Virginia Haussegger

Director, 50/50 by 2030 Foundation and Chief Editor BroadAgenda, University of Canberra

Virginia Haussegger AM is Director of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation, at the University of Canberra’s Institute for Governance and Policy Research (IGPA) and Chief Editor of BroadAgenda, Australia’s leading research based Gender Equality blog. She is 2019 ACT Austalian of the Year.

She is a passionate gneder equality advocate and communication specialist. She is also an award-winning television journalist, writer and commentator, whose extensive media career spans more than 25 years.

Virginia’s work has taken her around the work, reporting for Australia’s leading current affairs programs; Channel 9 (A Current Affair), the 7 Network (Witness) and ABC TV (7.30 Report). For 15 years Virginia has anchored the ABC’s flagship TV News in Canberra (2001-2016). She is widely published, both as a former columnist with the Canberra Times, and is a regular contributor to the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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 equality, and to the media. She has  served on a number of boards and committees including; UN Women National Committee Australia; the Snowy Hydro SouthCare Trust, Women in Media, Canberra; and the Australia Forum Steering Committee. She currently sits on the Board of the ACT Government’s Cultural Facilities Corporation and is Patron of the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.

Virginia’s book ‘Wonder Women: the myth of ‘having it all’ was launched by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a live ABC TV broadcast at the National Press Club. Her outspoken views on women and their place in contemporary society have been widely debated in the Australian media. Her 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.