''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known simply as ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly
women's magazine
This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of woman, women.
Currently published
*''10 Magazine (UK), 10 Magazine'' (UK – distributed worldwide)
*''Al Jam ...
published by
Are Media in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
and founded in 1933.
For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by the Australian edition of ''
Better Homes and Gardens'' in 2014.
, ''The Weekly'' has overtaken ''
Better Homes and Gardens'' again, coming out on top as Australia's most read magazine. The magazine invested in the 2020 film ''
I Am Woman
"I Am Woman" is a song written by Australian musicians Helen Reddy and Ray Burton (musician), Ray Burton. Performed by Reddy, the first recording of "I Am Woman" appeared on her debut album ''I Don't Know How to Love Him (album), I Don't Know H ...
'' about
Helen Reddy
Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a show business family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on ra ...
, singer and feminist icon.
History and profile
The magazine was started in 1933 by
Frank Packer
Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer (3 December 19061 May 1974), was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network. He was a patriarch of the Packer family.
Early life
Frank Packer was born in ...
and
Ted Theodore
Edward Granville Theodore (29 December 1884 – 9 February 1950) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1919 to 1925, as leader of the Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), state Labor Party. He later entere ...
as a weekly publication. The first editor was
George Warnecke and the initial dummy was laid out by
William Edwin Pidgeon who went on to do many famous covers over the next 25 years. It was to have two distinctive features; firstly, the newspaper's features would have an element of topicality, and secondly the magazine would appeal to all Australian women, regardless of class, and have a national focus. Wanting it to appeal to a mass audience, Warnecke hoped ''The Weekly'' would be a sign that Australia finally was coming out of the
Depression.
Jean Williamson was hired (moving from the
Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
) where she was surprised to find that she was the editor for "fiction". Soon letters were arriving from women who were obviously lonely and light fiction brought them comfort.
In the coming decades, ''The Weekly'' became Australia's foremost publisher of light fiction, mostly from England but also Australian, and though its readership was mostly women, many men were avid readers. Australian authors who were well supported include
Margot Neville,
Mary Gilmore,
Lennie Lower,
Ross Campbell,
Frank Dalby Davison and
Henrietta Drake-Brockman. Australian artists who enlivened the prose included
W. E. Pidgeon,
Virgil Reilly and
Wynne W. Davies.
The cartoon strip ''
Mandrake the Magician
''Mandrake the Magician'' is a Comic strip syndication, syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk before he created ''The Phantom''.Ron Goulart, ''The Encyclopedia of American Comics''. New York: Facts on File, 1990. . pp. 91, 249 ...
'' was a longtime competitor to ''
The Phantom
''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...
'' in rival magazine ''
The Australian Woman's Mirror''. Both strips were the work of American cartoonist
Lee Falk
Lee Falk (), born Leon Harrison Gross (; April 28, 1911 – March 13, 1999), was an American cartoonist, writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the comic strips ''Mandrake the Magician'' and ''The Phantom''. At the ...
. From 1955-1959 the magazine awarded a contemporary art prize.
By 1961, the publication had a circulation of 800,000.
''The Weekly'' celebrated its 50th anniversary of publication in June 1983 and its 75th anniversary in the October 2008 issue was published by then Editor-in-Chief Robyn Foyster. The silver foil cover featured Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman with an exclusive interview about their upcoming film, 'Australia'. The 75th Birthday was marked with a
anniversary partyof 75 VIP guests at
Fort Denison in Sydney. Robyn also re-introduced The Australian Women's Weekly Book Club which was launched at an event in Sydney in 2008 by award-winning writer
Di Morrissey, who had begun her career as a cadet at The Australian Women's Weekly.
Publishing and Broadcasting Limited
Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) was one of Australia's largest corporations. With interests primarily in media and gambling, for the entirety of its existence it was largely controlled by the Packer family.
History Predecessors
P ...
(PBL) launched ''Women's Weekly'' versions in Singapore (1997) and Malaysia in 2000. The magazine in each country follows the Australian ''Weekly'' writing style, while its content is idiosyncratic to the country.
In 2012 the parent company of the magazine,
ACP Magazines
Are Media is an Australian media company. It was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) during th ...
, a subsidiary of
Nine Entertainment
Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited is an Australian publicly listed company with holdings in mass media radio and television broadcasting, publishing and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate branding.
The entity is largely a succ ...
, was acquired by the
Bauer Media Group
Heinrich Bauer Publishing (), trade name, trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, ...
.
Audited circulation under Nene King was 980,000. The 60th anniversary edition sold in excess of one-million.
Audited circulation in June 2013 was 459,175 copies monthly. Readership numbers for September 2014 were estimated to be 1,828,000.
In mid-June 2020, the
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
–based investment company Mercury Capital acquired ''The Australian Women's Weekly'' as part of its acquisition of Bauer Media's Australian and New Zealand magazine brands.
In late September 2020, Mercury Capital rebranded Bauer Media as
Are Media, which took over publication of the ''Woman's Weekly''.
