CHRISTINE HOLGATE

“I learnt that women are stronger than we’re given credit for. They underrate us”

On April 14, former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate was inundated with so many thousands of messages of support that her inbox crashed. Most were from people she didn’t know, people who had seen Holgate give evidence at a Senate inquiry the day prior, where she defended her decision to gift four executives Cartier watches.

Admirably, Holgate used the inquiry as a platform to speak out about the bullying that forced her out of her job in November 2020, when Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed outrage in parliament over Holgate’s “appalling” and “disgraceful” decision to gift the watches – even though she had authority to award executive bonuses and had increased Australia Post’s profits. “Receiving all those messages was the moment I realised how important it was that I spoke out,” says Holgate, who believes sexism is being perpetuated at the top level. “It was not just for me, but for so many other people who haven’t been able to speak up.”

While she was left suicidal by the humiliation she endured from the ordeal and subsequent media commentary, Holgate’s brave stance has inspired her to invest in tackling the issue of workplace bullying and mental health. It’s also enabled her to forge strong bonds with other women who have spoken truth to power this year, namely Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins and Julia Banks. “This year all four of us, for very different reasons, have stood up and spoken out,” explains Holgate of the group, who catch up regularly over Zoom. “We come from different careers, separate backgrounds but we’re all absolutely united – we love Australia and just want it to be safer.”

Her biggest takeaway from 2021 will help define the rest of her life: “I learnt that women are stronger than we’re given credit for,” says Holgate, now CEO of Toll Global Express. “And yet we’re painted as not being equal. They underrate us.”

Chanel Contos may have started the year as an everyday university student but she’s ending it as someone who has the likes of Julia Gillard on speed dial, and holds her own among Australia’s top policy-makers. “The New York Times wanted to come and I had to tell them no,” she says with a laugh, recalling a recent round-table discussion she held, calling for Australia’s education system to reform how it teaches sexual consent.

In February, the former Sydney schoolgirl, 23, made global headlines when she went public with her story of teenage sexual assault and launched a petition calling on the government to overhaul sexual-consent education in Australia. To date, there have been more than 44,000 signatures and more than 6700 people have shared their testimonies – many of which first landed in Contos’ personal inbox. “I’ve stopped reading them,” says Contos, for whom the toll has been immense. “We now have an amazing team of volunteers who help.”

Their work isn’t in vain. Because of Contos and her team at Teach Us Consent, the organisation she has since founded, the national curriculum is under review and likely to be amended to include “holistic consent education”. However, Contos’ proudest achievement is far more humble: “Thousands of people trusted me with their stories. They are anonymous now, but they weren’t anonymous to me.”

“I was prepared to surrender to the idea I may never work again,” says actor Shareena Clanton of the 24 hours that followed her decision to call out a culture of racism on the set of iconic Australian soap Neighbours. Clanton – a Melbourne-based actor of Wangatha, Yamatji, Noongar and Gidja descent, who was hired for a guest role on the series in October 2020 – detailed behind-the-scenes allegations in a social media post, saying an actor openly and repeatedly used the “n” word, while another called an actor of colour a “lil monkey”. She went on to describe the set as a “lonely, triggering and traumatising” place to work.

“I felt that by using social media as a tool to amplify my voice, I could help make it a little less overwhelming and frightening for others to share their experiences,” she says of her decision to speak out in April. “The undeniable levels of racism, fear and general ignorance that exists in our Australian film and television marketplace can no longer be swept aside.”

Within hours of her post, fellow Indigenous actor Meyne Wyatt also shared his experiences of racism on Neighbours, as did a further ensemble of actors, writers and directors of colour. Their voices prompted Fremantle Media, the producer of Neighbours, to announce an independent review into racism. “No space is exempt from critical racial and gender discourse,” says Clanton. “That space, protected and insulated for over 35 years, needed a reckoning.”

“The racism, fear and ignorance that exists can no longer be swept aside”