Williams, a former Chief Executive Officer of News Limited, will replace Ita Buttrose whose term as Chair comes to an end in March.

Albanese made the announcement at a press conference with Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, saying Williams was a perfect fit for the role. Previously, Williams has held roles as chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust and Commissioner of the AFL. He was the CEO of News Limited (now News Corp) between 2011 and 2013.

“The ABC plays an essential role in Australia – it’s a pillar of our democracy, a lifeline in disaster, a voice for the regions and part of our cultural identity,” Albanese said on Wednesday.

“It’s vital our national broadcaster has a safe and experienced pair of hands at the helm – and that’s what Kim will provide.

“Kim is eminently qualified to provide ongoing stability and leadership to this deeply valued Australian institution.”

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland thanked Buttrose for her time as Chair.

“Ms Buttrose is a giant of the media and business worlds,” Rowland said. “She has shown steady leadership for five years. She’s maintained a strong defence of the ABC’s independence.”

“She was the right chair for the  right time and we wish her well for the future”.

Buttrose has been a trailblazer in the media industry, becoming the founding editor of Cleo magazine in 1972, and later editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly and The Daily Telegraph. She was appointed Chair of the ABC in 2019 by then Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Buttrose announced she would not seek another term as Chair of the ABC in August last year.

At the time, she said: “I shall miss my time at the ABC. It was an honour to chair. All the things I’ve done in my career equipped me for this role. It was a challenging job. I hope I’ve made a difference.”

The post Kim Williams to replace Ita Buttrose as ABC Chair appeared first on Women's Agenda.

After announcing her departure as Chair of the national broadcaster last month, Buttrose urged all women in Australia’s media industry to never give up in their careers.

The 81-year-old media veteran began working in the media industry when she was just 15 years old. She became the founding editor of Cleo Magazine in 1972 and edited a number of Australia’s major publications, including the Australian Women’s Weekly and the Daily Telegraph in Sydney.

“Much has been written about my career recently,” she said in her speech on Friday morning.

“I’ve had a terrific career. I’ve enjoyed it.”

Buttrose was appointed chair of the ABC in 2019, following the departure of Justin Milne. Last month, she announced she would not be seeking a second term when her time as chair comes to an end in March 2024.

“I shall miss my time at the ABC. It was an honour to chair,” she said. “All the things I’ve done in my career equipped me for this role. It was a challenging job. I hope I’ve made a difference.”

Buttrose noted recent statistics released in the 2023 Women in Media Industry Insights Report, which revealed more than half of women working in the industry are either dissatisfied or uncertain about their careers. Almost a third of women are considering leaving their jobs in the next 12 months, WIM reported.

“That to me indicates that many of you are thinking of giving up,” Buttrose said.

“You mustn’t do that… women who want to be winners never give up.”

Buttrose said she “never aimed to be one of the boys” throughout her career, despite working in the male-dominated industry under the likes of media tycoon Kerry Packer.

“I’ve always been determined to let the voices of women be heard in Australia,” she said.

“I like to climb mountains, and when I get to the top, I see another mountain beckoning, and the pull of that mountain is so alluring to me that I have to have a go at it.”

During her speech, Buttrose reflected on the recent surge of interest in women’s sports – particularly off the back of the Matildas’ record-breaking performance in the FIFA Women’s World Cup – and how far society has come since she was working on the Sunday Telegraph in the 1980s.

“It didn’t transform overnight,” she reminded everyone.

The current gender pay gap in Australia’s media industry is 16 per cent, above Australia’s national gender pay gap of 13 per cent.

Buttrose said she is proud that the ABC has lowered the gap to 4.3 per cent and encouraged other media organisations to be more transparent in their gender pay gap.

“There is still work to be done, but we are heading in the right direction,” she said.

Women in Media began two decades ago in Perth, where the first Women in Media event attracted 100 attendees. Now, there are more than 6,000 members of the not-for-profit organisation, connecting and empowering women working all over the country  in the media industry.

Buttrose, a patron of Women in Media, said organisations like Women in Media who champion diversity and inclusion are vital for the country.

“If we want to reflect Australia, we have to reflect the society in which we live,” she said.

Buttrose was asked by the Women in Media MC, Sandra Sully, what was next for her.

“Let me put it this way,” she said.

“I’ve had three interesting phone calls, and two book publishers want to talk to me.” 

