INTRODUCTION
Good Morning.

I am always delighted to visit Canberra, particularly on an occasion that carries the significance of International Women’s Day. Today is the 74th year in Australia since women and men joined in their call for a better world for women and their daughters.

It is an occasion to celebrate the contribution of women to our society and to show collective pride in our achievements.

It is interesting to reflect that the inception of International Women’s Day early last century was highly controversial, with women becoming politically active for the first time.

The first International Women’s Day called for equal pay for equal work, an 8-hour working day for “shop girls”, and a basic wage for the unemployed and paid annual holidays, basic rights that we enjoy and take for granted today.

It is fascinating to reflect how far we have come since then, but also how long it took for the journey…a journey that is still in the making for all of us here today.

Part of the continuing journey for me is driving change.

It makes me proud and a little overwhelmed to think that I can as Director of EOWA contribute to the quality of this journey for working women in Australia.

When I reflect of my life and my career so far, there are a number of important events that have been pivotal.

For the next 20 minutes or so I will take you on my personal journey, which has led me to the honour of being your guest today.

I am delighted to field as many questions as we time permits.

BEGIN AS YOU CONTINUE
Role models, mentors and networking are the 3 keys of influence that have motivated and driven the direction of my life and career.

Family background

• Eldest of two daughters - from a traditional working-class background.
• Parents were committed to giving their children the education opportunity they didn’t have & I was bought up with the value of always giving my best
• Loved science at school – chem. Set & Adventure & Science Fantasy novels!!!!
• At school - attended Presbyterian Ladies College in Melbourne - best lesson I got from school was that women could do anything they set their mind to do – also had great female role models .
• Completed a Science Degree at Melbourne Uni – although my mother wanted me to do medicine, but I couldn’t stand the sight of blood…. did work experience in a local hospital and found that I was fascinated by bacteria so chose to pursue Microbiology…and that’s what I specialized in. I ended up working 10 years in that field.

My first job was working for the Victorian Department of Agriculture…my first task was to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella in baby food, which was a major poison outbreak at the time… right from the start, my job really engaged me.

I felt I was doing something significant for public health specifically, and for society as a whole.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Also, I learnt a lot from an operational perspective, but …

There were no female role models in the job .

In the 70’s in science, women took up a job, if they had babies they left – if they didn’t they could aspire to a Science 3 level - a first line supervisory job, not even a management role. Men, on the other hand, could aspire to a level 5 & beyond.

In those days there was a rigid system where there was only so many ‘Level 1’s, ‘Level 2’s etc. The system didn’t make sense to me, especially if the Department was trying to develop scientific excellence …so I became very involved.

We identified things in the system that did not make sense, and set about putting in place processes to bring about change. I guess this is where my innate impulse to make a difference began to develop.

My issue then, and now really, continues to be about recognition and merit.

As President of the Professional Scientists’ Group I negotiated with the Department of Agriculture to bring about change to this rigid promotional pattern for scientists.

Then came a pivotal decision in my career path: my boss came to me one day and said that I had to decide between pursing my PHD … or pursue a management career.

I had become known to management through my negotiations and liaison as President of the Professional Scientists’ Group, I knew all the key players in the Dept - and they knew me.

FACING YOUR FEARS
1988 was a crossroads time for me: I chose to take on the EO role. Management told me later that they took a risk with me but they wanted an implementer and I had demonstrated that I had transferable skills in terms of communication and change management.

I also had the passion! It was the same later when I got my next job with Esso, the oil company.

Again, I had demonstrated – though in a different context – that I had the essential critical skills the job required and convinced them that I could opearet in the private sector!!!!.

There is no doubt that another pivotal point in my career and life was when, at the age of 30, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer: this made me feel very mortal, and I believe gave me focus, forcing me to look at what I was doing and what I wanted to achieve.

My husband said at the time, ‘when your numbers up, it’s up’ and that helped me in a way to be more fatalistic. I kept working right the way through the treatment…

It’s interesting to note on reflection that after my brush with cancer (which lasted some 18 months of treatment and follow-ups) my career and life took off!!

TAKING RISKS
I abandoned the traditional academic role … I saw this role as being very narrow…I remember being shocked by one colleague who did an entire thesis on the significance of the colour of milking sheds in America!!!. I wanted to do something more meaningful!

I saw a management role as being one where I could influence change … I did the EO management role for 3 years, after 10 years as a scientist. At the end of those 3 years we saw several women taking on ‘Level 5’ roles…and shortly after I left the Dept appointed its first female regional manager. This made me feel very potitive – that I had made a difference .

ROLE MODELS
My major learning during those three years, however, was the importance of female role models for women. I was working in Victoria in the late ‘80s at this time; this was during the Kirner Government period when things were changing for the better very quickly.

