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Women’s liberation — the only successful revolution of the 20th century
Members' Lunch with Iola Mathews OAM
Hosted by:
Noel Turnbull
April 30 @ 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
$80.00 – $95.00What was it like to be involved in the heady days of the ‘second wave’ of feminism in Australia — when the role of women at home and work changed decisively?
Iola Mathews OAM is a co-founder of the Women’s Electoral Lobby, a former journalist at The Age and was a leading ACTU advocate for women workers during the Hawke-Keating Government.
She was one of the first generation of women trying to ‘have it all’ with a career and children.
Bill Kelty recruited Iola to the ACTU in 1984 as an industrial officer and advocate specialising in women’s employment. She spent the next decade fighting for women’s rights at work for which she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal.
More recently Iola established writers’ studios in the National Trust property ‘Glenfern’ in East St Kilda.
She is the author of four books, including Winning for Women: A Personal Story published by Monash University Publishing in 2019. In this book, Iola takes readers inside the groundwork required to bring about reforms in areas like affirmative action, equal pay, superannuation, childcare, parental leave and work-family issues.
Join us at this Melbourne Forum lunch where Iola will provide an insider’s account of reforms for women from the 1970s to 1990s and discuss what more needs to be done. She will also initiate discussion on whether we now need men’s liberation.
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