Date: 20th August, 2025
Author: Lisa Annese, CEW CEO
This year we celebrate 40 remarkable years of Chief Executive Women, honouring the bold women who came before us and the next generation of leaders who will continue the charge.
CEW was born from the vision of 15 women in 1985. The landscape for women during this time was starkly different back then, but Australia was also in the throes of change. The Sex Discrimination Act had only been passed the year before in 1984, and this brand-new reform marked the genesis of the still unfinished journey towards safer workplaces for women.
In 1986 the ‘Affirmative Action Agency’, which is now Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), was set up with the goal of tracking and promoting gender equality in the workplace and actively addressing systemic disadvantages faced by women.
This critical time in the 1980s marked the start of the journey towards gender equality at work in Australia. The CEW founders, the subsequent CEW members, have been pioneers in this space, forging pathways through every industry, despite often facing harsh obstacles and without due recognition and support.
Thankfully, over the past four decades, there has been an enormous shift in culture, workplace structures, educational outcomes, and in social expectations for women. There have been changes in family structures and in the way in which young women not only view themselves but also the potential futures they can have.
These significant societal and structural changes are reflected in the compounding achievements of CEW today. From 15 visionary women, we are now a thriving community of over 1400 women leaders from all walks of life.
While we can acknowledge that the work that CEW’s founders started 40 years ago may not be finished, and there will always be new challenges that lay ahead, We take this milestone as an opportunity to celebrate the CEW mission to have a diversity of women leaders at every decision-making table is getting closer every day.
Date: 20th August, 2025
Author: Helen Conway, CEW President
In recent times, CEW has successfully advocated for key reforms, including improvements to paid parental leave and measures making childcare more affordable and accessible. These reforms have made a real difference in the lives of women and have significantly advanced gender equality in Australia. Our recent improvement in global gender equality rankings is proof of this. With the Federal Government rightly focussed on boosting national productivity, CEW’s policy agenda offers a clear framework for making a big contribution here.
I often think of the generations of women who fought for the opportunities we now take for granted. The CEW founders are among these women. How very important were their efforts, foresight, energy, and commitment in setting up this organisation! Their example should spur us on. We know progress can be fragile. The current backlash against DEI is concerning and requires a strong response from organisations such as CEW.
CEW’s 40th anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on how we can build on the legacy to make the organisation more impactful, relevant, and sustainable into the future. It’s an important inflection point for the organisation. This sort of reflection is not unusual. Indeed, it is necessary and undoubtedly the lifeblood of any organisation.
The job of achieving gender equality is not yet done, and we need to follow in the footsteps of CEW’s founders and remain active and engaged in advocacy.
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