During this time there were 5 or 6 heads of Government departments who were women…I had all these role models in EO who were outstanding women with very strong networks…people like Elizabeth Proust…networking right across Victoria.

I was talking to former Victorian Premier Joan Kirner about this just last week, how people like Elizabeth Proust were the pioneers. But that there was another group behind them reinforcing the picture…women like Susan Halliday…who became the second wave of fantastic role models for women…and they were significant.

I decided that I had better learn how to be a manager and I completed a two-year post-graduate management course at RMIT.

The course was ahead of its time, built around the action/learning model…diagnosis, discipline, action, and reflection …where we were continually expected to do things out of our comfort zone. The theme of the course was about life-long learning…which is now mainstream … but in 1990 … it wa I also had my first daughter during this time .

I’ve always preferred working to staying at home, my lovely daughters notwithstanding! Throughout my career I have only ever done jobs that I enjoy doing…whatever I do, I want to continue to learn and grow. One of my core beliefs is …that you must want to make a difference.

I had always loved working in the public service, and up until then I believed the private sector was a ‘no go’! But then, I recall sitting in The EEO Managers office at ICI - a private sector company that was leading edge at the time in terms of EO – and realizing that some private sector companies also took EEO for women seriously .

And for the first time I thought, wow, I could really work in the private sector!!

This was another pivotal moment in my life – when varety of things came into play. The government was down-sizing, big redundancy packages were being offered, and I thought, OK, I’ve finished my studies, I have a 5-month-old daughter; I’ll take a year off and look at the private sector later as an option.

But life had other plans for me! And this is where fate stepped in the form of my women’s networks, which is something I have always deeply valued throughout my career. One of the senior women I worked with put an application package for a job at Esso in EO - and suggested I should apply.

I had doubts because the job description suggested that the applicant had to be really high-powered…but I applied anyway…and I got it.

DRIVING CHANGE
I started at Esso as EO Manager in 1991 …their major business issue was attracting and retaining female engineers…and it was a major challenge!

Since the early 80s Esso had been attracting graduates, 50% of whom were women. But when you ran the statistics, after 4 years only 28% of those women remained…whereas, 85% of the men stayed.

At Esso I learnt about strategic HR because, even though I worked solo, I also worked closely with the line managers in the production area; that’s where we could work to hold onto the engineers.

I was exposed to and learned heaps about business strategy …..the production manager and I would go jointly to the board …we had issues and proposed ways to fix them. We identified, for example, that it wasn’t the recruitment process. We always hired the best people – the cream! – but we had difficulty retaining the good female candidates.

Esso sent me to America to talk to its affiliate companies about how they were fixing the same issue…this was in 1994/1995. This was a great learning experience for me, because I had read all of the diversity material, but it didn’t really come to life until I spoke to the people who were driving it. It was fascinating to see for myself the different approaches.

I had great support – during my time at Esso. (You can’t do this staff alone!!!!!) For example, I had a female director there who was a great role model and a great supporter …she was aware of the issues for women, was willing to champion them and had a lot of credibility…she was very senior…they had 4 directors and she was one of them…she was African-American too, so she understood the race as well as the gender issues.

WE ARE WHAT WE LEARN
By focusing both on management and the women themselves we fixed the problem! We achieved an 80% retention of both men and women…and we had our first female drilling supervisor…a great result because drilling is the ‘blokiest’ part of the organisation. Usually that job was taken by all the Texans with the big boots, really blokey.

I was at Esso from 1991 to 1997, 6 years in total…I learned heaps, and the other thing that was great was working for a truly global organisation that was a good operator…very valuable experience!

Also, Esso was all about process…and I got to work with really bright people… intellectual stimulation and a constant challenge is very important for me as a person. I need to grow either through work or study!!! One of the other things I learned in the oil industry was strategic patience, to judge how to pick your time to fight your battles…to get things done…I am very impatient by nature.

It was really important to have the mentoring and support…it was a very tough environment…the job was very full-on. I learnt the importance of networks once again: tapping into people when you need help and advice. One of my first, most critical tasks at Esso was to set up a joint venture childcare centre…between Esso and Lend Lease…and that was fabulous experience.

To set up the centre I had to organise joint venture and lease agreements, just like with any business, and what I got out of it was huge….this then opened up a whole lot of networks; I became very active in the private sector and in private sector networks such as the Equal Opportunity Association.

THE VALUE OF NETWORKS
In a change management role you can’t afford to become isolated in my job. Even though you are in a big company, you are still the only person driving EO, so you need your external networks.

I worked with colleagues and fellow line managers, but belonging to those external networks was a key to survival for me.

