In a world where all women-founded startup teams get just 2% of funding, it’s been jarring to watch three male co-founders raise billions and then dominate the business pages with what was tipped to be the biggest float on the ASX since Telstra in the 1990s.

The company creates “AI factories”, having pivoted from being a bitcoin miner. The founders? One has a conviction for insider trading. The other is his cousin. A third co-founder is his former brother-in-law. 97% of what they have promised to build does not yet exist.

And when one of those founders took his private jet to Singapore over the weekend, he told media the canned IPO was a “great loss for Australia” and blamed Australians for taking a “dim view” of people taking risks. Right.

Also today, barrister Ashleigh Morris studied law while raising children alone. She recalls struggling to make herself visible when applying for graduate positions (with feedback including “we don’t know anything about your hobbies”). Here, she notes the ongoing struggle of self-promotion when caregiving leaves you with little discretionary time.

Prabha Nandagopal’s friends once sent her photos of Sam and Snezana married as a gentle way of suggesting she keep dating, and that it would work out for her and her young son. One key detail from the bail hearing has shaken her.

Will the world engage with those already impacted by climate change in the Pacific, especially women? Kathryn Bowen explains what she heard at the pre-COP31 gathering in Fiji.

Angela Priestley

Founding Editor & Publisher

The Key Quote

What kind of cave are you living in where you are not aware we have a major crisis in this country where women are being murdered…. keep comedy fun, keep comedy safe. Men in comedy, do better

Peter Helliar

Comedian Peter Helliar has posted a powerful video urging men in comedy to “do better” after a vile joke made on an Australian podcast about the murder of US woman Gabby Petito began circulating on social media. In a since deleted podcast episode, two comedians joked that Ms Petito’s death was “justified” and that they would “give her one in an emergency”. Helliar stood up against these men and described on social media how he felt compelled to combat awful jokes, proposing that comedy should be “safe” for all.

On Women's Agenda Today

The Key Figure

$461,046

The amount that a NSW woman has been awarded in damages against a former school groundskeeper who sexually abused her as a child. In a landmark civil case, the woman represented herself and cross-examined the man who abused her between the ages of 4 and 7 in the 1980s. Legal professionals are praising her work, admitting that self-representation generally doesn’t work, but that her success came due to hard work and prior assistance from lawyers.

The win

Dangerous Females, a Brisbane-based non-profit domestic violence advisory group

Partnered with Brisbane Fashion Month and Brisbane’s best fashion designers to host a fashion runway event last week. Aptly named ‘catwalk for a cause,’ all funds from the event went towards frontline domestic violence services. Dangerous Females frontwoman Jessica Hallagan said: “What this runway signifies is a fabulous, diverse and creative group of people coming together for a fun morning while showing their support for Australia’s critical domestic violence frontline services.”

On The Women's Agenda Podcast