The post ‘I hope I’ve made a difference’: Ita Buttrose speaks for the first time since announcing her departure from the ABC appeared first on Women's Agenda.

In a forthright statement published on Sunday, Buttrose said the inquiry, which was announced by Senate Communication Committee chair Andrew Bragg, is “an act of political interference” that is designed to intimidate the ABC and “mute its role as this country’s most trusted source of public interest journalism”.

The government’s inquiry into the ABC’s complaints handling was announced last week and comes after the ABC Board last month launched its own independent review on the same issue.

“Instead of respecting the integrity of this process, the Senate Committee under the leadership of Senator Bragg has decided to initiate a parallel process,” Buttrose wrote in her statement.

“I will leave it to Senator Bragg to explain his motives but the impact of this action is clear. As Chair of the ABC Board I am duty bound to call out any action that seeks to undermine the independence of the national broadcaster.”

Buttrose’s statement was critical of the Senate committee’s action to initiate a review, saying it is the legally the ABC board’s responsibility, and the government had no place doing so. She said it was an attempt to “weaken trust” in the public broadcaster.

“Once again, an elected representative has chosen to threaten the ABC’s independence at the expense of the integrity of this irreplaceable public service. Any incursion of this kind into the ABC’s independence should be seen by Australians for what it is: an attempt to weaken the community’s trust in the public broadcaster.”

The ABC’s independent review is well under way, headed up by former Commonwealth and NSW Ombudsman Professor John McMillan AO and Jim Carroll, former SBS Director. It’s the first official review of the complaints handling process at the ABC in 12 years, and findings will be released in April 2022.

“This review is well underway and members of Parliament, including Senator Bragg, have already been interviewed as part of the review process,” Buttrose said. “An issues paper will be released shortly and the review will then be seeking public submissions.”

“Instead of respecting the integrity of this process, the Senate Committee under the leadership of Senator Bragg has decided to initiate a parallel process.”

Buttrose said the Senate Committee, led by Bragg, performs “a vital role” but said it was regrettable it has decided to operate its own inquiry.

“Politicians, like all citizens, are welcome to criticise anything they find wrong or objectionable that is published by the ABC but they cannot be allowed to tell the ABC what it may or may not say,” she said.

“When Parliament resumes later this month, I respectfully ask the Senate to act to defend the independence of the ABC, as Australia’s national broadcaster, by passing a motion to terminate or suspend this inquiry until the independent process commissioned by the ABC Board has been completed.”

The post ‘Designed to intimidate the ABC’: Ita Buttrose criticises government inquiry appeared first on Women's Agenda.

It’s long been a common pastime for leaders to declare that those coming up behind them all carry the same shortcomings. And resilience is an easy one to pull out: it must be all that overparenting, the soft surfaces that got installed under play equipment, the screens they played on when they should have been outside wandering the neighbourhood alone.

Young people today, they just want too much praise, smiling emojis and socially-distant hugs!

Millennials have been copping it for years, even as many have gone on to become leaders and parents themselves and are on the cusp of securing a much greater portion of the key decision-making positions in politics (although there’s still a major shortage of millennials in the Australian Parliament). A generation that was just in time to rack up university debt and participate in the increasing trend of undertaking lengthy unpaid internships – but not quite in time to get in on the first floor of the property boom.

But now the ‘lack of resilience’ weapon has been aimed at another generation – Gen I, Gen Z, young millennials? – those who are in the first couple of years of their careers or are just graduating from school, university or something else.

These young people – and particularly the young women among them – were already finding it tough. They were being asked to get increasingly more qualifications, do more unpaid work and take on more casual and insecure positions with less opportunities for penalty rates. And they’re well aware of the dangers lurking ahead in their futures, given climate change.

Now this is the generation that’s trying to get stuck into their careers – and secure their financial futures – during the Pandemic Years, something older generations still working today have simply not experienced.

So far we know young people have already been hardest hit by COVID-19 related job losses. Many have seen few options but to drain their superannuation accounts. They’ll be looking for their first major jobs and opportunities at a time when few employers will be looking to support graduates. The women among these young people will go on to experience gender pay and leadership gaps, just like those ahead of them.

And those that are ‘lucky’ enough to have held on to jobs today, are likely finding their lack of power within them problematic – with some being forced to work in offices, despite stay at home health advice, and others finding themselves hit hard by the lack of sick leave available when they need to self isolate or quarantine.

