Women's Agenda is an Australian website and media brand. It publishes news and views relating to women's lives, carries out research, runs an app called "The Keynotes", publishes ''Women's Health News'' and has been awarding the Women's Agenda Leadership Awards since 2013.

History

Women's Agenda was initially launched on 7 August 2012 by independent publisher Private Media, that also publishes

Crikey Crikey is an Australian electronic magazine comprising a website and email newsletter available to subscribers. Crikey was described by the former Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham as the "most popular website in Parliament House" in ''The ...

and several other brands. It was initiated by Private Media publisher Marina Go. Women's Agenda then described its target audience as "professional women and female business owners who want to make informed decisions about progressing their career and lifestyle", saying that it offered "achievement-focused information across a variety of subjects of interest to the career-minded woman...". The founding editor was Angela Priestley (former editor of The Power Index), and publisher was Marina Go. It had 4,000 subscribers at the time of its launch. In March 2015, still owned by Private Media, its focus was still "aspirational", "career-minded" women. In February 2016, Women's Agenda was sold to Angela Priestley, who was then the publisher, but on parental leave with a toddler and young baby. Jane Gilmore had been editor for the previous six months, and her work had included a redesign of the website, but she would leave after the takeover. The website was relaunched by Priestley in 2017, who co-founded Agenda Media Pty Ltd with Tarla Lambert. In September 2020, the website was being seen by around 320,000 people per month, had over 90,000 followers on social media, and 25,000 subscribers to the daily eNewsletter. It aimed to cover many issues relating to the effect of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

's impact on women, such as the increased rates of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

and

job insecurity Job security is the probability that an individual will keep their job; a job with a high level of security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of losing it. Many factors threaten job security: globalization, outsourcing, ...

. In October 2020, Women's Agenda launched ''Women's Health News'', supported by

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

, which includes a weekly newsletter. Journalists and other contributors cover topics such as

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease of the female reproductive system in which cells similar to those in the endometrium, the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus, grow outside the uterus. Most often this is on the ovaries, f ...

, sleep, heavy periods,

prolapse In medicine, prolapse is a condition in which organs fall down or slip out of place. It is used for organs protruding through the vagina, rectum, or for the misalignment of the valves of the heart. A spinal disc herniation is also sometimes call ...

, women's cancers, family planning, fertility, pregnancy, and pre- and post-natal care. In April 2023, the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

's "Women in Focus" group commissioned Women's Agenda, to conduct a survey of over 800 women business owners across Australia, resulting in the publication of a research report, "Grit & Resilience: How women in small business navigate crisis". A similar partnership produced another research report in 2024, "Networks & Impact: How women are defying the odds to build successful businesses in today's economy".PDF
/ref> In July 2023, Women's Agenda launched its first app. This platform, called "The Keynotes", includes a monthly "Insights Report", which includes stats and research regarding topics such as current gaps facing women at work, with real-time representation. It also contains a number of short speeches by female leaders from various industries on a range of topics, and gives access to all Women's Agenda daily content. According to editor-in-chief Tarla Lambert, "The Keynotes reflects our long mission of making sure female and gender diverse voices are heard. More than ever, leaders need to hear them".

Description

the company was an independent, 100% female-owned media company. It is funded by partnerships and advertisers, and also publishes ''Women's Health News'', podcasts, research, and various custom projects. It is based in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Angela Priestley is publisher and founding editor. Tarla Lambert is co-owner and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the publication. She graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

with a Bachelor of Arts Global Studies in 2012. Allison Ho is the producer and journalists are Jessie Tu and Madeline Hislop. Commonwealth Bank's Women in Focus is a major sponsor and partner.

Awards

Women's Agenda has run a series of awards known as Women's Agenda Leadership Awards since 2013. The first few events were sponsored by the

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...

, and dubbed the NAB Women's Agenda Leadership Awards. There were 10 winners at the 2023 awards. These were sponsored by chief sponsor Commonwealth Bank's Women in Focus, along with category partners Charles Sturt University, MECCA M-Power, and

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

; charity partner

Plan International Plan International is a development and humanitarian organisation which works in over 75 countries across Africa, the Americas, and Asia to advance children’s rights and equality for girls. Its focus is on child protection, education, child par ...

; venue partner

Accor Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor op ...

; and gift partners Loco Love. The awards include the Women's Agenda Hall of Fame, with inductees including: *2013:

Wendy McCarthy Wendy Elizabeth McCarthy (born 22 July 1941 in , New South Wales) is an Australian businesswoman, activist and former university administrator. McCarthy has worked for reform across the public, private and community sectors, in education, fami ...

*2014

Ann Sherry Ann Caroline Sherry (born 1954) is an Australian public servant and businesswoman. Early life Ann Caroline Sherry was born on 2 February 1954 in Gympie, Queensland, Australia to parents, John Morgan Sherry and June Caroline (née Stanton), w ...

*2016:

Elizabeth Broderick 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. ...

*2017:

Gillian Triggs Gillian Doreen Triggs (born 30 October 1945) is an Australian academic specialising in public international law. In 2019, she was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Natio ...

*2018:

Magda Szubanski Magdalene Mary Therese Szubanski ( ; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian comedy actress, author, singer and LGBT rights advocate. She performed in ''Fast Forward'', '' Kath & Kim'' as Sharon Strzelecki and in the films ''Babe'' (1995) and ' ...

*2021:

Layne Beachley Layne Collette Beachley (born 24 May 1972) is a former professional surfer from Manly, New South Wales. She won the World Championship seven times. Currently she is the chair of Surfing Australia. Surfing career At the age of 16 Beachley ...

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{Online news in Australia Australian political websites Australian news websites 2012 establishments in Australia