Doing it for themselves: Meet the 12 Aussie women who are global game changers in their field
As we mark International Women’s Day, here’s the 12 inspirational trailblazers that should be on everyone’s radar.
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Meet our 12 incredible, fearless Australian females who haven’t let anything
get in their way:
AMNA KARRA-HASSAN
Sports Administrator & Advocate
Amna Karra-Hassan is a prominent sports administrator and advocate for diversity and inclusion in the Australian sports sector. As the founder of women’s Australian rules football in Melbourne’s western suburbs, she has been a driving force in promoting gender equality and creating opportunities for women from diverse backgrounds to participate in sports. Through her leadership roles in various sports organisations, she has worked tirelessly to implement more inclusive policies and ensure better representation of women and minorities in leadership positions. Her efforts have opened doors for young women in sports and provided a platform for those from multicultural communities to thrive.
Karra-Hassan’s work focuses on breaking barriers and fostering a more inclusive sporting landscape, making her a respected, influential voice in shaping the future of Australian sports.
TARYN BRUMFITT
Body Image Activist
Taryn Brumfitt founded the Body Image Movement in 2012, an Adelaide-based organisation with the goal of breaking down the social perceptions that can lead people to be unhappy about their bodies. Her trailblazing advocacy work has commanded global attention. She’s spoken all over the world about the scourge of body shaming with its associated problems of anxiety, depression, anorexia and suicide. She’s written five best-selling books on the subject, including Embrace Kids and Embrace Yourself.
Brumfitt rose to international prominence with her landmark 2016 documentary, Embrace, which aims to promote body positivity and has been seen by millions of people in 190 countries.
Named one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence in the Global category in 2018, she was also recognised with the honour of being 2023 Australian of the Year.
GRACE TAME
Sexual Assault Survivors advocate
Grace Tame emerged as an outspoken advocate for sexual abuse survivors by sharing her own heartbreaking story. As a teenager, Grace was groomed and raped at her Tasmanian high school by a teacher who was found guilty and jailed for his crimes. She fought to overturn laws gagging victims of sexual abuse from speaking publicly about their experience, creating a campaign, #letherspeak, which attracted global support, including from celebrities such as Alyssa Milano and John Cleese.
Tame successfully applied to the Supreme Court for the right to publicly identify as a rape survivor in 2019, and has since become a regular guest speaker and champion for victims of assault, using her high profile to raise awareness about the impact of sexual violence.
For her incredible courage, Grace was named 2021 Australian of the Year, and later that year she founded the Grace Tame Foundation, which aims to create cultural and structural change to eliminate the sexual abuse of children.
DR ANITA HEISS
Author & Indigenous Advocate
Dr Anita Heiss is an acclaimed Aboriginal Australian author, poet, cultural activist and social commentator. One of the country’s most prolific writers, her work spans everything from historical fiction to nonfiction and children’s books, winning a host of awards.
Among those was the 2022 NSW Premier’s Indigenous Writers’ Prize for her novel, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, about the Great Flood of Gundagai. In the same year, she was honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia for services to tertiary Indigenous Studies and the Arts. A proud Wiradyuri woman, Heiss has worked in remote communities, advocating for Indigenous literacy and encouraging Aboriginal youth to write their own stories. A communications professor at the University of Queensland, she has lectured on Aboriginal literature around the world at universities, conferences, consulates and embassies.
SOPHIE GUIDOLIN
Nutritionist & Wellness Expert
A best-selling author, nutritionist and personal trainer, Sophie Guidolin embarked on a life-changing fitness journey in 2012.
She improved her diet and started weight training, eventually competing in bodybuilding competitions and opening her own gym.
In 2014, she launched The Bod, with a mission to empower women to transform their lives through science-backed fitness, nutrition and mindset programs.
A mother-of-four, Guidolin has written several books including My Kids Eat, and Macros: A Wellness and Lifestyle Guide to Transform Your Body, showcasing her favourite family recipes and advice for women looking to follow in her footsteps. The Adelaide-born influencer has cultivated a huge online community, with over 800,000 followers across Facebook and Instagram.
DAISY PEARCE
AFLW Player & Advocate for Women in Sport
An inspiration to thousands of young female footballers, Daisy Pearce was one of the stars of AFLW’s inaugural season. During a glittering on-field career, she dominated in the VWFL for the Darebin Falcons before playing 55 matches for Melbourne, winning three club best and fairests, three all-Australian blazers and was voted the AFLPA’s AFLW Best Captain four times. Her trailblazing career ended on the perfect note, securing a fairytale premiership for the Demons in the final game in 2022.
She’s also won plaudits for her work in the footy media, as an expert commentator on radio and as part of Channel 7’s AFL broadcast team.
