Guest Speaker: 

Virginia Haussegger 

(CLC 1981)

A graduate of CLC in 1981, Virginia went on to study at Melbourne University where she majored in Fine Arts and English Literature.  Virginia began her journalism career as an ABC TV News cadet in 1986 which at the time was quite an achievement as there were very few women in TV reporting or presenting roles at the time. A skilled interviewer, she went on to become the youngest woman to host the ABC's 7:30 Report.

In the early 90's Virginia moved to commercial TV reporting for A Current Affair on Channel 9, and later Network 7's Witness, as Senior Reporter.

Virginia left the TV world for the corporate sector and in 2001, returned to broadcasting as news anchor in Canberra where she was the face of ABC TV News until late 2016.

Virginia is widely published across Australian print media, previously working as a weekly columnist in The Canberra Times, The Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.

Virginia's seminal article on feminism and childlessness was ranked by The Age newspaper as among the most significant opinion pieces published in its 150-year history.  Her book Wonder Woman: The myth of 'having it all' was launched in a live broadcast at the National Press club in 2005 by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

In 2009 Virginia went to Afghanistan at a time when the media were reporting on the political problems.  She went to gain an understanding of how the war had affected the people and to highlight the plight of women and children. In 2011 she curated the exhibition "Eye On Afghanistan", to raise funds for the Australian-based NGO Mahboba's Promise. She later featured in the multi-award-winning documentary, 'Love Marriage in Kabul' by Amin Palangi.

Virginia is the recipient of various awards including, the United Nations Association Media Peace Prize for coverage of Indigenous Affairs; Penguin Award for Current Affairs Excellence; and Toastmasters Communicator of the Year ACT (2007). In 2014 Virginia was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the community, as an advocate for women's rights and gender equity, and to the media.  She has served on a number of boards and committees including the UN Women National Committee Australia, the Snowy Hydro SouthCare Trust, and the Australia Forum Steering Committee.

Currently, Virginia is the founder and chair of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation which raises awareness and advocates for gender equality. Their vision is "that by the year 2030 men and women will be equally represented in leadership and key decision-making roles at all levels of government and public administration throughout Australia and across the region".  In case she's not busy enough, Virginia is also the Chief Editor of BroadAgenda which is a research-based gender equality media platform which aims to build a bridge between academic knowledge and expertise into mainstream media.

We were fortunate to have Virginia come back to CLC to speak at our International Women's Day assembly and we were all left feeling very inspired.

View the CLC International Women’s Day video here: https://youtu.be/6RlhKY5jLZ4