It’s well and truly time to acknowledge what the current career starters are up against, and how this period will impact their opportunities and their financial security for years to come, possibly even into retirement. They’ll be paying down the huge debt we’ll need to get out of this predicament, and be playing catch-up on the vital years they’ve missed on securing their futures. They may come to be known as the Pandemic Generation.

Young people don’t need more resilience, they need more support.

They need acknowledgment regarding what’s been asked of them from the rest of us (including those older millennials who are well into their late thirties now). They need a voice at the policymaking table. And they need to see real plans from employers, politicians and anyone with a say over their futures right now, regarding the mechanisms that will be put in place to ensure they have the opportunities they need.

The post No hugs needed. Just an end to the ‘young people lack resilience’ thing, and a little more support appeared first on Women's Agenda.

But she also suggested that Australia had lost its “larrikin spirit” in a bid to be politically correct. She lamented that men and women “don’t talk to each other the way we used to”– something she perceives to be a loss.

“Even in the workplace, the way men and women used to talk to one another, which was quite fun, I think, doesn’t exist today,” she said during an interview with ABC News Breakfast. 

“When I think of some of the conversations I used to have with Sir Frank Packer, for instance, they simply wouldn’t happen today.”

“We’re far too sensitive, I think. There are very few larrikins … we’ve sort of suppressed that side of our character.”

No doubt, Ita Buttrose would have experienced and witnessed a number of dramatic cultural changes during her time in media. She started her career at a time when working women were an anomaly, in an industry renowned for being one of the worst culprits.

Her efforts to become The Telegraph’s youngest editor at age 21 and then moving on to launch the hugely successful Cleo Magazine (under Packer’s watchful eye) at just 23, were extraordinary feats. But I wonder what price she paid as the only woman in the room? Was it really so “fun”?

This line about ‘hypersensitivity’ and ‘political correctness gone mad’ is a difficult one to peddle in my mind, because it forces us to ask what “larrikinism” really is and how far we’re willing to use it as an excuse.

Too often I see it bandied around as a thinly veiled justification for persistent discrimination, sexism and racism in workplaces and broader society. It’s also typically men at the forefront of this.

And while you can make the argument that employees and employers might have been more relaxed in prior decades; that a lack of scrutiny enabled freer conduct and “more fun”, there’s a very obvious and compelling counter argument: This kind of culture can easily breed toxicity too.

It can lead to environments where women, people of colour, individuals with disabilities, or differing socio-economic backgrounds are treated horrendously. Where these same minority groups are forced to smile and laugh at discriminatory behaviour else they be viewed as “too sensitive” or “un-Australian”.

Acting honourably and morally and without bias isn’t always the easiest. It’s okay for us to admit this. It can sometimes lead to us being hyper-aware of how we should act and censoring things we’d normally say.

But that’s better than an alternative where certain groups are excluded from a culture that truly only favours one homogenous and privileged group.

Australians do have a great and very unique sense of humour. We’re self deprecating and dry and like to take the piss. But we can still retain this without offending or minimising anyone around us.

The fact that employers are working toward this, to me, isn’t evidence of PC overkill. It’s evidence that we want an equal playing field. And we should embrace a change like that wholly in our big, larrikin hearts.

The post Why Australian employees aren’t ‘too sensitive’ as Ita Buttrose suggests appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The raid at Annika Smethurst’s apartment, in response to an April 2018 article, detailed ‘secret plans’ – leaked to Smethurst – to potentially expand the jurisdiction of the government agency, Australian Signals Directorate, to ‘spy’ on citizens.

At the ABC’s Sydney headquarters, the AFP spent eight hours searching the ABC’s database, looking for documents connected with The Afghan Files.

The story, published in July 2017, cited classified defence information leaked to the ABC about misconduct and ‘unlawful killings’ committed by Australian special forces during the war.

The AFP seized around 100 files on two USBs, which cannot be accessed for two weeks, during which time the ABC’s lawyers can ‘challenge the terms of the warrant as well as claim privilege over the contents of the documents’.

This comes after 2GB radio host, Ben Fordham, was pressured by the Department of Home Affairs to reveal the ‘senior Home Affairs source’ who disclosed confidential information about illegal boat smuggler activity coming from Sri Lanka.

While both Prime Minister Morrison and the AFP say the raids were conducted independently – and legally – by the AFP, the concern is that the AFP’s ‘heavy-handed’ approach is threatening press freedom in this country.

