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‘Give her a go’: New judge blasts ‘painfully slow’ progress for women
Jane Needham blasted the “painfully slow” progress of women in law and urged barristers to consider briefing “that young woman who went to a school you haven’t heard of”.
- Michael Pelly
‘I shot Bambi’: Women leaders on their toughest decisions
Often the toughest decisions are those that affect other people. Here winners of the Women in Leadership awards share their hardest calls.
- Updated
- Sally Patten
‘You smile too much’: the early career advice Danielle Wood ignored
Be brave and have fun, is what Australia’s leading women would say to their younger selves.
- Lucy Dean
Why Anna Meares chased the job of leading the Aussie Olympic team
As one of the country’s most decorated athletes, Australia’s chef de mission knows the triumph and heartache of competing at this level better than most.
- Zoe Samios
The winners of the Women in Leadership Awards
Meet the winners of the 2024 Women in Leadership Awards, in eight key economic categories.
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June
- Tech & Telco Winner
- AFR Reports
‘What she’s doing is shaping not just Telstra, but Australia’
Cybersecurity boss Narelle Devine, the winner of the Tech & Telco category, uses lessons from a decade in the Navy to fight off international hacking attacks.
- Tess Bennett
- Health Winner
- AFR Reports
‘We need to be champions of other women’
By the time Danielle Handley arrived at health insurer BUPA, the executive who hired her had left. She had to lead a company transformation without a boss.
- Sian Powell
- Retail Winner
- AFR Reports
‘You need to trust your gut’: How to build an empire
The founder and CEO of MCo Beauty, the winner of the Retail category, knows she is underestimated. It’s what drives her to succeed.
- Lauren Sams
How COVID-19 redefined leadership for these award-winning women
There can be no leaders without followers – and the pandemic reminded us that followers respond best when treated like human beings and not like machines.
- Euan Black
BHP entrusts rising star with its copper mines
Anna Wiley, a leader in the Resources category, has barely put a foot wrong in a diverse career in mining that has led her to the top job in the group’s copper operations in South Australia.
- Brad Thompson
- Resources Winner
- Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto leader never shies away from hard talks and tough calls
Sinead Kaufman, the winner of the Resources category, also shows great care and sensitivity for families and communities across her career in mining.
- Brad Thompson
- Professional Services Winners
- AFR Reports
‘Non-conforming bid’ that took dynamic duo to the top
The winners of the Professional Services category are two Arup engineers who proposed a unique joint arrangement to enable them to balance leadership and family commitments.
- Maxim Shanahan
- Banking Award Winner
- ANZ Bank
The ‘utterly shocking’ moment that made Westpac leader want to flee
Siobhan Toohill, the winner of the Financial Services - Banking category, faces a new frontier after 10 years leading Westpac’s sustainability efforts, including convincing the board to ditch new oil and gas projects.
- Ayesha de Kretser
- Non-bank Winner
- Investment banking
Versatile risk-taker who shines when the going gets tough
Washington H Soul Pattinson’s Jaki Virtue swears by the power of ‘unknown sponsorships’, as she takes out the Financial Services - Non-banking category.
- Kanika Sood
What’s your best career tip? Award winners share theirs
Lead with compassion, don’t assume you know all the answers, and play to your strengths: winners in the Women in Leadership Awards share advice that has helped them.
- Victoria Thieberger
- Opinion
- AFR Reports
‘Inclusion, resilience, empathy’: How modern leadership is changing
Modern leadership is about more than successfully deploying skills and industry expertise – it strongly encompasses the people side, writes Patricia McKenzie.
- Patricia McKenzie
- Overall Winner
- Success stories
The ‘magic and mundane’ leadership style of Danielle Wood
The chairwoman of the Productivity Commission was selected as the overall winner for her contributions to economic policy and a preparedness to take an unpopular position in key national debates.
- Sally Patten
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Tenacious Ventures lives up to its name with $18m raise in hard market
Members of the Schwartz, Denholm and Murdoch families have committed money to the agricultural technology investor that has overcome hurdle after hurdle.
- Nick Bonyhady
- Young Leader Award
- Jobs
She was made a trade leader at 28 and pregnant
The winner of the Young Leader category in the Women in Leadership awards has honed her leadership skills straddling two vastly different cultures and Australia’s most important trade relationship.
- Jessica Sier
![Westpac chief executive of institutional banking Nell Hutton. “When I thought about where I could have an impact, it made sense to think about the big four [banks].”](https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.4147%2C$multiply_2%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1059%2C$x_837%2C$y_125/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_140%2Cq_88%2Cf_auto/cd94f78169c2fc934117b043efc5b34161f75ab0)
From Goldman Sachs to Westpac, Nell Hutton is climbing the ladder
Having reached the top of the Wall Street giant by her mid-40s, the career banker has big plans to turn around Westpac’s once-dominant institutional bank.
- James Eyers
Director urges equality advocates to leave their echo chamber
True gender equality benefits men as well as women, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz says, but advocates need to convince boys of that or risk going backwards.
- Hannah Wootton
May
They battled blokey workplaces. Now these 33 women enforce the rules
Energy regulator Clare Savage and competition chief Gina Cass-Gottlieb are among 33 women leading Australia’s regulatory bodies, once the domain of male enforcers.
- Tom Burton
- Exclusive
- Executive shake-up
New Uber bosses to see through gig economy transition
There will be new heads of both Uber and Uber Eats in Australia, ahead of gig economy rules that threaten to significantly raise its cost of doing business.
- Paul Smith
April
The advice that’s helped Loudon navigate the boardroom
Bridget Loudon says some wise words from her mum have stuck with her as she’s navigated life as the director of a blue-chip giant.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Early learning
This budget boost for working women will supercharge the economy
We wilfully under-utilise 50 per cent of our economic potential, creating a national emergency we could easily solve.
- Zoe Daniel
