While we love our international feminists Meghan and Amal as much as the next girl, right here in Australia we have so many powerful celebrity women who are total inspirations.
So let’s take at look at five incredible Aussie celebrities who are not just killing it right now, but great role models for Australian women and girls.
Lisa Wilkinson
Lisa has used her profile to speak out about pay parity.
(Getty)Lisa is exactly the kind of woman that can show young women and little girls how far they can go in life.
Most importantly, she uses her massive public profile to highlight important issues, like gender pay disparity.
She famously quit her job as host of Today, after Channel Nine refused to pay her the same salary as her co-host Karl Stefanovic.
Lisa was on a reported $1.1 million salary, while Karl was being paid close to double that.
“When you’re a woman, sometimes people don’t like it if you know your value,” she said at the time.
“I’m living breathing proof that knowing your value will take you places you didn’t think you’d get to.
“Maybe my biggest crime is knowing my value.”
READ NEXT: Lisa reveals her skincare secrets
Julie Bishop
Julie made it to the top of a profession that has traditionally been seen as not welcoming women.
(Getty)Our former foreign minister – who announced her retirement in 2019 – managed to thrive in the notorious boys club that is Australian politics, all while retaining her striking feminine style.
Julie is best known for her expert handling of the MH317 crash crisis, and for managing Australia’s difficult relationship with China.
But despite being a total girlboss, you won’t hear Julie calling herself a feminist anytime soon.
In 2014 during an address to the National Press Club, she said: “I don’t find the need to self-describe in that way [as a feminist] … ‘feminist’ is “not a term that I find particularly useful these days.”
Ms Bishop said people should not be offended by this stance.
“It’s not because I have some sort of pathological dislike of the term. I just don’t use it … It’s not part of my lexicon,” she said.
“I’m a female politician, I’m a female foreign minister … get over it.
“Instead of focusing on so much analysing the labels, let’s look at what people do. It’s being judged on what you actually seek to achieve rather than how you label yourself.”
READ NEXT: Julie Bishop’s best fashion moments
Georgie Gardner
Channel Nine’s Georgie Gardner isn’t afraid of a challenge.
(Getty)Channel Nine stalwart Georgie Gardner replaced Lisa Wilkinson on the Today Show in 2018, and later turned to Nine News as a reporter – but there’s a lot more to her than fronting the nation with news they need to know.
That’s all to do with her extensive experience and her smarts. Did you know that Georgie is literally a genius?
In her job application for the Nine Network in 2002, she scored 149 on her IQ test. Most IQ scores range from 40 to 140.
Less than five per cent of the world’s population have an IQ of 133-149.
Despite working in the very image-focused world of commercial TV, Georgie knows that looks aren’t what’s important in life.
“TV is a visual medium and people don’t hesitate to voice their opinions about how you are looking,” she told the Australian Women’s Weekly in 2015. “And when you receive an email at quarter to six in the morning titled “wrinkly witch” it does take the wind out of your sails momentarily.
“But in a way, comments like that make me even more determined to say: ‘Well, this is who I am, wrinkly witch, warts and all’. I have a daughter and I want her to learn that it’s what’s going on inside the heart and the head that really counts.”
WATCH NEXT: The world’s most empowering women. Story continues after video…
Nicole Kidman
Nicole is a role model in film, and life.
(Getty)Nicole is arguably our most successful Aussie Hollywood export.
And while she was undoubtedly a star in the 90s and early noughties, her career has had somewhat of a renaissance of late, thanks to amazing roles in Big Little Lies and Destroyer.
She is a proud feminist.
“The idea that women and men are equal is a part of my DNA,” she told Net-a-Porter’s Porter magazine.
“I was raised by a strong feminist mother and fully supportive father, so it never occurred to me to that I should be at a disadvantage because I was born a girl.”
She was raised in such a progressive household that even her mates at school noticed.
“We’d get teased at school: ‘Oh, your mom is so radical,'” Kidman told Marie Clare.
“At the time, we’d roll our eyes and be embarrassed. But my sister and I are both advocates now. It was an incredible gift to be given.”
Now a mother herself to daughters Sunday-Rose and Faith, along with husband Keith Urban, Nicole says she is raising her daughters to be strong, independent women.
Turia Pitt
Turia is a role model to the masses.
(Instagram)Turia Pitt is a walking talking example of the phrase, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.
Indeed the 33-year-old athlete was thrown an unfathomable reality while competing in an ultra marathon – after coming across an uncontrollable grass fire, she suffered burns to 65 per cent of her body.
Years later, the now mother of two is an author of several motivational books and is also an accomplished speaker.
She also helped to launch an incredible initiative, Spend with Them, in the wake of terrifying bushfires which left thousands of rural properties and business owners with nothing. Her platform shines a light on those people and their work, encouraging others around Australia to spend their money with them to support local business.
Yes, Turia truly lets nothing stand in her way of giving people hope – no matter the circumstances.