ABC Chair, Ita Buttrose, released a statement condemning the raids as ‘clearly designed to intimidate’, arguing that the fundamental role of journalists is to cover important topics and ‘ask difficult questions’:

“Public interest is best served by the ABC doing its job, asking difficult questions and dealing with genuine whistle-blowers who risk their livelihoods and reputations to bring matters of grave import to the surface.”

This sentiment has been echoed around the world, including by our own Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the BBC, Al Jazeera, Reporters without Borders, NBC, CNN, media personalities Ray Martin and Kerry O’Brien and our most senior Labor politicians.

Prime Minister Morrison, however, says the raids were in-line with the AFP’s duty to uphold the law, and do not undermine the media’s democratic right to free press.

Increased pressure on journalists, like Fordham, to reveal their sources and not report on sensitive topics in the public interest, however, suggests otherwise. (Not to mention, the AFP’s decision to drop it’s investigation into the leaking of documents concerning the Medevac Bill, arguably demonstrating bias towards investigating only the stories that have embarrassed the government.)

In fact, new legislation increasing the powers of the AFP and government agencies to tap into journalist and whistle-blowers’ devices was passed just last year.

The Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 gives government agencies greater powers to target individuals, including journalists, by ‘covertly installing weaknesses and vulnerabilities in specific devices, circumventing passwords or allowing encrypted communications to be decrypted’.

Regardless of the raids, this demonstrates a clear intention by our government to censor news coverage when required and allow them legal means to punish whistle-blowers and journalists for exposing embarrassing truths.

So, while the AFP may have conducted these raids, the government is responsible for setting this dangerous new precedent on how we understand ‘free press’.

Without a bill of rights constitutionally guaranteeing journalists’ and whistle-blowers’ protection, the Telecommunications Act could allow the AFP to unveil confidential sources and documents and subsequently criminalise investigative reporting.

In an opinion piece, Studio 10 co-host Joe Hildebrand writes that the ‘ham-fisted’ approach of the AFP will, ironically, strengthen our commitment to democracy, with the backlash likely to force the government to tighten the reins on their powers.

“The agencies who commissioned these investigations and exacted these raids have inadvertently clipped their own wings by so blatantly demonstrating the dangers of unchecked power.”

In other countries, particularly those with a predisposition towards authoritarianism, state-sponsored censorship shapes the national interest, not the media.

Journalists who investigate topics deemed out of bounds are suitably punished.

In Russia, countless journalists covering ‘powerful Russian institutions’ have paid with their lives for exposing truths, mysteriously slipping or falling to their deaths.

Each of these deaths has been ruled a suicide despite a lack of evidence.

In total, 58 Russian journalists have been murdered since the 1990s.

China is the world’s ‘top jailer’ of journalists, with 60 imprisoned as of December 2018. 46 of those incarcerated are ‘non-professional bloggers’, some of whom have been jailed for a single post on social media.

But the Chinese government’s control and censorship of the news is not just about silencing journalists; they are literally re-writing history.

The government’s ‘censorship apparatus’, known as the ‘Great Firewall’, blocks ordinary citizens’ searches for keywords, photos and references to dates of events that they want to erase from public consciousness.

They’ve also created their own versions of social media platforms and other popular websites, blocking western versions.

The Chinese government uses these powerful censorship techniques to erase events like the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989, a student-led pro-democracy protest in which hundreds (possibly thousands) of people were killed by government forces.

In the lead-up to the thirtieth anniversary of the massacre, popular Chinese websites shut down interactive parts of their website for so-called ‘maintenance’.

Electronic Frontier Foundation reported that five Chinese video and livestreaming sites disabled comments until after the anniversary passed; a networking site disabled discussions, and WeChat ‘blocked users from changing their status messages, profile pictures, and nicknames’.

Interviews with young Chinese students on Netflix’s Patriot Act show the success of the government’s stringent censorship – most had little or no idea about the significance of June 4, 1989 in their country’s history.

While Russia and China have particularly alarming track-records of detaining or killing journalists for exposing truths, the primary concern for our media is that both the government and AFP are conflating security with a need for increased spying powers. Such security measures fundamentally undermine the concept of free press – a cornerstone of any functioning democracy.

The post Why the AFP media raids are a slippery slope we cannot ignore appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Women comprised 40% of recipients across all tiers of the awards, including five out of the 12 people receiving the highest award, the Companion of the Order of Australia. It is the highest percentage of women recipients in the history of the awards.

