Georgie Dent is a writer, journalist, former lawyer, and winner of the 2021 Edna Ryan award, in the category of Workforce. She was author of the book Breaking Badly, published in 2019. [1] In 2022, Dent was executive director of The Parenthood, an advocacy group representing parents and carers. She is an advocate of women's empowerment, workforce participation, and gender equality.
Dent obtained a double degree in Law and Business from the Queensland University of Technology, in 2005. Her early career involved working as a junior solicitor in commercial law, at MinterEllison, followed by work writing for BRW . [2] [3] She subsequently obtained work as a journalist and editor. She spent part of her early career living in Oxford, then moved to Australia.
As at 2022 Dent was a Director at The Parenthood, an advocacy organisation which represents mothers, parents and carers and their allies around Australia. She has participated in The Sydney Writer's Festival. [4] Dent was also invited by the Swedish Government to attend the Stockholm Forum on Gender Equality in 2018. [5]
Dent's book, Breaking Badly, is published by Affirm Press, [6] and was described by Annabel Crabb [7] as "funny, shocking, beautifully written".
Dent has appeared regularly on The Drum , The Project , The Today Show and ABC Weekend Breakfast in addition to making appearances on Q+A , Weekend Sunrise , Studio 10 , Lateline and Sky News . [8] Dent was a writer of a column in the Sun Herald, as well as The Age for Fairfax media, and she has also been a commentator and panelist for The Drum and Lateline. She has also written for Marie Claire , as well as being a contributing editor for Women's Agenda. [9] [10]
Dent was a co-instigator of the 2020 hashtag #CredibleWomen, following the Prime Minister's office's dismissal of the view that "the Australian Federal Budget ignored issues surrounding and relating to women". The Prime Minister's office commented that "no one credible" agreed with that view. However, the #CredibleWomen hashtag had 15,000 tweets posted within a few hours. [11] Following the 2022 election, it was argued that "women stormed the 2022 election in numbers too big to ignore" [12] and influenced the election result, [13] [14] supporting Dent's comments that issues related to women are important in state and federal politics. During the election campaign, Dent met Anthony Albanese to discuss these issues. [15]
Dent has written about jobs creation, actions required for unity and safety and respect of women, [16] the motherhood penalty, [17] as well as issues that will improve the lives of women in Australia. [18]
Dent has commented that childcare, and men taking parental leave, which enables women to increase their workforce participation, will lead to better economic benefits for both the economy and individuals. [19] [20] The joint NSW and Victoria childcare package, was described as "an astute investment" by Dent, who commented that:
'Early childhood education and care is nation-building infrastructure that we need now". [21]
Dent has advocated for a new improved paid parental leave scheme, and high quality and free early childhood education, as well as flexible workplaces, with accessibility for paid carer's leave for people who have sick children, with both the State and Federal Australian governments. [22]
Childcare, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typically refers to the care provided by caregivers that are not the child's parents. Childcare is a broad topic that covers a wide spectrum of professionals, institutions, contexts, activities, and social and cultural conventions. Early childcare is an important and often overlooked component of child development.
Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave" to describe separate family leave available to either parent to care for small children. In some countries and jurisdictions, "family leave" also includes leave provided to care for ill family members. Often, the minimum benefits and eligibility requirements are stipulated by law.
Bettina Mary Arndt is an Australian writer and commentator who specialises in sex and gender issues. Starting as a sex therapist, she established her career in the 1970s publishing and broadcasting as well as writing several books. In the last two decades she has abandoned feminism and attracted controversy with her social commentary and her views on sexual abuse, domestic violence and men's rights advocacy.
Irfan Yusuf is an Australian social commentator and author of the memoir Once Were Radicals: My years as a teenage Islamo-fascist.
The Young Liberal Movement of Australia, commonly referred to as the Young Liberals, is the youth movement of the Liberal Party of Australia representing members aged 16 to 31. It is organised as a federation with each state and territory division responsible for their own campaigns, policy platform and strategic direction and interact federally via the Federal Young Liberal Executive.
Mia Freedman, also known as Mia Lavigne, is the co-founder of women’s digital media company Mamamia. She was the youngest editor of the Australian edition of Cosmopolitan in 1996, aged 24.
EMILY's List Australia is a political network in Australia that supports progressive Labor Party (ALP) women candidates seeking election to political office. Founded in 1996, EMILY's List Australia was inspired by EMILY's List, a political action committee with similar goals in the United States.
