Elizabeth Broderick is Australia’s longest standing Sex Discrimination Commissioner, and later this year will exit the role after an eight year term.
As she prepares to end her term as an advocate for women, she will discuss the progress Australia has made on gender equality and the progress that still needs to be made with Anne Summers in her next installation of the Anne Summers In Conversation series.
Broderick’s approach to the end of her term of Sex Discrimination Commissioner provides a unique opportunity to reflect on her achievements, analyse what still needs to be done and importantly, thank her for her dedicated work, Anne Summers told Women’s Agenda.
“There are two things I really want to get out of my conversation with Elizabeth. The first is that I want to take stock of where we are at in Australia when it comes to gender equality,” she said.
“I think this is great opportunity to bring together all of the work Elizabeth has done over the past 8 years and conduct an overall assessment of how Australia is performing on gender equality. This will be the evaluation and learning part of the evening.”
Equally important, Summers said, is the opportunity for Australians to say thank you.
“This is a chance for us to show our appreciation and gratitude for how hard Elizabeth has worked and just how effective she has been. It is not often you get a chance to show appreciation in this way,” she said.
Summers said Broderick’s tenure as Sex Discrimination Commissioner has been particularly effective because she has been both consistent and bold.
“The issues she chose from the very beginning were significant, mainstream issues – she never shied away from them. The issues she chose were women’s economic empowerment, the need for women to be able to balance work and family over a lifetime, and the need to be free from discrimination and violence,” Summers said.
“Elizabeth has been true to these goals from the beginning, she has been consistent in her dedication to them and she has never given up.”
Summers said there are two key developments that stand out in Broderick’s tenure as commissioner.
“Elizabeth did not shy away when the minister for defence called her in after the news broke of the military’s Skype scandal,” Summers said.
“She investigated the Australian Defence Force Academy immediately but also the Australian Defence force more broadly as well. She set up a process of cultural change that really pushed the military forward in terms of stamping out sexism.”
“She held meetings with Chief of Army David Morrison that had a profound impact on him. David Morrison still talks about those meetings as life-changing moments.”
Morrison went on to pursue tangible cultural and institutional change in the Australian military, and Summers said Broderick was instrumental in this transformation.
“The second important achievement Elizabeth made was creating the Male Champions of Change. This was something that had never been done before she came along, and it has been so successful that it has been copied by other organisations and even the state of Victoria,” Summers said.
“Setting up a template whereby you enlist influential men and get them to agree to instigate gender equality in their workplaces is an incredible achievement.”
“She’s managed to get them to talk the talk, now all we have to do is get them to walk the walk.”
Summers said that while there is inevitably debate surrounding whether or not individual companies are doing as much as they could be doing to promote gender equality, the fact that these male company leaders have gone on the record to pledge their commitment is significant.
In fact, Summers has a surprise prepared for the In Conversation audience – following Summers and Broderick’s discussion about the Male Champions of Change, two of the champions will join them on stage to participate in the conversation.
Male Champions Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas, and Kevin McCann, Macquarie Group chairman will join Summers and Broderick on stage for the final fifteen minutes of the conversation. After discussing their role and their progress, the male champions will take questions from the audience.
“This will be a fantastic opportunity for the audience to observe the way Elizabeth engages with these men and for audience members to ask questions of them as well,” Summers said.
“Just the fact that these male champions were willing to come on stage and participate is an incredible tribute to how much they admire Elizabeth.”
Summers said this sentiment applies to the Male Champions of Change program more broadly, too.
“The fact that she got them on board in the first place is a testament to her success. These guys would not have stepped up for just anyone,” she said.
So what makes Broderick so effective?
“She is a natural communicator and she has an outstanding ability to explain very complex issues in a very simple manner to a very broad range of groups,” Summers said.
“She is persuasive and charming and able to convey convincing arguments in a very non-threatening way.”
Summers said these skills, as well as her dedication and commitment, have allowed her to be one of the most effective Sex Discrimination Commissioners we have seen.
Anne Summers in Conversation with Elizabeth Broderick [with audience Q&A]
Thursday 7 May
6:30pm – 8pm
City Recital Hall
Angel Place
Sydney
Tickets: $20 /$30 – tickets available here.