Celebrating honoured women today! And tomorrow advocating for structural reform in nomination and selection processes ensuring gender equality sustained meritorious women not forgotten #rolemodels @corporatefox @HapgoodK @judyhoracek @JacquelineMaley @NyadolNyuon @Kate_ohalloran pic.twitter.com/QcH5UTDFyW

— Honour A Woman (@honourawoman) June 9, 2019

High profile women recognised include ABC Chair Ita Buttrose, domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty, Natasha Stott-Despoja, Jane Caro, Leigh Sales, Carol Schwartz, Diane Smith-Gander, Carrie Bickmore, former union boss Sharan Burrow and 2018 Australian of the Year Professor Michelle Simmons.

Thanks so much Amanda. And thrilled that the honours awards are now up to 40% women. Fantastic!!! @OurCommunityAU @denismoriarty @kathyrichardson #honourawoman @hula_grl https://t.co/sy8E2WvV7K

— carol schwartz (@cazzmelbourne) June 10, 2019

Since the Order of Australia was established in 1975, men have consistently received around 70% of the Australian honours. Parity is still a long way off but, thanks to concerted efforts, we are edging closer towards it.

Congratulations! @CEWAus Past President The Hon Dr Annabelle Bennett AO SC. Awarded Companion (AC) in the General Division Queen’s Birthday 2019 Honours for eminent service to the law, to the judiciary, to higher education, and to sports arbitration. #womenleaders #CEWleaders pic.twitter.com/vU3UBX1BoA

— ChiefExecutiveWomen (@CEWAus) June 9, 2019

Community organisation Honour a Woman, co-founded by Carol Kiernan and Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency are specifically seeking to reach parity by highlighting the current gender inequalities in the awards system and asking all Australians to nominate more women for awards.

Mega Congrats to my sister Prof @MareeSmith19 AC (Companion of the Order of Australia)!! @CIPDD_UQ @UQ_News Pioneering research #Innovation in treatment of neuropathic pain #GenderEquity #RoleModel @WomenSciAUST We are all VERY proud of you! #QueensBirthdayHonours2019 pic.twitter.com/aWXrXxxI1d

— Prof Clare Collins (@ProfCCollins) June 9, 2019

Statistics provided by the Governor General’s Office to Honour a Woman illustrate the gender disparities in last year’s round of Queen’s Birthday Order of Australia Awards:

• Out of the 31 categories, 28 had more male than female nominees
• Mining was the only category with more female nominees and men and women were equally represented in the Religion and the Conservation and the Environment categories
• 8 categories had no female nominees at all
• In the female-dominated industry of Education, 58% of nominees were male (35 out of 61)
• In Medicine, 78% of nominees were male (89 out of 114)
• 66% of all nominees (718 out of 1090) and 63% of all award recipients (489 out of 778) were male

“These statistics from last year’s Queen’s Birthday honours list are very telling and clearly show just how we undervalue women and the important contribution women make in our society,” said Workplace Gender Equality Agency director and Ambassador for Honour a Woman, Libby Lyons says. “We know that receiving an Order of Australia award increases a woman’s profile and raises their visibility in their chosen field. As more women receive awards, it might even help to improve the persistent lack of gender balance on boards and at the CEO level.”

NEWS: A huge thrill to share news that our CEO & co-founder @MVEG001 Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea, scientist and advocate for greater diversity and equity for women in STEMM, named in the #QueensBirthdayHonours list as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) https://t.co/Tjk6mKp25C pic.twitter.com/wUt1nTGIj1

— Women in STEMM Aust (@WomenSciAUST) June 9, 2019

Delighted and more than a little bit surprised to be in the honours list this morning. (Looks like I’m in good company). #omg pic.twitter.com/1HXQXo42v4

— Rae Cooper (@Raecooper1) June 9, 2019

The Honour a Woman co-founders said that gender inequality in the Australian honours system begins with fewer women being nominated.

“These awards do not fairly represent our society. Many outstanding women who contribute tirelessly to our community are being overlooked. In last year’s Community category, where you would expect women to be more fairly represented, 62% of nominees were male (292 out of 470).

“Continuously rewarding more men and fewer women with an Order of Australia perpetuates the cycle of women’s invisibility in society, in the community, in the workforce and in the boardroom.

“It is time for the Order of Australia to recognise equally ‘men and women whose actions have set them apart and enriched our community’.”

