Women on the Line

This week you’ll hear from a group of diverse young women challenging structures and systems and really shaking things up. We start the show with Dana Alshaer, a proud Palestinian who’ll educate us on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, also known as BDS. She also explains why some people are reluctant to support this movement. And later in the show, we’ll be joined by Danya, Razaz and...

In today's show, we are joined by Marnie Vinall and Dr Kasey Symons to unpack some important issues around gender dynamics in sports reporting and commentary, and to reflect on the growth of the AFLW with a focus on the AFLW fandom. Marnie is a sports reporter at The Age based in Naarm/Melbourne. Kasey is an academic and writer also based in Naarm, and is a Research Fellow in the Sport Innovation...

On this week’s episode of Women on the Line we chat with Zena Cumpston, a Barkandji woman who has curated the exhibition ‘Emu Sky’ currently being shown at Melbourne University. The exhibition brings together numerous Aboriginal artists and knowledge keepers to explore Aboriginal perspectives related to science, innovation, plant use, land management and agricultural practices. Emu Sky is currentl...

Journalist and activist Nicola Joseph discusses the differences between tokenism and media justice, and in the second half of the show researcher Shelly Makleff discusses Abortion care in Australia. We also look at what the end of Roe V Wade means for women and birthing people. To learn more about Shelly's study click here. 

On this week's episode, we're joined by Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker and Samantha Floreani to tackle some big questions about digital rights, predatory tech companies and regulation. Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker is a Nyungar technologist and digital rights activist who serves on the board of Electronic Frontiers Australia. Their work explores the intersection of activism, science-fiction, and technology in...

This week’s episode covers the Yuendumu community-led campaign Karrinjarla Muwajarri - no police guns in remote Aboriginal communities. The campaign emerged in the wake of the 2022 Northern Territory budget announcement re-affirming a government commitment to resourcing police instead of vital community services, and after the acquittal of an NT police officer over the 2019 death of Warlpiri teena...

In April, France saw the far-right party leader receive a large portion of the vote in the presidential election albeit with the lowest voter turnout since 1969. This week we discuss French politics ahead of the second round of legislative elections which chooses representatives to parliament on June 19.To discuss these issues within a broader context of global capitalism we’re joined by Dr Rachel...

Thanks for tuning in to Women on the Line's 2022 live Radiothon special! Iris, Ayan and Priya counted down the top 10 most-downloaded episodes of Women on the Line over the past year, and played you some highlights from these shows. We also caught up with Emma and Scheherazade via phone, and got a very special call from former WOTL producer Hope. Keep those donations coming for 3CR's 2022 Radiotho...

We all agree everyone deserves access to good quality education.  Unfortunately – not everyone is given the same opportunities. In Australia, the legacy of racist policies has meant that Aboriginal students continue to face structural barriers that impact their education. I reached out to Aunty Gail Kunwarra Dawson to find out what makes a real difference to the lives of Aboriginal students. Aunty...

One aspect of Australia's draconian border regime that has grown in recent decades is the education sector, which has entrapped many International students in a system of privatised exploitation and precarity. We hear from Carol from the Support Network for International Students (SNIS) about the network and the concept of education trafficking. Later in the program, we turn to student resistance...

This week Áine Kelly-Costello chats to us about disability and migration and how the two intersect. Áine discusses the podcast Disability Crosses Borders and shares their own migration experience. Áine also looks at the Acceptable Standard of Health, a visa requirement they've described as "lengthy, expensive, stressful and degrading."Support #EndASHNow  

This week's show covers updates in the struggle for self-determination of West Papuans, including limitations of the Special Autonomy Law which was renewed in 2021, the Indonesian government’s push to break up the provinces of West Papua and Papua to create 5 smaller administrative regions, and issues related to freedom of expression, assembly and communication. We hear from Esther Haluk, a member...

In the lead up to the federal election, we’ve seen a host of minor far-right political parties spin, propagate, and actively spread disinformation, seemingly for political gain. All the while, the so-called 'freedom' rallies continue to protest outside political institutions. What is it motivating people to show up to these rallies or join these conspiracy-laden movements more broadly? To delve mo...

