BPW Adelaide

About our Club

BPW Adelaide advocates for women and develops leadership through building women's competence, capacity and confidence in their personal and professional arenas. Members work to take action for women's equality at work, on boards and in the economy.

The Club was established in 1952 and is still going strong. Our members are drawn from a range of backgrounds including business, professions, trades, government and non-profits.  Many members have leadership experience within BPW and on public and community boards. 


BPW Adelaide hosted the BPW Australia National Conference in April 2022 at Oceanique, Adelaide Shores.  It was a very successful Conference under the leadership of then President Alison Collins.  Our BPW Adelaide members undertook a range of leadership roles throughout the weekend.  

Some of our longer-term members have served on the BPW Australia national board and the BPW International Executive.  BPW Adelaide member Gillian Lewis is the current BPW Australia National President.

BPW Adelaide holds events open to non-members throughout the year, with expert speakers on topics relevant to modern working women.  We focus on the personal and professional development of our members and on advocating for changes that improve opportunities for women to engage in work and in business and to take up leadership roles.


BPW Adelaide  hosts an annual International Night Dinner and Candle-lighting Ceremony which our guests enjoy participating in.  We have marked Equal Pay Day each year in different ways: an auction of red bags, a cocktail event with a speaker, a dinner with women from Vietnam, an "Unhappy Hour" at the pub where women pay less than men for their drinks.  Our Annual Hawke Centre panel presentation hosted by UniSA attracts a significant audience - see below.


Meeting Date and Place

3rd Thursday of every month (unless otherwise notified)
Dinner and networking: from 6.30pm at The Caledonian Hotel, North Adelaide

Please contact club for details adelaide@bpw.com.au


Club Contact Details

Email: adelaide@bpw.com.au

Phone: President Wendy on 0487 685 154

Mail: 143 Childers Street, North Adelaide SA 5006

Find BPW Adelaide on FaceBook and LinkedIn

If you are interested in finding out more about BPW in your local area, you are invited to join us at one of our meetings or events.  Contact us to find out about the next meeting that is open to non-members as guests. 

Come and meet our members and enjoy discussions with like-minded women. 

Upcoming events

  • No upcoming events



From the Club President

Welcome to BPW Adelaide. 

We are a diverse group of passionate women, working towards improving the working lives we and future generations will experience in Australia and globally. 

Professional interests and expertise across our membership include areas as diverse as ethics and governance, health policy and practice, small business in a range of industries and service sectors, representative government, finance and accounting, local government services and community services. 

Women’s issues of interest include pay equity, access to affordable and appropriate child care, discrimination in the work place, financial security over a woman’s life-cycle and domestic/family violence. 

In BPW, members matter most.  We focus on personal or professional development and issues that are relevant to our members.  We enjoy different types of meetings including networking dinners, expert speakers and panels, workshops to enhance our skills and social events where lifelong friendships are made. 

We hold 3-4 networking events per year for the women of Adelaide, with our regular member meetings used to plan these events, contribute to BPW Australia projects and submissions and undertake personal development activities.  I hope you’re able to join us at our next public event, or as a new member at our monthly dinner or zoom meeting.


Wendy Teasdale Smith
President


BPW Adelaide hosted the BPW Australia National Conference in April 2022 at Oceanique, Adelaide Shores.  It was a very successful Conference under the leadership of then President Alison Collins.  Our BPW Adelaide members undertook a range of leadership roles throughout the weekend.  

White Ribbon Breakfast 

BPW Adelaide, along with BPW Adelaide Hills, spearheaded the inauguration of the White Ribbon Breakfast in Adelaide, working with a number of other women’s organisations in the first instance.  This event is still led by BPW and is now organised by a committee of passionate men and women.  

They have grown the breakfast into a highly successful event over 8 years, emulating the popularity of the International Women’s Day Breakfast.  The White Ribbon Breakfast committee succeeds in attracting high calibre speakers year on year, including Rosie Batty and (then) Chief of Army Lieutenant General David Morrison. 



BPW International Night Dinner 



Our Special Projects

BPW Adelaide delivers an annual Panel Presentation in conjunction with the Hawke Centre at UniSA.  It is free to the publi and well promoted and supported. 

Previous presentations can be accessed online:

The 2021 presentation titled 2020s VISION - ECONOMIC FUTURE FOR WOMEN IN AUSTRALIA asked: 

What are the most important issues facing women today, how are we addressing those issues and what more can be done to improve women’s economic security? What opportunities have arisen for women to improve their financial position during COVID-19? How do women grasp these and move ahead?

Our panel also considered: with 2020 vision, let’s clarify what we should focus on to improve financial literacy, close the gender and superannuation gaps.

Introduced by BPW Adelaide President Heather Jensen, a financial planner, and facilitated by BPW member Wendy Teasdale-Smith, Education Leader, the Panel included:

* Vilma Attanasio, State Manager, SA/WA Zurich

* Karen Eley, Founder of Women Talking Finance

* Associate Professor Duygu Yengin, The University of Adelaide

The podcast is accessible here

The GOOD, the BAD and the OUTRAGEOUS of South Australian women in Parliament

2019 marked 125 years since South Australian women achieved the vote and the right to sit in Parliament. The panel of female MPs and BPW Adelaide President Angela Vaughan explored how South Australian women were tracking.  Dr Niki Vincent, SA Equal Opportunity Commissioner, facilitated the event. The podcast is accessible here.

GENDER PAY EQUITY: How do we make it happen?

BPW Adelaide marked Equal Pay Day 2017 with an expert panel presenting the facts about gender pay inequity in Australia.   The podcast is accessible here


  Our Past Events

Take a look at some of our club's past dinner meetings, workshops and social events.

   

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