Cultural impact
The overall popularity of the magazine between the 1930s–1980s meant that articles and advertisements published in it were widely read across
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, not only by women, but men as well. The magazine's power to influence and shape culture across the nation intersected with the rise of various women's and parenting issues. In a review of issues published between the 1930s–1980s, historians have argued that ''The Australian Women's Weekly'' promoted school uniforms for children at a time when school uniforms were not mandatory across the country. This promotion, mainly through targeted coverage of school aged children, shaped views of motherhood and child-rearing throughout Australia. Publications in the magazine focused on products, children's fashion, and celebrity children continue to shape readers views of motherhood and child-rearing.
Format and frequency
The magazine is usually 240 pages long and printed on glossy paper trimmed to
A4 page size, although it was originally a
tabloid in size and layout. It typically contains feature articles about the modern Australian woman. For many years, it included a lift-out TV guide.
In 1982, publication frequency was reduced from weekly to monthly. "Weekly" was retained in the name for reasons of familiarity and because a woman's "monthly" was a slang term for
menstruation
Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and Mucous membrane, mucosal tissue from the endometrium, inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized ...
. The final weekly edition was dated 15 December 1982, followed by the first monthly edition dated January 1983. The TV guide was discontinued on introduction of the monthly format.
Editors
Editors-in-chief of ''The Weekly'' over the years have included
George Warnecke (1933–1939),
Alice Mabel Jackson (1939–1950),
Esmé (Ezzie) Fenston (1950–1972),
Dorothy Drain (1972–1975),
Ita Buttrose (1975–76),
Jennifer Rowe (1987–1992),
Nene King, Dawn Swain (1994–2000),
Deborah Thomas (1999–2015),
Julia Zaetta (2005–06), Robyn Foyster (2007–2009), Helen McCabe (2009–2016), Kim Wilson (2016–17), Juliet Rieden (who was acting Editor-in-Chief in 2016 and 2017 and then Editor before moving to Editor-at-Large from 2018) and Nicole Byers (2017–2023) an
Sophie Tedmansonwas appointed as the new Editor in October 2023.
Robyn Foyster, the editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2009 and later Group Publisher at ACP and Bauer, pu
Barack and Michelle Obama on the coverof the January, 2009, edition to mark
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
becoming the first black President of the United States. The Obama's were also the first black cover stars of ''The Weekly''.
Helen McCabe, the editor-in-chief from August 2009 until January 2016, claimed to improve ''The Weekly'' news coverage. She told The Australian she would not cove
Prince William trip to Australia because he refused to give an interview to the magazine.
In late 2009, she hired Juliet Rieden as deputy editor (Rieden was later promoted to Editor and Acting Editor-in-Chief) and Jordan Baker, formerly a reporter and travel writer for ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'', as news editor. In February 2016 Kim Wilson was named as the editor-in-chief of the magazine.
In July 2017, Nicole Byers was appointed Editor-in-Chief.
News editors included
Les Haylen (from 1933) and Dorothy Drain (from 1958). Nicole Byers stepped down from the role in October 2023 and was replaced by Sophie Tedmanson.
Being editor o
The Weeklyis often lauded as one of the most prestigious roles in Australian media.
Recipes and cookbooks
The Australian Women's Weekly Test Kitchen (then known as the Leila Howard Test Kitchen) was established just after World War I. From 1965, it continued to be on the same site of the
Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) building (corner of Park and Castlereagh Streets) in Sydney. The Test Kitchen's first 'Best Ever' recipes compilation was published in 1976, collating the most-requested recipes from the issues of the Weekly. The cookbook sold out in days and had many reprints.
The Test Kitchen had a team of 16 people in 2006, comprising chefs, home economists, food editors and support staff.
In 2012, ACP was sold to Bauer Media Group. The Test Kitchen triple-tests recipes which are then published in the magazine, as well as
Woman's Day
''Woman's Day'' is an American women's magazine that covers such topics as homemaking, food, nutrition, physical fitness, physical attractiveness, and fashion. The print edition is one of the Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters magazines. ...
and the AWW cookbooks. Surveys have shown that over 90 per cent of readers buy the magazine for the recipes.
See also
* ''
Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book''
*
List of women's magazines
This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of woman, women.
Currently published
*''10 Magazine (UK), 10 Magazine'' (UK – distributed worldwide)
*''Al Jam ...
References
Further reading
* Rebecca Johinke, ''Queens of Print: Interviews with Australia's Iconic Women's Magazine Editors'', Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2019.
* Denis O'Brien, ''The Weekly: A Lively and Nostalgic Celebration of Australia through 50 Years of its Most Popular Magazine'', Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books, 1985.
External links
*
Bauer Media*
Pat Buckridge 'Good Reading in ''The Australian Women's Weekly'' 1933–1970, JASAL 1 2002''Women's Weekly'' Singapore Edition Official Website*
*Jackson, Sall
Cost-cutting at mags over: Law''The Australian'' 12 Oct 2009 pp 30, 32 (Retrieved 17 February 2010)
''The Australian Women's Weekly'' Index on Research Data Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Women's Weekly
1933 establishments in Australia
ACP magazine titles
Are Media
Monthly magazines published in Australia
Weekly magazines published in Australia
Women's magazines published in Australia
Magazines established in 1933
Magazines published in Sydney