Celebrating International Women’s Day
By Carina Calzoni, Managing Partner
08/03/2024
As we mark International Women’s Day, we direct our focus towards gender equality. This day serves as a reminder of the importance of including women’s contributions, perspectives, and needs in every aspect of society, from the workplace to policymaking. This year’s IWD theme by the United Nations is ‘Count Her In: Accelerating gender equality through economic empowerment,’ and it aims to “examine the pathways to greater economic inclusion for women and girls everywhere.”
As a proudly woman-led and woman-founded organisation, we staunchly live by our values of championing gender equality in pay, flexibility, and opportunity in the workplace.
Words from Carina Calzoni
Managing Director
International Women’s Day (IWD) recognises women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. It is crazy that we have only one day for this. Shouldn’t this be every day, and why should we even need to be prompted to have the conversation at all?
Last night, as part of local IWD celebrations, I went to a screening of a 1986 documentary film at my community centre. The film – Regardless of Sex by Cynthia Cannop – was about the historical decision by the newly formed Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (ACAC) that women and men undertaking similar work that has similar value are eligible for the same rate. Prior to that, equal pay was paid to women only when they did exactly the same work as men. It was a historic decision, but in reality, nothing changed, and this decision has not yet led to wage justice.
The documentary follows the presentation of the ACTU test case on equal pay, using the profession of Nursing as an example. What was inspiring about the film was the dedication and hard work put into the cause by women like Jenny Acton (unionist) and Zelda D’Aprano (feminist and activist).
They were fighting for justice. They were well organised. They had all the evidence for a compelling case. But what was shocking was seeing the deep structural inequities that they were working against. An all-male commission made the final ruling; most of the unionists around them were men, and the argument against the decision was that it would increase the wage bill by $8 billion if women were successful (and Australia couldn’t afford this). D’Aprano pointed out that what this argument suggests is that women were already subsidising the Australian economy to the value of $ 8 billion. Unfortunately, this is still the case to this day, both in the workforce and domestically.
The fight for equal pay for similar work is only one example of why we must continue to fight for women’s rights, but there are many other pressing reasons. Every day, a woman is killed in Australia at the hands of an intimate partner; women in many countries around the world are subjected to violence and economic control by their governments. It’s despairing. There is something seriously wrong with our economic and social structures; until this changes, our society will face inequities. We have been fighting this for hundreds of years. It’s easy (and important) to ask oneself, when will it stop, and what can I do?
Project Spotlight: Equality Insights Dashboard
By Ethel Karskens, Data and Insights Lead
Last year, Clear Horizon delivered a dashboard to Equality Insights to present and analyse gender-sensitive data about multidimensional poverty and inequality. This platform reports on the incredible work done by Equality Insights, who collect and analyse data inclusively to develop effective solutions that reduce poverty and inequality. By observing poverty across multiple dimensions and collecting data at an individual level (instead of a household level), the EI data portal allows decision-makers, researchers, and the public to access a gender- and multidimensional approach to poverty data for the first time.
You can access this exciting and interactive dashboard here.
Clear Horizon is proudly founded and led by women
By Jess Dart, Founder of Clear Horizon
When I had my first child, I remember wondering how I would juggle my career and raise my children. My government job couldn’t offer me the flexibility I wanted, so I took the frightening leap into consultancy. A few years later, I got so busy I decided to employ someone. Little would I know that nearly 20 years later, that same company would employ more than 50 staff and receive a B-Corporation certification as recognition of our dedication to be leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.
Several years after founding Clear Horizon (2005), I went into partnership with Lee-Anne Molony and Carina Calzoni – with Carina now being our intrepid Managing Director and Lee-Anne being Director of Consulting.
Clear Horizon is built on this enduring, wonderful, nurturing partnership between three women. Our Board today comprises 5 women, and of course, we have welcomed many fantastic men to the company, but we remain proudly women-led and owned.
