Biography Anne Summers

Anne Summers became a journalist in 1975, working on the National Times before becoming Canberra bureau chief and eventually North American editor for The Australian Financial Review. That same year her book Damned Whores and God's Police changed the way women were perceived in this country. The bestseller has remained in print ever since and was updated in 1994 and 2002. Her other books include Gamble for Power, an account of the 1983 federal elections, and Ducks on the Pond, her autobiography.

She became editor-in-chief of Ms., America's landmark feminist magazine, in 1987 before buying Ms. and Sassy magazines the following year with business partner Sandra Yates – only the second women-led management buyout in US corporate history.

She ran the federal Office of the Status of Women from 1983 to 1986 under Prime Minister Bob Hawke and was an advisor on women's issues to Prime Minister Paul Keating prior to the 1993 federal election. She was involved in helping start Elsie, Australia's first women's refuge, and Refractory Girl, a women's studies journal. She is a former chair of the board of Greenpeace International. Currently, she writes an opinion column for The Sydney Morning Herald and is deputy president of Sydney's Powerhouse Museum.

Anne Summers lead the generation and movement that changed Australia for women. Her involvement in the women's movement earned her both community respect and recognition in the form of honorary doctorates from Flinders University (1994) and the University of New South Wales (2000). In 1989 she was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for her services to journalism and to women.

www.annesummers.com.au

Bibliography

Damned Whores and God’s Police
Gamble for Power
Ducks on a Pond
The End of Equality