Sarah Maddison

Sarah Maddison is a political activist, former convenor for  WEL NSW (Women's Electoral Lobby) and a current spokesperson for the organisation. She is currently working on a PhD at the University of Sydney, focussing on the Australian women's movement. She is a regular opinion writer for the Australian newspaper and provides political commentary on ABC TV's Lateline every month. She has two primary school age children and lives in Sydney's inner west.

Interview with Sarah Maddison

Do you see yourself as a leader? If yes, how would you describe your leadership and vision?

I don't necessarily see myself as a leader, but I have become aware over the years that other people often see me in this role. I think this is because I tend to be quite vocal and confident in expressing an opinion and people often express to me their wish to be able to do that more easily.  I feel this as an enormous responsibility.

At the moment I am wanting to take a break from any type of explicit leadership type role as I am feeling tired and needing to focus on my PhD. I also think this need for space is because I need to refocus my vision - convening WEL NSW for the last couple of years has led me to question some of the goals that I held previously.

What qualities do you draw upon in fulfilling the commitments of your role?

I am very organised with my time ( I think motherhood forces you to learn that skill!) I am good at scooping out a project, but mostly I am articulate and able to express an opinion clearly, concisely and persuasively.

When and why did you become involved with the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL) ?

I became involved with WEL in 1995. I had finally made it to University as a mature age student with a one and a two year old. My marriage broke up that year and I think I finally felt free to pursue my own interests and feminism was high on that list. I think I have always been a feminist but WEL was the first feminist organisation I belonged to.


What significant achievements have you been responsible for as a WEL convenor and spokesperson?

I find this question really hard to answer as I think organisations like WEL are really struggling for their survival at the moment and do not have a lot of resources available for lobbying etc. I think my biggest achievement was the high media profile I managed to develop which I think has had benefits for WEL and for feminism more generally. Keeping feminist issues and analysis on the public agenda is incredibly important.

In your opinion, what would be three major inequities in Australian society that you would like to see change?

Reconciliation - has to happen!
The growing gap between rich and poor - -surely this tells us there is something wrong with the way we have things organised!
Continued structural inequities that disadvantage women - because these same inequities really disadvantage everybody at the end of the day.

How do you cope with being a mother and meeting your professional demands?

I have to be very organised and not value sleep too highly.  I also have the world's most supportive partner.

I have always tried to organised my life around my kids lives. I am finding that this is getting harder as my life just seems to get busier and busier and busier. But I figure that if I can hang in there for a couple more years, their needs in terms of my availability will have changed again and we can renegotiate. I do find being tired ALL THE TIME very frustrating.

What strategies do you use when networking with men and women? Do the strategies differ depending on the sex?

No the strategies don't differ. I try to treat everybody I come across with a degree of respect - whether I agree with them or not.

Who are your mentors/role models? Why do you admire them?

I would hate to name any individual women as there are so many women who have inspired and supported me over the years. The women I admire most are women who ( like most of us) have too much on their plates but manage to do 5 things at once with style, grace and good humour. Kindness and generosity of spirit are two qualities that I think are highly underrated.

What would you encourage women to strive for in their personal and private lives?

Balance. I think this is the hardest thing to achieve. So many women are constantly worried and guilty that they are not meeting the needs of their children/partner/job/society and so on. You need to sit down and figure out what is important to you and focus on that. Everything else then has to fit around what you have decided to prioritise. Funnily enough, things often do.