WLIA’s Founding Chairperson Carol Schwartz appeared on ABC News Breakfast to discuss this year’s Pathways to Politics Program for Women and why it’s so important to see gender balanced leadership in our parliaments.
WLIA Executive Director, Amy Mullins visited the Sky News Melbourne studio to speak with Ashleigh Gillon about Kate Ellis MP’s retirement from politics, the difficulties parliamentarians face in balancing politics and family life and what needs to change.
“Politics is one of those areas which is really behind in changing its workplace policies. We often see politics as not a workplace… but it is. It has other demands on politicians’ time, but I think that means we should actually be more innovative in how we do politics and ask – what could we change to make it easier for politicians to do their jobs, but also be with their families and be personally fulfilled? And that’s something that will make them better politicians.”
Have you ever considered running for elected office?
Designed to address the under-representation of women in Australian politics, program participants will hear from current and former MPs along with local and international experts in media, polling, networking, campaigning and speechwriting.
The Program is an initiative of the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia (WLIA), made possible by a generous donation to the University of Melbourne from the Trawalla Foundation established by the Schwartz family. Ms Carol Schwartz AM, Founding Chair of WLIA, says last year’s pilot program was a great success with several women already embarking on political careers.
“The program has given a cohort of incredible women from across the political spectrum the skills, support and networks they need to run for office. It’s critical to have men and women share power at the highest levels of leadership and decision-making – that’s why we initiated the Pathways to Politics Program for Women,” says Ms Schwartz.
Two of last year’s fellows – Susanne Newton and Stephanie Amir – were recently elected as councillors in the City of Darebin and two others – Olivia Ball and Sarah Mansfield – ran as candidates in the federal election and had significant swings towards them.
Olivia then went head-to-head against popular Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle, and received the second-highest number of votes, beating more experienced politician Phil Cleary.
Recently, Bridget Vallence won pre-selection for the safe Liberal seat of Evelyn, in Victoria.
Based on Harvard University’s “From Harvard Square to Oval Office”, the non-partisan program equips 25 women from diverse backgrounds with the skills, networks and confidence they need to seek elected office at a federal, state or local level.
Free for successful applicants, the Pathways to Politics Program for Women runs from June to November this year. Prospective participants can view the eligibility requirements and apply here. Applications close at 11.59pm on April 4th 2017.
Our Executive Director, Amy Mullins, joined Ashleigh Gillon in the Sky News Melbourne studio to talk about the news that the 45th Parliament will see the lowest levels of female MPs in a Coalition government in 20 years. They also discussed ways in which we can increase the number of women elected. Angela Priestley, Editor of Women’s Agenda, joined the discussion from Sydney.
Amy references new research about quotas and their effectiveness in increasing the number of female politicians in a nation. If you’re interesting in reading more about it, read Dr Victor Sojo’s article here.
The day has finally arrived! We are excited to be attending the first session of the inaugural Pathways to Politics Program for Women at the Melbourne School of Government, made possible by the Trawalla Foundation and with support from WLIA.
The distinguished speaker this evening will be Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO. She will be in conversation with our Founding Chair, Carol Schwartz AM.
Carol spoke to Jon Faine this morning about the program and how it came about.
