marieclaire.com.au (^) | 75
REAL PEOPLE
64
%
OF WOMEN
say the parental
leave policy for dads
[ needs improving ]
60
%
OF WOMEN
say domestic violence
is one of Australia’s
[ biggest problems ]
“Australia’s
parental leave
policy (^) for dads
needs improvin
g”
“Domest
viol ic^
a ence^ is^
(^) huge iss
in Au ue^
stralia”
“If^ the^ gla
ss^ ceiling
were^ mad
e^ of^ glass
,
we^ would
have^
smashed^
it^ already
”^
AMBER, 40, STAY-AT-HOME
MUM AND LAWYER, WITH
LUNA, TWO AND A HALF
“When my daughter Luna was
born [in 2016], my husband
only requested four days off
work because he’d just started
a new job. At the time I thought,
‘I’ve got this.’ By day four I was
crying and begging him to stay.
Luckily, he was able to take
another week off. As well as
improving our parental leave
policy for dads, we also need
a cultural shift for dads to be
equal partners. I’m starting to
think about going back to work
and I’ve been surprised at how
hard it is to find the balance.”
MELISSA, 22,
COMMUNICATIONS
COORDINATOR
“I love to travel – like the 63
per cent of women who say
travel is one of their greatest
passions ... You learn so
much from it – not only
about the world but yourself
- by meeting different
people and experiencing
other cultures. We are better
for travelling. Next on my
bucket list is Scotland.”
LISA, 52, TEACHER
“You only need to watch
the news to realise
domestic violence is
a huge issue in Australia.
I have three close
friends who have left
abusive relationships,
and I have seen
them go from being
shadows of themselves
to coming out the other
side, rediscovering
themselves and
thriving.”TERESE [RIGHT],
49, EDUCATION
DIRECTOR
“The inequality in
Australia makes me so
angry. It’s wrong that
women earn 14.1 per
cent less than men. If
the glass ceiling was
really made of glass, we
would have smashed
it already! It’s made of
concrete. We need to
keep challenging the
patriarchy.”