My best friend is child-free, and I'm about ready to stretch and sweep with my second child now one week out from the due date. We've read the viral essay by Allison Davis in The Cut, Why can't our...
Category: Mothering
Casting a gender lens over the upcoming Federal Budget
The upcoming Federal Budget will spark much talk of surpluses and deficits, costs of living and inflation, taxes and jobs. Beyond the headline announcements and standard statistics, get ready to...
Why don’t PhD candidates get paid parental leave?
In 2021 I was mid-way through my PhD program and three months pregnant. Until that point, I hadn’t thought much about parental leave—it’s the law in Australia, right? So it was a shock to discover...
Innovative scholarship for researchers helps alleviate unpaid caring
Grassroots social enterprise, Franklin Women has awarded six health researchers funding to alleviate barriers associated with unpaid caring responsibilities so they can take advantage of career...
“It illuminated the experience of psychosis for me”
And Then She Fell, by US author Alicia Elliott, is a mind-bending and slinking novel unpacking themes of motherhood, mental health, Indigeneity, dispossession and connection to land and culture –...
Happy Mother’s Day! A women-friendly budget
I never intended to be a single mum. Indeed, when I turned 38 and had notched up 10 years without a partner, I investigated having a baby by myself and very quickly decided not to. It wasn’t the...
Mothers in higher ed, research need more support
When I was doing my PhD research in Germany, the WZB - a social science research institute in Berlin - had a family room dedicated for after-hours childcare with an educator. While I was taking...
Whitlam’s revolution and why it matters now
This is a slightly revised version of a vote of thanks given after a panel to launch of the 'Women and Whitlam' book with contributors, Elizabeth Reid, Marie Coleman and Blair Williams in...
Change the lives of single mothers and their children
As the next Federal Budget looms, the non-profit Single Mother Families Australia is calling for an "end policy induced poverty." The CEO, Terese Edwards, explains. Single mother families seek...