ASK MURIEL: Staying motivated in advocacy 24 August 2022
In this edition of Action Matters, we answer the question: “How do you stay motivated as an advocate, even when you are not making headway”? Campaigns and advocacy projects can be a mixed bag. Some can last days or weeks, and others can drag on for years. Some are professional campaigning groups with substantial human […]
Advocacy 101: The connection between medical abortion in Australia and Telstra 24 August 2022
What do access to medical abortion in Australia and Telstra have in common? Not much on the face of it, but when it comes to political wheeling and dealing, they are forever united in how women’s rights can easily turn into a bargaining chip for otherwise unrelated policy decisions. Big ticket policy and reform conversations […]
Advocacy spotlight: Safe Schools 24 August 2022
Safe Schools explained In 2010, the Victorian Government established the Safe Schools anti-bullying scheme, which grew into an $8m four-year federally funded national program in 2013. Their mission was simple: to ensure schools are safe places free of discrimination for all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, intersex, queer, asexual and questioning (LGBTIQA+) students. […]
Campaign wins and reflections: Tampon tax 24 August 2022
You may hear advocates talking about gender inequality being ‘systemic’ – but it can be hard to understand what that means in practice, and how it impacts the way we can effectively advocate. A good example of a system that reinforced and entrenched gender inequality is the historic charging of goods and services tax (GST) […]
Why we need to embrace feminist lenses on welfare and economic policy 24 August 2022
“Women” as a public policy area, has tended to slide into discrete and recognizable piles; early learning, families, health and violence prevention for example. In this edition of Action Matters we look at how women’s policy, rather than being discreet has relevancy across a suite of significant portfolios including taxation and welfare. Often this relevancy […]
Campaign reflections: How Australia’s #MeToo movement has failed diverse victim-survivors 27 May 2022
In 2017 the #MeToo movement, founded by American activist Tarana Burke, echoed around the world, creating solidarity amongst thousands of women and gender diverse people. Over the following months, as it began to gain momentum in Australia, journalist Tracey Spicer launched an organisation in line with the movement called NOW Australia. NOW Australia quickly gained […]
Ask Muriel: Calling out ‘faux feminism’ 27 May 2022
In this edition of Action Matters, we answer the question: How do I call out ‘faux feminism’ when I see it? It’s highly likely that if you’re engaged in feminist discussions, or tapped into politically progressive circles, you’ll come across people unscrupulously appropriating feminist ideology and rhetoric to gain credibility, without meaningfully engaging with gender […]
Advocacy 101: Faux or feminist? How to tell? 27 May 2022
Faux or feminist? How to tell? The transcendence of the corporate juggernaut-turned-woke public advocate and the blending of branded feminism and International Women’s Day, has meant that feminism has become highly bankable and subsequently, ubiquitous. Not just a vessel for profit, feminist marketing and band-wagoning can also obscure regressive opinions or policies. In fact, the […]
Advocate spotlight: Tarana Burke 27 May 2022
Tarana Burke is an activist, community organiser, executive, and most notably the founder and architect of the global #MeToo movement. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Tarana has a long-standing history of advocating for women’s rights, specifically women of colour and survivors of sexual violence. As a survivor herself, Tarana spent much of […]
Hustle culture and corporate feminism 27 May 2022
The motivation to develop a personal brand in a time of the influencer is a powerful force and can often accompany feminist-inspired social change. But can this change be considered authentic? And should it attract widespread support if its foundations are anti-feminist or laden with a tangible sense of white saviour complex? In this edition […]