International Women’s Day – Why it Matters

Happy International Women’s Day! And I do mean everybody because we all have a part to play in helping days like this matter. 

It may seem a bit strange to have a footy player talking about why International Women’s Day matters. But I am talking about it because it really is important and long past time that we work together as a society to help everyone be the best version of themselves.

 The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #BalanceforBetter with an aim of bringing to attention to the fact that “balance drives a better world”.

I have been lucky enough to reach the top of my career in what has been very much a male dominated world, but at home I am in a completely female dominated world with my wife Sam and our four daughters.

Now I am retired from footy, I am working with the JTAcademy to help Australians of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities to access the resources and support they need to be a success within their community.

An important part of this is the JTWomenToLead, which we launched this year at Woodridge State High School, where 14 young women from Years 9 to 11 are being offered special mentoring and career guidance to empower them to stay in education, build confidence, and bravery to follow their dreams and become our leaders of the future.

The more we can support and encourage young women to strive for the careers of their dreams, the more we level the playing field and, as a society, will benefit from their success.

Why do we need to support something like International Women’s Day?

The fact is that while we have been making some progress in the past decade towards closing the gender pay gap, in Australia men on average earn 14.1 per cent more than women, the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equity Agency tells us.

What’s more, in Australia, the gender gap favours men working full-time over women working full-time across every single industry and occupational category.

A gender pay gap of 14.1 per cent is simply not OK. Not for women working today or the next generation or the generation after that.

Hopefully, through days like International Women’s Day, where we work to promote awareness of the fact our world does not always offer equal opportunities, we can change this.

For more on International Women’s Day, check out the website
and if you are keen to hear more about our JTWomenToLead program click here.