RESPECT & CONGRATS to Carolyn Briggs, Dorothy Peters, Rosie, Ita, Natasha, Kathryn Fagg, Peggy O'Neal, Carol Schwarz, Sigrid Thornton, Jane Caro, Sophie Cunningham, Marg Attley, Kathryn Nolan, Marguerite Evans-Gallea, Dimity Hawkins, Leigh Sales, Margaret Twomey. #HonouraWoman https://t.co/0n3o2XaS9c

— Joanna Hayter AO (@johayter_) June 10, 2019

The post Record number of women recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The news comes after reports earlier this week that Communications Minister Mitch Fifield had taken Buttrose’s name to Cabinet, which subsequently approved the appointment.

The ABC’s acting leadership endorsed Buttrose’s appointment last night, with acting MD David Anderson declaring her leadership “is welcomed” and current acting chair Ferguson noting the “valuable experience” she’ll bring to the ABC board.

While it’s not the first time a woman has led the ABC — Dame Leonie Kramer took on the role in the early 1980s — it is the first time the broadcaster has been led by an all female team at the top.

As we wrote earlier this week, Buttrose certainly has the experience to take on the role, having held high-profile editing and executive positions across publishing and television.

She is arguably Australia’s best known magazine editor and was named 2013 Australian of the Year. She’s known as a media trailblazer and innovator, especially for her time editing Cleo and The Australian Women’s Weekly, during the 1970s. She was recently a Studio 10 panellist with Ten Network alone with Nine’s morning Extra program, and has had an ABC miniseries made about her career. She has also served as president of Chief Executive Women, and as a director at New Limited and Australian Consolidated Press.

Ferguson has been acting chair of the ABC since former chair Justin Milne stood down in 2018. She holds a wide range of positions across ASX listed, private company and government boards. She is a former lawyer and air force office.

Buttrose will now serve a five-year term as chair, and is tasked with maintaining the independence and integrity of the ABC, among other things. Her role, enshrined in legislation, will also see her develop codes of practice, ensure all functions of the ABC are performed efficiently, and ensure its news and journalism is accurate, impartial and objective.

Only the Governor-General can fire the ABC chairperson, if advised by the Prime Minister.

Not everyone is happy with how the appointment was made.

Buttrose was not on the all male shortlist that had been presented to the government by global recruiter Korn Ferry following a five month search. That’s already seen former chair Maurice Newman complaining that the process has been “unfair”.

“If you don’t want to have a process, fine. Leave it up to the PM or the minister of the tea lady of whoever. Everyone knows that’s the basis of the selection. But I don’t really see the point of having a process that is not observed. It makes a mockery of it.” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Newman said his comments are “not a reflection” on Buttrose, but that the appointment made a “mockery” of the short list process.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his decision to approve her as chair. “I’ve known Ita for a long time and I think she’s an extraordinary Australia,” he said. “There’s been few people more than Ita that I think have lifted the standards of journalism in this country, and I think that says a lot about her character and her abilities.”

Morrison expressed disappointment that no female candidates were shared on the recruiter’s shortlist.

The post Female team: Ita Buttrose appointed ABC chair, with Kirstin Ferguson deputy appeared first on Women's Agenda.

According to a number of reports this morning, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield is expected to take Buttrose’s potential appointment to cabinet this week — which could lead to further discussion and does not mean her appointment is confirmed.

Buttrose certainly has the experience to take on the role, having held high-profile editing and executive positions across publishing and television.

She is arguably Australia’s best known magazine editor and was named 2013 Australian of the Year. She’s known as a media trailblazer and innovator, especially for her time editing Cleo and The Australian Women’s Weekly, during the 1970s. She was recently a Studio 10 panellist with Ten Network alone with Nine’s morning Extra program, and has had an ABC miniseries made about her career. She has also served as president of Chief Executive Women, and as a director at New Limited and Australian Consolidated Press.

She would be only the second woman to take the position, since Dame Leonie Kramer took on the role in the early 1980s.

Buttrose’s potential appointment follows a tumultuous period for the management of the broadcaster, following the departure of MD Michelle Guthrie and chair Justin Milne.

Four men are believed to be on the Korn Ferry shortlist that was rejected, including former Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood and former News Corp chief executive Kim Williams.

The post Ita Buttrose leads the pack in race for new ABC chair appeared first on Women's Agenda.