Across Australia, women are still doing the lion’s share of unpaid care and household work – and paying for it with their careers, health, and mental wellbeing.

Chronic time pressure, exhaustion, and the emotional load of care are taking a quiet but serious toll, contributing to stress, burnout, and long-term health impacts. Meanwhile, men’s working hours (and greedy jobs that expect them) are too often made possible by women’s invisible labour. The result? A hidden economy of time that entrenches inequality and undermines wellbeing.

Join Professor Lyndall Strazdins — world-leading researcher on the intersections of work, family, health, and wellbeing, and author of The Unequal Hour — and Annabel Crabb — acclaimed ABC journalist, political commentator, and author of The Wife Drought — as they unpack how the gendered division of labour shapes our health, mental wellbeing, and working lives.

Facilitating the discussion is Professor Michelle Ryan, Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and internationally renowned for uncovering the “glass cliff”, the groundbreaking research on the pressures and challenges facing women in leadership roles.

Together, they’ll examine how our cultural assumptions about time, care, and work are shaping stress, wellbeing, and opportunity — and what meaningful, systemic change could look like to support healthier, more equitable lives for everyone.

The hour-long conversation will be followed by a reception with canapés and mocktails — a chance to keep the discussion going, swap ideas, and connect with fellow attendees.

In conversations with

For those who missed it

Audio recording

Visual summary

Photo highlights (by Alexandra Orme Photography)

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