Melinda Tankard Reist (born 23 September 1963) is an Australian writer, speaker, blogger and media commentator. Tankard Reist describes herself as "an advocate for women and girls" and a " pro-life feminist".

Early life

Tankard Reist was born in

Mildura, Victoria Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area had ...

. She completed secondary schooling at Mildura High School and then studied journalism at the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

before taking up a cadetship at the ''

Sunraysia Daily The ''Sunraysia Daily'' is a local newspaper in the north-western Sunraysia region of Victoria, Australia, it is published on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. From its first publication in 1920 until 14 September 2007, it was published ...

'', where she worked from 1983 to 1987. As a recipient of a

Rotary Foundation The Rotary Foundation is a non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. It is supported solely b ...

scholarship, she studied journalism at the

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

, in 1987 and 1988.

Career

On her return to Australia, Tankard Reist was a freelance contributor to newspapers and to ABC radio. From 1991 to 1993, she lived in South East Asia and was engaged in voluntary aid work, including caring for infants with disabilities relinquished for adoption. On her return to Australia, she took up a position as an advisor to independent Senator

Brian Harradine Richard William Brian Harradine (9 January 1935 – 14 April 2014) was an Australian politician who served as an independent member of the Australian Senate, from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving indep ...

from 1993 to 2005. She was on the founding committee of Karinya House for Mothers and Babies, a supported accommodation and outreach service to women pregnant without support, and Erin House transitional housing for women post-birth. She was the founding director of Women's Forum Australia which described itself as being "an independent women's think tank that undertakes research, education, and public policy development about social, economic, health, and cultural issues affecting women". She has also worked as a consultant to NGOs with a focus on global poverty, including World Vision Australia from 2005 to 2008 when she was involved in the development of the organisation's Don't Trade Lives campaign. In 2009, she co-founded Collective Shout for a World Free of Sexploitation, a grass-roots campaigning movement which targets advertisers, corporations and marketers which objectify women and sexualise girls to sell products and services. Tankard Reist is a contributing editor of five books published by

Duffy & Snellgrove Duffy & Snellgrove is a small, independent publishing house founded in Australia in 1996 by journalist Michael Duffy and his wife Alex Snellgrove. Since November 2005, the company has stopped publishing new works, although they continue to publi ...

and

Spinifex Press Spinifex Press is an independent feminist book publisher based in Australia. It was established in March 1991 by Renate Klein and Susan Hawthorne. It has over 200 titles in print and publishes both fiction and non-fiction that is innovative and c ...

, including one with Abigail Bray and another with Caroline Norma.

Writings

* * * * *

References

External links

*
Tankard Reist's articles
on ''

The Punch ''The Punch'' is a Nigerian daily newspaper founded On August 8, 1970. Punch Nigeria Limited was registered under the Companies Act of 1968 to engage in the business of publishing newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. It was designed to i ...

'' website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tankard Reist, Melinda Australian anti-abortion activists Australian bloggers Living people 1963 births RMIT University alumni California State University, Long Beach alumni Australian women bloggers Australian feminist writers