Out of the Victorian EO association grew the National Diversity Think Tank that Michelle Szanto (then at LendLease) and I set up.

I became president of the Victorian EO Practitioners and ran that for a couple of years .

At Esso, we won the Work and Family awards twice. That was good for my career and great for the company because they still remain today the ONLY company to win that award twice.

The first award in 1992 was for having an integrated approach to work and family…we had child care and the flexibility policies in place… we won it again in 1996 when we had challenged managers mindsets and did some really innovative flexibility policies…this was about retention…if you lost people you were in trouble, particularly if you lost high potential women, you wouldn’t have lasted in the role very long.

When I came back from America, I realized that diversity was the way to go – because it focused on the workplace culture and realized that ‘ I don’t know how to do this…diversity…in Australia. No-one was doing Diversity in this country…they were all still in an EO mindset…so I thought, I will do my Masters on Diversity. Doing my Masters forced me to look at what’s out there internationally…this was invaluable!

By finishing my Masters I gained a great insight into workplace culture and how it needs to be realigned to provide an inclusive workplace for men and women .

The model of learning for my Masters was an action/learning model, you work with a syndicate group that challenged each of us individually out of our comfort zone.

The model is diagnosis, action, evaluation and reflection. The idea is that you get in your mental ‘helicopter’ and really see what is going on…my Masters reinforced the importance of a big picture view.

I also had my second daughter during this time.

DRIVING CHANGE
It was about driving organisational and personal change. Finally in 1997, Esso required ALL managers to complet a mandatory 2 days’ Diversity training …this was an ENORMOUS investment in time and resources for the company. And I was determined that I would achieve that goal before I moved on.

Through that process, one of the things you recognize is whether your job can be career limiting because you are calling behavior and driving change. It’s tough work and your support base shifts! And the key is identifying when it is time to leave.

During much of my time at Esso I worked with the best manager I have ever worked with in my life…he was their highest potential manager, he was spiritually aligned…he would pray for an hour at lunchtime every day…he had wonderful people skills and everyone just loved him…and yet he would come out of a board meeting and say “what did I do wrong, I need to learn from this experience”…that may tell you what my type of role model is…to me, everything is a learning opportunity.

That seems to annoy my staff at EOWA occasionally, that I am always saying what can we learn from this, how can we do this better.

Finally at Esso, I got to the stage where I needed a change – I had achived what I had set out to do … and I thought, I’ve been here long enough.

I am an idealistic person, but I have also learned to be pragmatic. I pick my battles and can weigh up whether I am going to kill myself when I cannot even a dent in a situation, I can choose if I want to continue when it has become simply head banging. …And that’s probably why I move on in my career.

MOVING OUT AND MOVING ON
After Esso, came Westpac. After living and working in Melbourne all my life, this job was in Sydney.

I went home to my husband and jokingly said ‘how would you like to live in Sydney?’ and he said, ‘Yes I would’…he’s a Sydney Swans supporter, so that explains that!!

This was a job where I learned heaps about politics, but it’s not a culture I would happily choose to work in again … one of the challenges were the really ‘blokey’ women, those who acted just like the men. I was surprised to fine senior women who were more aggressive than my male colleagues, who weren’t at all supportive.

I had not struck women like this before professionally, they are typically from a sales environment and mirrored male behaviour. At Westpac, I learned again the value of having external support networks…they were the ones who helped me…and the importance of building relationships and partnerships to get things done . I worked with some fantastic women but found it difficult to make he difference I wanted to because of constant restructures. I would not have got my job at EOWA without that experience, so again it was very valuable.

It is in Westpac that I first met Deanne Bevan who was doing a review of the Affirmative Action Act for Government. At one of the review workshops I was very passionate about how the act needed to change .

It was Deanne who encouraged me to apply for the job as Director of EOWA. I thought it would be a political appointment but she said, no, please give it a try…It was advertised in the paper, and I got it! Yet again, the support of women and my networking contacts were helping me on my career path.

THE EOWA EXPERIENCE

• Reviewing The Act
• A new Mission and Vision
• Reporting – Policing Vs Education
• Key initiatives – Business Achievements Awards, EOCFW, Catalyst, Mat Pats stats
• The challenges ahead

THE 8 KEY LEARNINGS IN MY LIFE
1. Role models – From my parents to Deanne Bevan.
2. The importance of intellectual stimulation - the need to continually learn!
3. Taking risks – creating opportunities.
4. Using networks to combat isolation
5. Balancing idealism with pragmatism – strategic patience
6. The myth about juggling it all – you make choices, and there are always up-sides and down-sides.
7. Strive to make a difference!
8. Select your life partner well – someone who supports your career!!

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