Women on the Line

On today's special International Women's Day show, we hear from Jay, a staunch victim-survivor of police-perpetrated domestic violence who is fighting for a safer world. Jay speaks to us about her personal journey, her attempts to hold her abuser accountable, and her public and political campaign to draw attention to the plight of the victims of police-family-violence offenders in Australia, lobby...

This week on the program we pay a visit to the South East Asia Queer Cultural Festival (SEACQF), running completely online from February 13 to March 13.SEACQF has been put together to bridge the gap between activism and art, and to assert local, anti-colonial LGBTIQ+ identities in the region at a time when many LGBTIQ+ communities in South East Asia are facing increased repression. We travel to th...

This week we question the punitive nature of fines. We have fines under council laws for parking to public transport tickets to corporate toll road fines to now public health fines during the pandemic. Governments here in so called Australia and internationally are turning more and more to fines despite concerns they increase inequality. We hear from community lawyer at West Justice Shifrah Bluste...

Designer and researcher Jo Szczepanska looks at what happens when marginalised communities seek legal help online. Later in the episode cohealth's community engagement coordinator, Jasmine Phillips discusses the lessons learned during the pandemic and how we can apply those lessons to the vaccine rollout.

This week we hear from Isabelle Oderberg, journalist, writer and non-profit communications specialist, about her upcoming book Hard To Bear, which is an investigation of how Australia manages early pregnancy loss. We also discuss the silence around miscarriage, the quality of education around pregnancy loss and its causes, and the links between climate change and pregnancy loss. You can read more...

On this week's show, senior academic Kathomi Gatwiri looks at racial microaggressions at work. Her study Racial Microaggressions at Work: Reflections from Black African Professionals in Australia is the focus of our interview. We also hear Senator Lidia Thorpe's Invasion Day Rally Melbourne 2021 organised by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. Read the full report here or a summary here. Produc...

This week we hear from Arika Waulu, a Gunai, Gunditjmara and Djapwurrung sovereign, community activator, and member of the LGBTQ community. They talk about the politics of home in the pandemic, including the impacts of restrictions, and the politics of First Nation regeneration, with the Wuurn of Kanak landback initiative setting up a base for revival. They also speak about 'LANDBACK FEST: Cultiva...

As we welcome a new year, and Victoria settles into their new covid normal, one community still reeling from the lockdown are the residents of the nine towers. Most of you will remember that in July 2020, nine housing commission towers were forced into a hard lockdown.  Residents could only leave their homes for supervised exercise, on compassionate grounds and for emergencies. These detention ord...

On today’s show, we listen to excerpts from Invisible Voices 2020 Human Rights Day - a World Human Rights Day special broadcast on 3CR Community Radio. This special broadcast aired on 13 December 2020 during 3CR’s Queering the Air, and it was a live panel discussion about the issues impacting LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people in the Asia Pacific Region. This panel event was presented by Invisible...

This week we bring you Part 2 of an MPavilion talk called Womxn’s Covid-19: Archive and Artwork in Conversation For almost a year now, artist and activist, Katie Sfetkidis has documented the stories of women and gender diverse people living in Victoria during COVID 19.Two participants from the archival project, Hope Mathumbu and Kate Sulan, sat down with Katie Sfetkidis to share their reflections...

This week we bring you an MPavilion talk called WOMXN’S COVID-19: ARCHIVE AND ARTWORK IN CONVERSATION.For almost a year now, artist and activist, Katie Sfetkidis has documented the stories of women and gender diverse people living in Victoria during COVID 19.Two participants from the archival project, Hope Mathumbu and Kate Sulan, sat down with Katie Sfetkidis to share their reflections on the tum...

This week we hear from two protests against injustice in Melbourne. First, we hear from the Renters and Housing Union Victoria's snap action against evictions to homelessness, where the government is winding back its hotel housing program, including from member Adriana. Second, we hear speakers on systemic issues in solidarity with the national day of action 'Gamil Means No!' to stop Santos' gas f...

This week on the program we focus on Blockade IMARC, an online conference and actions series focussed on resisting extractive industries, colonialism and capitalism. IMARC stands for the international mining and resources conference, and listeners may remember last year’s significant protests against the conference in Melbourne. We hear extracts from the panel “Extractivism 101 and Latin American...

