I ‘met’ Anna Cody, Australia’s new Sex Discrimination Commissioner for the first time thanks to Benjamin Law’s Dicey Topics column in the GoodWeekend section of the Sydney Morning Herald on November 11 this year.
Two things stood out for me in this interview:
The first was that when she was first appointed, Anna Cody said that ‘a person is rarely just a woman – that she also has a racial background, a sexuality, possibly a disability’. She then explained to Benjamin Law that she believes Australia is now mature enough to be able to understand ourselves and each other in more complex ways than being just a woman or just a man.
The second was her vision for this role. She told Benjamin Law that her definition of success as the Sex Discrimination Commissioner is, that by the time she leaves the role, we will be:
A society in which women and girls are recognised for their strength and the incredible care work they do. That First Nations women and girls and culturally diverse women and girls are seen and valued in terms of the incomes they receive; that low-income women have a fairer go. And that there is a fair for for people in LGBTQI+ communities.
I sincerely hope that Anna Cody does indeed achieve this vision. It will require the smashing of the ‘double glazed’ ceiling discussed in my book A hell of a lot of glass – achieving gender equality in the workplaces of Australia.