When you think of wellness influencers, what comes to mind? Sun? Yoga? Neo-Nazis!!? Today we hear from academic Tresa LeClerc, whose essay 'Consumption, Wellness, and the Far-Right' explores what makes the wellness industry a target of white nationalist ideas. Later in the program, we'll listen to an interview Diaspora Blues did with Dr Ruth DeSouza about her life-saving podcast ‘Birthing and Just...

 The Victorian Government is proposing to significantly expand the capacity of the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre or DPFC, a women's prison on the western edge of Narrm, Melbourne. Drawing on the voices of women with lived experience of prison and evidence based practice, the Homes Not Prisons campaign is calling on the State Government to use the money allocated for expanding the prison to build publi...

Australia is in the midst of a housing crisis, and yet the primary focus of politicians is on private home ownership rather than protecting the most vulnerable. Chloé Cooper, a member of Save Public Housing Collective with lived experience of homelessness, joins us to share her analysis of the state of homelessness support services in Victoria, and how we might achieve meaningful change on housing...

This week we hear from transgender Tamil woman Amity Mara on the Borderless Affirmations Mutual Aid group, which supports trans migrants (interview by Priya Kunjan, 3CR Thursday Breakfast). Later in the program, we hear from an April rally in solidarity with Palestine in Melbourne, as Israel once again attacks Al Aqsa mosque in Ramadan.

This week we focus on the struggle of Uyghur people in occupied East Turkestan. The Chinese state has been intensifying genocide of Uyghurs in the last decade. We hear from Uyghur community member Fazilet, and audio from a recent Uyghur and Muslim lead Stand for Uyghurs rally in Melbourne with Idil Ali (MC),  and speeches by Mai and Fazilet.

The Covid-19 pandemic has intensified existing systemic inequalities. We hear from a rally in Melbourne, Fighting for public health and workplace safety. We hear from rally co-chairs, Sarah Hathaway and Jiselle Hanna, unionist and Greens candidate Celeste Liddle, retail worker and unionist Maudie Osborne, and public health worker and unionist Nita Okoko.

This week on the program we focus on the situation for people fleeing from war on the Polish border with Belarus and Ukraine. More than 1.8 million people escaping war in Ukraine have arrived in Poland since February 24, but not everyone has received the same welcome to the European Union. On the Polish-Belarussian border, people seeking safety in the EU from war in the Middle East continue to be...

Today's show features two women working towards climate justice in so-called Australia: Tishiko King, Campaign Director at Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network, and Emma Bacon, Executive Director of the Sweltering Cities project.  Tishiko, a proud Torres Strait Islander woman with connections to Masig and Badu Islands, speaks about climate vulnerability and fighting for climate justice in Zenadth...

In a collaborative show with Sudanese refugee and freelance journalist Elina Mark, we delve into education issues for refugee communities stuck in limbo in Indonesia as a result of Australia's border policies. We feature two interviews. Firstly, the mother of four children, Shereen speaks about barriers for her kids to access education in Indonesia. Afterwards, co-founder of the refugee-run Educat...

On this week’s program, we’re analyzing two stories making national news. Our first story looks at what happens when police view migrant and refugee women as the main aggressors in family violence calls, and our second interview focuses on the exploitation of Pacific farmworkers. Helping us tell these stories is the CEO of inTouch Michal Morris and Dr Victoria Stead from Deakin University. Article...

This week we hear from  queer, Maori-Polish writer, abolitionist and organiser, Julia Rose Bak, about the concept of disability justice (First aired on Radio A and A, also see Disability Justice network mutual aid fundraiser). The summer of 2021-22 has seen a new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with the Omicron variant, mass illness and death in an environment of woeful state responses and complacen...

This week on the program we cover two important topics which have seen some significant development in the last week. First, we speak with two Gomeroi yinarr, Aunty Polly Cutmore and Traditional Custodian Karra Kinchela, about the fight to stop Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project, near Moree in North West NSW. 850 gas wells are proposed for the area, and court hearings are underway. Visit the Moree Ecolo...