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Industry Influencers: Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner

Why she is on our 2014 Influencers list Elizabeth Broderick walks the talk of equality and inspires us all to do the same. At the photoshoot, surrounded by photographers, stylists and journalists, Broderick zeroes in on one person in the room: the fashion intern. She quizzes her about school and what it’s like to work at marie claire. She knows how to make someone feel valued and just as important as anyone else in the room. She has bought the same humanist approach to issues that have defeated many – domestic violence, gender equality at work, discrimination in the military – making human rights everyone’s responsibility.

You have such a strong commitment to social justice: where do you think that came from? Definitely my family. My mum probably wouldn’t have described herself as a feminist, but she lived by feminist ideas. There are three girls; Jane, my identical twin sister, me and my younger sister, Carolyn, and dad who is an honorary sister. He is Australia’s leading feminist at 83! We all live a few streets from one another and we all share parenting and help raise each other’s kids.

What was your first job? When I was four years old, licking on stamps at Mum and Dad’s surgery. We all started there and then migrated to taking the calls for the patients’ bookings, then on to making tea and coffee, and, then when we got our driver’s licenses they got us to pick up the patients. What were our parents thinking? Who would do that?

Describe your worst day at work? This is quite a difficult job. I have been in a submarine trying to fight off seasickness; I’ve been beyond the wire in Afghanistan in my combat gear, and at a domestic violence shelter with women who escaped the night before with their children in crisis. You realise there are many people every day who are creating change through incredible courage in their own sphere of influence, and in comparison, my bad day is nothing.

When did you realise the world treated women differently? When I had my two children, Tom and Lucy. Sadly that reality often hits women when they have kids. I realised my partner’s career would go on unblemished, while if I really wanted to continue to have a strong career as a lawyer, which is my background, and be an engaged mother, that that would be a really difficult thing.

How did you find some balance? I worked in a flexible work arrangement for 12 years – and that was the best thing I ever did. In terms of this job, I could be at dinners every night of the week, so I always ask myself the question: “Is this dinner invitation important enough for me to miss dinner with Tom and Lucy?” If the answer is no, then I always decline the invitation. Saying no is the most important thing you can do in most of our roles.

Why do you think women find it hard to say no? It’s hard for women because you think that you are missing the one opportunity to network or whatever, but there are always others. For me, what happens in the family is the most important thing I can do.

What is the one trait that has helped you most in your career? I’m a reasonably resilient person so when the going gets tough I just keep pointing forward and keep walking. The other thing is being able to connect with others at a human level. A lot of people think, “Oh, you’re a business person or a CEO”, so you have to act differently. No, actually we all sleep under the same stars and we all breathe the same air and most of us want the same thing for our lives. That’s really an approach that served me well.

How did Male Champions of Change come about? It dawned on me that to create real change for women you need to work with those in power. We have been relying on women to change the status quo, which is illogical as the organisational power sits in the hands of men. If we want to create change, we need powerful men to take that message to other men, which is how Male Champions of Change came about. So I basically picked up the phone and I rang up every CEO: Qantas, Telstra, Woolworths, ANZ and everywhere else, and I just made a personal plea. I asked them, “Will you use your power and influence and your collective voice to create change for women in Australia?”

The results have been extraordinary. They only come together about four times a year, but most importantly these men are driving strategies in their business to make real change. They have spoken at more than 100 events in the past 12 months related to women’s leadership and gender equality. This group of men now won’t speak at events where there are insufficient women speakers. They have introduced amazing initiatives like the Plus One pledge where every manager in the organisation pledges to add at least one more woman to his executive team. The ANZ had 2000 pledges. Those numbers start to change the markets. If you look at Goldman Sachs, their recruitment figures for women three years ago was only 9%. Their latest figures say their intake of female graduates was 62%.

Who inspires you? I really admire Lieutenant General David Morrison, the Chief of Army. How many countries are there in the world where the head of the army is so committed to fixing gender discrimination. And then there is the Victorian Commissioner of Police, Ken Lay, who is taking on the issue of violence against women. Last year, he brought together 300 men to look at the topic. They were really powerful … heads of unions, heads of business, military, police, and faith leaders. Most of them never had a conversation about violence against women before and we spent the whole day talking about it. It was amazing.

What will be your lasting legacy? Lots of people have asked me that and I say it’s not the work I do in the military, or changing the picture of domestic violence, or parental leave, or the Male Champions of Change; it’s going to be raising a son who fundamentally believes that equality is the only path.