Women on the Line

December 10 is Human Rights Day, and this week on Women on the Line we look at a human rights issue that is very close to home: the rising number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care in Australia, and what this means for these young people, their families and communities. Recent changes to legislation made by the state government in NSW will have serious consequenc...

To commemorate World AIDS Day and International Day for Persons With A Disability 2018, we speak with Suzanne, an HIV and disability advocate with a background as a healthcare professional in different local and international health contexts. We discussed the relationship between disability, sexuality and HIV. 

On this week on Women on the Line look at mental health issues that LGBTIQ+ young people and rural and regional young people are facing today.  We chat with Mel Gaylard, secondary school teacher who is committed to creating safer schools for LGBTIQ+ young people. Later in the show we hear from Pauline Neil – founder of Live4Life, a health promotion organisation addressing youth suicide in rural an...

World Antibiotic Awareness Week occurs annually in November aiming to draw attention to the role of effective use of antibiotics in preventing and containing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In Melbourne, the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Safer Care Victoria are hosting aforum featuring a number of Australian clinical and research groups in a dynamic program covering all facets...

In this week’s Women on the Line, we speak to Nyah and Romy, two young people who’ve spent many weeks organising a ‘Children’s March for Nauru’ in Melbourne. We talk about refugee advocacy and what it’s been like to get involved in activism and campaigning. Later in the show, we also chat to Gabrielle de Vietri from the Artists Committee who initiated working with children and young people for thi...

On this week on Women on the Line we hear a live recording of ‘All the Feels’ – a mental illness and health fundraiser for In Sickness and In Stealth art collective. The event was held on National Mental Health Day, 10 October, at Loop Projection Bar in Melbourne. ‘All the Feels’ launched the second In Sickness and Stealth zine and featured a lineup of live music, poetry, visual art and zines. Art...

Women on the Line speaks with Larissa McFarlane, activist and artist based in Melbourne about disability pride and it's power against structural systems and attitudes which marginalise people with disability. We'll speak with Larissa about the recent re-installation of the Disability Pride mural which was removed last year by the local council, receiving national media at the time.  We'll hear fro...

This week on the show we head to Westernport on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, where AGL have proposed the Crib Point gas import terminal. We’ll hear about the campaign to stop the floating gas infrastructure project from:- Louise Page of local activist organisation Save Westernport- Zianna Fuad, the coordinator of Quit Coal collective, part of Friends of the Earth Melbourne- Excerpts from...

In Melbourne, as part of a joint investigation between the Royal Melbourne Hospital Refugee Health Program and Cohealth Community Health Service, a team of public health professionals have been conducting research looking into the experience of precarious housing amongst refugees in Melbourne and the perceived health impacts of housing. We speak with Dr Kudzai Kanhutu, an infectious diseases physi...

Salome’s dance of the seven veils is inspiration for the name of a collective of strippers and adult industry performers who have come together to build community and improve working conditions as Salome’s Circle. In the new testament of the Christian bible, Salome danced before Herod with the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter, and has become a symbol of dangerous female seductiveness i...

This episode of Women on The Line we look at women, their bodies and the institutions which attempt to govern us – the health and medical industries. We’ll hear from Sheridon Byrne, a feminist activist, doula and educator, about birth justice and the struggles that women and other birthing people face to birth on their terms. You’ll also hear from Sangeetha Thanapal about issues surrounding fat id...

On this episode of Women on the Line we speak with three female cast members of The Fall - a protest theatre production documenting the South African student movement of 2015. we speak with Ameera Conrad, Thando Mangcu and Tankiso Mamabolo. 

On this week on Women on the Line we take a closer look at the recent changes to the Australian Government's My Health Record system. Earlier this year the Government announced that the system would be changed from an opt-in to opt-out system. What are the implications of these changes? We chat with Katina Michael ,who is a Professor in the School of Computing and Information Technology at the Uni...