 In this episode with poet, Darlene Silva Soberano, we speak about the possibilities of poetry and social justice. How bewilderment, found through poetry and daily living, can keep us connected to our humanity, connected to land and community, giving us purpose for the struggle for justice. Darlene and I discuss bewilderment, pleasure, pandemic lockdown and wellbeing. Listen in to hear Darlene’s p...

In September 2020, a private member’s bill aiming to criminalise coercive control was introduced in the NSW parliament. Penalties under the bill includes jail terms of up to 10 years.  Coercive control is broadly defined as a pattern of behaviours used to intimidate, humiliate, surveil, and control another person. A number of high-profile family and domestic violence advocates and campaigners have...

Survival Guide isn’t just another radio show. It is a fight for community, land, and for the right to exist unapologetically. In 2018, Lorna Munro and Joel Sherwood Spring got together to create a show that would chronicle the gentrification of Redfern and Waterloo. But Survival Guide isn't your typical gentrification saga. It is the story of the ongoing displacement of Aboriginal people, greed, a...

The Federal government is currently pushing to expand its trialled cashless debit card scheme provided by Indue that quarantines 80% of recipient's payments. We hear from Amanda from the advocacy group The Say No Seven on the fight against the cashless debit card, the danger and harm the card causes particulary for women, and how campaigns against the card have been received in feminist movements....

This week on the program we look at changes to both the structure and culture of policing during COVID-19.We speak with Tiffany Overall from Youthlaw about the implications of a new bill which will significantly expand the reach of Protective Service Officers in Victoria. Moving to NSW, we speak with Charlie Murphy from Pride in Protest about the police response to an October 10 protest against ne...

On this episode of Women on The Line you’ll hear from Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, the Professor of Psychiatry, at The Alfred and Monash University. Today we hear from Jayashri about the link between mental health and reproductive hormones. In particular, the impact of hormonal contraception, on mental health. We also discuss the problematic diagnosis of borderline personality disorder amongst wom...

This week on Women On The Line, we hear from Franco Stevens, founder of the magazine Curve, one of the largest lesbian magazines in the world, and Jen Rainin, director and co-producer of the documentary Ahead of The Curve. This film chronicles Franco's personal journey, lesbian visibility, and the power of community. Ahead Of The Curve was recently screened at the Queer Film fest 2020 in Sydney. P...

In 2006, the minister for Melbourne Bronwyn Pike told the Carlton Residents Association that the Carlton Redevelopment project would “break down the social housing ghetto”. The ghetto Bronwyn refers to is the Carlton Public housing estate. An estate that prior to the redevelopment project was home to a rich and vibrant community. Everyone knew each other. They babysat each other's kids, borrowed s...

In this episode listen to Shoshanna Dreyfus speak about her research project to co-design potentially the worlds’ first all abilities and ages inclusive playground in the City of Wollongong. You’ll also hear from Katherine Horsfall about her research project, in partnership with the City of Melbourne, to develop Melbourne’s first Indigenous wildlife meadow at Royal Park in Melbourne.

We hear stories from women inside prison. People in prisons are already experiencing state violence, now during a pandemic where contagion can spread like wildfire in crowded indoor spaces. We hear from Vickie Roach, Yuin writer and activist, about her lived experience inside prison to politics of abolition. Second, we hear from LGBTIQ and disability justice advocate Ashleigh Chapman on her experi...

 How we prepare for, get through, and recover from disasters have sadly become increasingly pressing questions. But the impact of disasters, and people’s needs in these conditions can be very different according to their circumstances. To address some of these questions, recently DARU, that’s the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit, held an online forum on Disability and Disaster Resilience. This we...

In this episode listen to Aakanksha Manjunath and Natasha Sharma from ‘It’s Not a Compliment’ about their inclusive campaigns addressing street harassment and measures they’re taking to respond to the unique challenges being presented during Covid19.You'll then hear from Professor Devleena Ghosh, from the Social and Political Sciences Program at the University of Technology Sydney, followed by Ann...