Sydney, Tuesday 29 July 2025
Franklin Women expands its Partner Organisation alliance, leading a coordinated approach to gender equity in health and medicine
Franklin Women, a social enterprise supporting women within the health and medical research ecosystem, has expanded its Partner Organisation alliance. A unique initiative that is working towards a gender-equal workforce, acknowledging that women remain under-represented in leadership roles across theecosystem, from health research to healthcare delivery.
The social enterprise is proud to welcome six new organisations to its alliance in the last 12 months: Children’s Cancer Institute, the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), RMIT University, the Royal Women’s Hospital and Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. These new members join a growing collective of 27 workplaces spanning research, higher education, government, health innovation and health services.
“As our alliance grows, so does the potential for impact,” said Dr Melina Georgousakis, Founder and Director of Franklin Women. “Creating workplaces where equity is not just written into strategies but embedded into culture requires systems change, and that can only be achieved when the whole health and medical research pipeline connects over that same vision.”
The Franklin Women alliance is shifting the dial on the career participation and progression of women in the ecosystem. This is through both changes to workplace environments and direct support for staff and students through initiatives such as powerful cross-sector networks, their Inclusive Leadership Mentoring Program and an innovative career development program for early-career women.
NeuRA, which recently joined the alliance, said the partnership strongly aligns with its organisational strategy.
“Franklin Women’s evidence-based approach to mentoring and leadership development aligns seamlessly with NeuRA’s vision,” said Professor Kim Delbaere, Head of Career Development and Mentoring at NeuRA. “This partnership strengthens our commitment to empowering staff, particularly women early to mid-career, to thrive, lead and shape the future of health and medical research.”
Partner Organisation Children’s Cancer Institute is already seeing the value of the partnership. Erika Burmeister, Director of People & Culture, said:
“We’ve had representatives at many Franklin Women events, our participants in the 2025 Mentoring Program are loving it, and we’ve created an internal Teams network for informal sharing and learning among our Franklin Women members. We’re excited to see what the next year brings.”
The alliance is also expanding its national footprint, with Partner Organisations now based in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. This reflects a growing desire for a national approach to advancing gender equity and broader inclusion within the healthcare and medical research workforce.
Professor Joanne Tipper, Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic at RMIT’s STEM College welcomed their new partnership with Franklin Women.
“We recognise and value the diversity of our community and we’re committed to ensuring our people are not limited by gender stereotypes, gender roles or prejudices,” said Tipper. “RMIT has a proud history in health and medical sciences and as we continue to build on that history, we’re excited about the ways Franklin Women can support our women as they move into leadership and make a significant impact in the communities we serve.”
Despite increasing attention to gender equity in the health sector, the recent Australian Government Health and Medical Research Workforce Audit highlights ongoing challenges, including the loss of highly trained women. Although women make up 52% of the workforce, they hold only 25% of leadership roles.
“This is not just about creating equal opportunities, which on its own should be enough,” said Georgousakis. “Having more women in leadership and decision-making roles across the entire health and medical research pipeline is essential to closing the gender health gap that exists in our community.”
Franklin Women is Australia’s only professional community dedicated to supporting women in health-related careers. It is a credible and respected voice in the sector, representing a growing network of 20,000 members, partners and advocates, with ambitions to expand its reach for even greater impact.
Franklin Women invites organisations committed to progressing gender equity and inclusion across the health and medical research ecosystem to join their growing alliance.
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For more information, refer to: https://franklinwomen.com.au/partners/
Franklin Women Partner Organisations in alphabetical order: ANU Faculty of Health and Medicine, the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control, Burnet Institute, Centenary Institute, Children’s Cancer Institute, Digital Health CRC, Edith Cowan University School of Nursing & Midwifery, Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, George Institute of Global Health, harrison.ai, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Kolling Institute, Macquarie University Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, NeuRA, RMIT University STEM College, Royal Women’s Hospital, St Vincents Centre for Applied Medical Research, Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, Sydney Local Health District, University of Canberra Faculty of Health, University of Canberra Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Newcastle College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of New South Wales Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health, and University of Wollongong Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health.