Women on the Line hears this week from OWLS, Older Women Lost in Housing. At an event hosted by the Justice Committee of the Victorian Women Lawyers, we hear from two speakers, Penny Leemhuis, an OWLs Advocate, and Lucy Adams from Justice Connect, a Victorian organisation which provides people locked out of the justice system with free legal help. The music for this week's show is Lost in the City...

"Food is more than sustenance and nutrition, it has social, cultural and symbolic meanings which structure not only our daily lives, but also life transitions...Food represents an arena where powerful values and beliefs about being a human are evident. Food practices also demarcate cultural boundaries of belonging and not belonging." (Dr Ruth de Souza, 2017) On today's show we chat with Cinday, ow...

This week on Women on the Line we bring you the second part of the 2018 NAIDOC week panel discussion of Feminism in the Pub, “Because of Her, We Can!” presented by the Victorian Trades Hall Council. Listen back to the first part of the discussion here.  The panel discussion took place on Wednesday July 4 at Trades Hall and featured speakers Celeste Liddle, Marayne Muller and Robyn Oxley in convers...

We commemorate 30 years since the first Fairlea Wring Out demonstration with community activists, academics and prison abolitionists Amanda George and Emma Russell. The first Wring Out Fairlea demonstration was organised by the Coalition Against Women's Imprisonment and took place at the former Fairlea women's prison in Melbourne on 26 June 1988. The Wring Out action was repeated three more times...

‘Aboriginal women have been displaced from being the experts of their birthing experiences through tradition, culture and experience, to being passive recipients of medicalised and institutionalised pregnancy care’ (Ngaanyatjarra Health Service, 2006).We speak with Cherisse Buzzacott, an Arrernte woman from Alice Springs, a midwife and project Officer for Birthing on Country (BoC) - a Project aime...

This week on Women on the Line we bring you excerpts from a special NAIDOC week edition of Feminism in the Pub, “Because of Her, We Can!” presented by the Victorian Trades Hall Council. The panel discussion took place on Wednesday, July 4 at Trades Hall and featured speakers Celeste Liddle, Marayne Muller and Robyn Oxley in conversation with panel chair Edie Shepherd.

A celebration of women in comedy. Comedy is more than just a pleasant way to pass an evening, humour more than something to amuse. It is interwoven into the fabric of our everyday existence - humour is everywhere! However on a professional level, women comics are still fighting the unfunny fight for equal respect, equal opportunity and equal pay. In this episode we chat with Kirsty Webeck, a Melbo...

Mandatory sentencing for attacks on emergency workers are proposed as a tough but fair health and safety measure. Yet this approach has been shown to be ineffective, while devastating the lives of community members with addiction, severe mental health challenges and people subject to family violence. Yet the Victorian State Government is now putting this bill on the table with bipartisan support....

On this episode of Women on the Line we look at race and community care. We chat with Caroline Ridler who is the Coordinator for the Queer Trans Indigenous People of Color (QTIPOC) project at Switchboard Victoria. Caroline chats with us about the upcoming panel she is coordinating and moderating, 'The Qtipoc project presents:Race and Community Care'. She shares with us her insights into anti-racis...

This week on Women on the Line we feature three perspectives on legislation that has a significant impact on people's lives. Jiselle Hanna speaks with Sally Goldner of Transgender Victoria about the end of forced divorce laws for transgender people in Victoria in the wake of marriage equality. Emma Hart speaks with Jane Green of Vixen Collective about recent decisions made by the Victorian Liberal...

On this episode of Women on the Line we chat with two feminist writers of colour about mentorship and writing feminism. We chat with Natalie Kon-Yu about the Feminist Writers Festival, mentorships in the australian literary industry, academia and motherhood. Later in the show we chat with Shu-Ling Chua about memoir writing, mothers and writing sexuality. BiosNatalie Kon-Yu is a creative writer, ed...

Today we look at violence against women and the response of the criminal justice system. The community response is often surrounding the need for greater police responses and a tougher approach on the perpetrators of these violent crimes. But is it within our criminal justice system’s interest to support and empower women?