International Women’s Day on March 8 is an opportunity to recognise the impact of valued members of our team and to re-affirm our commitment to providing truly inclusive career pathways.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Inspire Inclusion where we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion as we forge a better world.

Reflecting our core value of Inclusion, we’re sharing insights from women making a difference to the lives of people as they age, through their varied roles with Uniting AgeWell.

• Teraez Fogarty is the Director, Eastern Metro Home Care.  She is excited about how home care services are helping older people live well for longer at home.  She’s charged with making sure that over 2400 home care clients receive the best-possible advice and services.

• Kelina Tokunai is the Lifestyle Coordinator at Andrew Kerr Care Community.  Her career has always been driven by her heart.  Her qualities of kindness and compassion saw receive the organisation’s highest staff award – Employee of the Year for 2023.  

• Meaghan Perris, Senior Care Manager at Strath-Haven Community, had the courage to follow her dream while raising two children on her own in a job she didn’t particularly enjoy. She studied aged care, then nursing and is seeing her career progress steadily.

• Sagun Hamal is a Registered Nurse at Sorell Community, Ningana in southern Tasmania and says she opted to work in aged care because of the ongoing holistic care she can provide to residents.  

• Eleanor Clinton is the Lifestyle Coordinator for Newnham Community Aldersgate Village in Tasmania.  She has travelled and worked across the globe and is happy to be living where she loves in a career that has meaning.

• Ann Bingham, Program Manager for home care in north and north-western Tasmania derives great joy from ensuring clients get the best possible care services and from “growing” her team, which she does with her usual kindness and humour.

• Sherry-Ann Bailey, Director of Home Care for Barwon and North West Melbourne is, at heart, still that same young girl who accompanied her step-mum to work at clients’ homes in the UK because she loved being able to make a difference to older people.

While the success and impact of our work relies on all our people thriving, on International Women’s Day we reflect on the opportunity we have to create career pathways for the women we employ, and to celebrate their journeys and the daily impact they each make through their work.

Today, we employ over 4000 people, of which 78 per cent identify as women.  A significant number of managers are women and the majority of the Senior Executive Team and Board Directors are women.

We are committed to hiring the best person for the job – irrespective of gender, age, ethnicity or culture.  It’s not just lip-service.  It’s enshrined in our set of values which are part of the DNA of the organisation.  

And these values underpin our Strategic Plan 2022-2026, with one of our top five strategic priorities to be an Employer of Choice.  Over the coming years we are committed to implementing a range of initiatives to progressively enhance the experience, satisfaction and wellbeing of our staff.

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