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 an independent publishing company, Private Media, that also publishes

Crikey Crikey is an Australian online news outlet founded in 1999. It consists of a website and email newsletter available to subscribers. History Crikey was founded by the activist shareholder Stephen Mayne, a journalist and former staffer of the ...

and several other brands. It was initiated by the 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 the 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" and "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 the 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

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, Australia, Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain (British Army and Royal ...

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

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease in which Tissue (biology), tissue similar to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, grows in other places in the body, outside the uterus. It occurs in women and a limited number of other female mammals. Endomet ...

, sleep, heavy periods,

prolapse In medicine, prolapse is a condition in which organ (anatomy), 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 al ...

, 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), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

'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 the 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. The company based 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 ...

. Angela Priestley is the publisher and founding editor. Tarla Lambert is the 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 editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the publication. She graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

with a Bachelor of Arts Global Studies in 2012. Allison Ho is the producer, and the 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 Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...

, and dubbed the NAB Women's Agenda Leadership Awards. There were 10 winners at the 2023 awards. These were sponsored by the 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 agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

; charity partner

Plan International Plan International is a development and humanitarian organisation based in the United Kingdom that works in over 80 countries across Africa, the Americas, and Asia, focusing on children’s rights. In 2024, Plan International reached 43 million ...

; 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 ope ...

; and gift partners Loco Love. The awards include the Women's Agenda Hall of Fame, with inductees including: *2013: Wendy McCarthy *2014 Ann Sherry *2016: Elizabeth Broderick *2017:

Gillian Triggs Gillian Doreen Triggs (born 30 October 1945) is an Australian and British public international lawyer, specialising in human rights and trade and commercial law. She is also an academic, barrister, and director. She became widely known in Aust ...

*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

Footnotes

References

External links

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