect is far bigger than allowing same-sex couples to wed.

The effect is the implicit recognition and validation that it gives LGBTI men and women.

It is the effect that a teenage boy or girl who knows they are gay, doesn’t fear that as unfathomable, because they can see it is accepted.

once again, Penny Wong stands up in the Senate to deliver the oratory equivalent of the fire emoji https://t.co/judZcgpmXX

— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) August 9, 2017

That is deeply personal as Forster knows as well as anyone.

“At the end of the day it is political and our relationship transcends this. He is my brother – we are a family. Despite the fact I believe he is absolutely and utterly wrong. He is never going to be right on this.”

The post ‘It hurts, it’s going to be horrible & it will test us’: Christine Forster on her brother Tony Abbott appeared first on Women's Agenda.

He was responding to Liz Ann Macgregor, the MCA director, who had just implored him to direct politicians to reflect the wishes of Australian voters.

“Let’s just get on with it. I mean, for goodness sake, if David Cameron, the conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain can come out and say, “I’m doing it because I am a conservative”, surely our lot can do it too, Malcolm. You need better powers of persuasion in the party room, I’d suggest.”

It was the 9th of July 2012, just over five years ago, when this exchange took place on ABC’s Q&A. The subject was same sex marriage.

Turnbull’s assurance that he was working on it was weak even then.

The fact the laws haven’t changed in the intervening years is a dismal reflection on our elected representatives. The fact Ireland has delivered marriage equality while we have dithered, is stark.

Most recent country to institute marriage equality? Malta, population 98% Roman Catholic. https://t.co/DJtzvq6pkG. It's time.

— marquelawyers (@marquelawyers) August 2, 2017

Time and time again, studies have shown that the vast majority of Australians want the Marriage Act amended. To many voters it is not a secondary issue, as we’ve been told. It is not a fringe concern, as the opponent’s narrative goes.

It is a fundamental concern – both in substance and in symbol. It is discrimination that isn’t valid, that breaches a fundamental legal principle.

Great news: political will to deliver #marriageequality in this parliament continues to grow within the Government https://t.co/zr7EcGYyQj

— Alex Greenwich MP (@AlexGreenwich) July 30, 2017

For the government, the subject and policy is vexed beyond comprehension: the political machinations are inevitable. It is a prescient illustration of the government’s broader woes.

Malcolm Turnbull himself is a supporter of same sex marriage. He is powerless however to progress it in any meaningful fashion because he promised his party room that he would stick to the plebiscite that his predecessor, Tony Abbott had proposed, as a bare-faced, last-minute, stalling tactic.

Staying loyal to that pledge is part of the price Turnbull has had to pay for replacing Tony Abbott.

This is nonsense some Liberal party members are unwilling to accept. A group of backbenchers, variously dubbed as rebels, courageous, deplorable, depending on the position, have broken away from party policy.

'All I'm asking for is to have a bloody vote': Liberal MP Warren Entsch has had enough https://t.co/QG5Y7zComK #auspol

— Federal Politics (@Politics_SMHAGE) August 2, 2017

To this end Liberal senator Dean Smith announced he had drafted a private members’ bill for same-sex marriage, paving the way for a free parliamentary vote on the matter.

Warren Entsch, Trevor Evans, Tim Wilson and Trent Zimmerman have indicated they would cross the floor on the issue.

The Prime Minister has sided with his conservative colleagues who are angling for a postal plebiscite. To make this even worse for Turnbull, quotes have been found of him specifically denouncing the validity of such a mechanism.

.@joshgnosis has uncovered remarkable Malcolm Turnbull quotes on postal voting
"It flies in the face of Australian democratic values" pic.twitter.com/rQYP0WgCUq

— Bevan Shields (@BevanShields) August 2, 2017

All out war is basically afoot and it is difficult to imagine it ending well for the Liberal Party.

For voters, however, it has the potential to finally resolve a long overdue matter. With four back-benchers crossing the floor, it is possible the vote would succeed in the lower house.

Looming possibility of free vote on #MarriageEquality has MPs speaking out. #auspol #TheProjectTV https://t.co/Kr0vgtmkrV

— The Project (@theprojecttv) August 2, 2017

This will be the subject examined in the Liberal party room meeting on Tuesday and fireworks are guaranteed.

Warren Entsch says he was "highly offended" by this email sent by Qld LNP boss Gary Spence condemning Trevor Evans https://t.co/zIps3QhRTJ

— Michael Koziol (@michaelkoziol) August 1, 2017

It is maddening when you consider the wishes of most Australians.

The HILDA survey released on Wednesday showed that men and women in almost every category agree that heterosexual and homosexual couples ought to have the same rights.

There was one exception: men aged over 65.

The only demographic opposed to #marriageequality is the demographic that dominates parliament. #auspol https://t.co/XhDXdMIpdM pic.twitter.com/RYOn4Bc2E7

— Georgie Dent (@georgiedent) August 1, 2017

My observation about that age group comprising the majority of parliament was incorrect.

The average age of the politicians in Malcolm Turnbull’s cabinet and outer ministry is 48.7 years. There are only 3 members over the age of 60 and he is one of them.

And yet, there is no doubt that the proportion of politicians who disagree with same-sex marriage is far greater than the proportion among the individuals they are supposed to represent.

Enough with the politics — same-sex marriage is about equality, writes Warren Entsch, and denying it is unAustralian https://t.co/VIG4d3imBR pic.twitter.com/ffGnJgWB5i

— The Daily Telegraph (@dailytelegraph) August 2, 2017

The time for change on this was yesterday. If you support marriage equality jump on here and add your name to Two People, a campaign chaired by three prominent lawyers seeking a change in the law. Professor Gillian Triggs, the Dean of UNSW Faculty of law George Williams AO and Michael Bradley, the managing partner of Marque Lawyers. It will take less than two minutes and might just help deliver change.

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