At the end of 2023, Pearce was appointed head coach of the West Coast Eagles’ AFLW team, leading the side to four wins in her first season in charge.
ISOBEL MARSHALL
Social Entrepreneur
High achiever Isobel Marshall was still a student at Walford Anglican School when she and classmate Eloise Hall co-founded TABOO, a social enterprise business selling high-quality organic cotton pads and tampons in Australia, with all company profits committed to ending period poverty.
Marshall was named Young Australian of the Year in 2021, when she and Hall also won the Rising Star category in The Advertiser and Sunday Mail SkyCity Woman of the Year awards.
A member of the Premier’s Council for Women for three years while completing a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery at The University of Adelaide, Marshall has turned her attention to menopause. Late last year, the 26-year-old and a friend from med school, Jas Beger, launched the brand Acro Health, and its natural, Australian-made plant protein powder, to assist women at midlife.
JESSICA WATSON
Sailor & Adventurer
At just 16, Gold Coast-born Jessica Watson captured the imagination and won the hearts of every Australian when she – and her tiny
30-footer yacht Ella’s Pink Lady – arrived in Sydney Harbour on May 15, 2010, after achieving her dream of becoming the youngest person to sail solo and non-stop, around the world. Awarded the Order of Australia Medal and named the 2011 Young Australian of the Year, Watson went on to become a youth representative for the United Nations World Food Program. Overcoming dyslexia to complete an MBA, the now 31-year-old has written two books, including her memoir True Spirit about her 2010 odyssey, which was made into a Netflix movie.
In 2021 her partner Cameron Dale died after suffering a stroke. The couple met while competing in the Sydney to Hobart race, which Watson now takes part in to celebrate his life.
MAGDA SZUBANSKI
Actress & LGBTQI+ Rights advocate
Known and loved by all for her portrayal as the long-suffering “second best friend” Sharon Karen Strzelecki on Aussie TV sitcom Kath & Kim, Magda Szubanski cut her comedy teeth in a University of Melbourne revue of Too Cool for Sandals, which led to her appearing in the ABC TV’s The D-Generation and becoming one of the creators and performers of Channel 7’s Fast Forward. Szubanski has starred in movies Babe and its sequel Babe: Pig in the City and been a voice actor in Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two. A decade ago she released her memoir, Reckoning, which won Biography of the Year and outright Book of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards. An activist for the LGBTQI+ community, Szubanski was vocal in the push for same-sex marriage in Australia.
EMMA WATKINS
Actress & Early Childhood Educator
Making history as the first female member of Aussie children’s entertainment phenomenon The Wiggles, Emma Watkins proved so popular she got her own spin-off series, The Wiggles, Emma! from 2013 until leaving the group in 2021, to concentrate on her PhD incorporating sign language, dance and film editing.
The following year, she relaunched as Emma Memma and released a CD, which won Best Children’s Album at the 2023’s ARIAS. She has also appeared in reality TV series such as The Masked Singer, The Amazing Race Australia and a Christmas special of Lego Masters Australia, narrated Reef School, and hosted Teenage Boss: Next Level. During her time with The Wiggles, Watkins spoke out about being diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis.
An ambassador for Endometriosis Australia she has helped raise awareness of the disease that affects one in seven Australian women.
MIRANDA TAPSELL
Actress & Indigenous Advocate
Proud Larrakia and Tiwi woman, Miranda Tapsell, who was born in Darwin and grew up around Kakadu National Park, was awarded the Bell Shakespeare Company regional performance scholarship when she was 16.
After completing her schooling, she studied at the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, graduating in 2008. Her film roles include Cynthia in The Sapphires and Lauren in Top End Wedding, of which she was also co-writer and executive producer.
She has also appeared in productions for the small screen such as Redfern Now, Love Child, Wolf Creek and Doctor Doctor.
An advocate for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, Tapsell, who sees herself as a role model for her “sisters” and champion of Indigenous Australian women’s rights, contributed Nobody Puts Baby Spice in a Corner to a biographical anthology titled Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia.
PROFESSOR HELEN MARSHALL
Vaccine Researcher & Global Health Advocate
Professor Helen Marshall is one of this country’s most recognised and awarded vaccine researchers, whose pioneering work has a global impact. She was named 2022 South Australian of the Year for her service to medicine in the field of vaccinology and public health and, in the same year, The Advertiser Sunday Mail SkyCity Woman of the Year for her work in providing South Australian babies and children with the best possible protection against meningococcal B, which led to a state-funded vaccine program.
Late last year she was appointed inaugural leader of The Centre for Research Excellence in Neisseria Disease Control which is working towards determining the most effective immunisation program for prevention of that disease and gonorrhoea – caused by a closely related bacteria – with the one vaccine. ■
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