International Women’s Day 2022: Meet Australia’s top businesswomen

Highlights

• Earlier Australian entrepreneurship industry also looked man-dominated like the other countries.
• But this is not the case anymore as many women have started their businesses.

There was a time when men used to get all the attention in the business world in most countries. Today, time is not the same as many women are coming forward to break this gender stereotype.

However, it is a bitter truth that women in Australia still have a long way to go before achieving parity in the number of male and female entrepreneurs. Still, the good news is that many are already rising to the challenge.

On this International Women’s Day (8 March 2022), we will talk about five women entrepreneurs who succeeded in breaking the ceiling and made a name for themselves through their sheer hard work and talent.

Gina Rinehart: CEO and owner of Hancock Prospecting

Hancock Prospecting is a prominent player in Australia's mining and agricultural industries.

Gine Rinehart deserves credit for converting the Hancock Prospecting Group from a struggling and financially distressed company to a very profitable industry-leading innovation that employs thousands across Australia's outback. Rinehart became the executive chairman of the company in 1992.

Rinehart's leadership has helped the Hancock Group diversify its business from prospecting to mining, with iron ore, copper, potash, gold, coal, cattle, dairy, and real estate investments. Under her guidance, the company has evolved to become one of the world's most profitable private mining corporations and the most successful private company in Australian history.

She is also the founder of Australians for Northern Development and Economic Vision (ANDEV), the author of two books, the founder of Australia's Annual National Mining and Related Industries Day and National Agriculture and Related Industries Day, and the patron of several organisations. She is also a governor of AmCham (Australia).

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Prudence Murdoch MacLeod: The board member of Times Newspapers Limited

Prudence Murdoch MacLeod is an Australian-British media magnate and the first child of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. She has worked in several capacities for her father's company, News Corporation. MacLeod was born in 1958 in Adelaide, South Australia.

She now serves on the board of Times Newspapers Limited, a News Corporation company.

Judith Neilson: Co-founder of White Rabbit Gallery

Judith Neilson is a philanthropist and businesswoman who is passionate about the visual arts. She was born in 1946.

Neilson’s The White Rabbit Gallery was established in 2009 and it houses one of the most important collections of Chinese contemporary art globally.

Neilson also co-founded Platinum Asset Management with her husband. She holds a significant stake in the company. Neilson has also started another art gallery in Sydney, Australia, called Phoenix- to provide a performing place and display arts.

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Naomi Milgrom: Founder of ARJ Group Holdings

Naomi Milgrom is another successful Australian businesswoman who owns ARJ Group Holdings. Milgrom’s company sells women's clothing lines Sussan, Sportsgirl, and Suzanne Grae.

Milgrom began working for her family's company, Sussan, in 1988 as a strategy and marketing planning manager.

She was promoted to merchandise director the following year before being named chief executive in 1990. Ms Milgrom pushed for the purchase of Sportsgirl in 1999. In 2033, Naomi took out her siblings and parents from businesses and now owns all the companies.

She had also co-founded a video game studio in Melbourne in 1980 and had also set up a publishing company for computer books.

Maxine Horne: Founder of Vita Group

Maxine Horne’s Vita Group (ASX:VTG) provides value-added and differentiated flexible polyurethane (PU) foam products. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Skin-Health and Wellness (SHAW) are the two segments in which the company operates. In 2005, Vita Group was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). In 1995, Horne had also started a mobile retail company, Fone Zone.