Annabel Crabb is an Australian political journalist, commentator and television host who is the ABC's chief online political writer. She has worked for Adelaide's The Advertiser, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald, and won a Walkley Award in 2009 for her Quarterly Essay, "Stop at Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull". She has written two books covering events within the Australian Labor Party, as well as The Wife Drought, a book about women's work–life balance. She has hosted ABC television shows Kitchen Cabinet, The House, Back in Time for Dinner and Tomorrow Tonight.
Georgie Robertson Stone is an Australian actress, writer and transgender rights advocate. At the age of 11, Stone was the youngest person to receive hormone blockers in Australia, which set a precedent that eventually changed the law that compelled transgender children and their families to apply to the Family Court of Australia to access stage one treatment. She continues to advocate for transgender children, and is one of the most visible transgender people in Australia. She is also known for her role as Mackenzie Hargreaves in Neighbours.
The Animal Justice Party (AJP) is a political party in Australia founded in 2009 by Steve Garlick. The party was registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 3 May 2011. The party is also registered in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory. The AJP is the first political party in Australia formed solely to advance animal welfare issues.
Mehreen Saeed Faruqi is a Pakistani-born Australian politician and former engineer who has been a Senator for New South Wales since 15 August 2018, representing the Greens. She was chosen to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Lee Rhiannon, before being elected in her own right in 2019. She had previously served in the New South Wales Legislative Council between June 2013 and August 2018. Since June 2022, Faruqi has served as Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens.
Edna Minna Ryan, néeNelson was an Australian feminist and labour movement activist and writer, and a role model and mentor to a whole generation of women. Mary Owen wrote that she " may not have been the most outstanding woman in the women's movement but she has probably done more to improve the status of Australian women than any other person this century." For former Senator Susan Ryan : "She was the most inspiring and admirable woman I have known."
Elizabeth Broderick is an Australian lawyer, who was the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner for over eight years from 2007 to 2015 and has been a United Nations special rapporteur for Discrimination against Women and Girls since 2017. She is a former partner and head of legal technology at Ashurst Australia, a global commercial law firm.
Julia Woodlands Baird is an Australian journalist, broadcaster and author. She contributes to The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald and has been a regular host of The Drum, a television news review program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Her non-fiction work includes a bestselling memoir, a biography on Queen Victoria and a meditation on the experience of grace during a time of dark politics.
Youth Action is the peak body organisation for young people and youth services in New South Wales, Australia. Previously known as Youth Action Policy Association (YAPA), the organisation represents 1.4 million young people and the services that support them.
The Edna Ryan Awards, also referred to as simply "The EDNAS", are Australian awards established to recognise women who have "made a feminist difference". The inaugural Edna Ryan Awards were held in 1998, the year following the death of their namesake Edna Ryan. Ryan was a life-long feminist, labour movement activist, and mentor and role model for a whole generation of women. These awards were created to honour her life and work by a group of her friends, particularly Eva Cox and other members of the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL).
Marian Pam Baird is an Australian academic researcher, Professor of Gender and Employment Relations and Head of the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney, and a member of the Australian Fair Work Commission. She is also Foundation Director, Women and Work Research Group. Her research focuses on all aspects of women in the workforce over their lifespan.
Samantha Joy Mostyn is an Australian businesswoman and climate change and gender equality advocate, and first female AFL commissioner. Mostyn was president at Chief Executive Women in 2021–22. She is a board member on numerous boards, including Mirvac, Transurban, GO Foundation, the Climate Council, Virgin Australia, and the Sydney Swans. The Mostyn Medal, for "best and fairest" women in AFL Sydney, is named after her. In April 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Mostyn will be sworn in as the 28th Governor-General of Australia on 1 July 2024.
Pain and Prejudice: How the Medical System Ignores Women and What We Can Do About It is a 2019 non-fiction book by Gabrielle Jackson. The book chronicles Jackson's experiences living with endometriosis and adenomyosis and tracks a history of women's health care, specifically in relation to pain. The book was originally published in the UK and Australia under the title Pain and Prejudice: A Call to Arms for Women and Their Bodies.
Deborah Jane Brennan is an Australian Professor in social policy research, who was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia, in the Queens Birthday Honours list, in 2022, for her significant service to social policy research, gender equity and tertiary education.