The 2020 Stella Prize Announcement

Julia Gillard was sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia on 24 June 2010 and served in that office until June 2013. She is the first woman to ever serve as Australia’s Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister. 

Her memoirs, My Story, were published by Random House in September 2014.

As Prime Minister and in her previous role as Deputy Prime Minister, Gillard delivered nation-changing policies including reforming Australian education at every level from early childhood to university education, creating an emissions trading scheme to combat climate change, improving health care, commencing the nation’s first ever national scheme to care for people with disabilities, addressing the gender pay gap for social and community sector workers and delivering an apology to all those who had suffered through the practice of forced adoptions.

In October 2012, she received worldwide attention for her speech in Parliament on the treatment of women in professional and public life. She currently serves as the inaugural Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at Kings College in London, which through research, practice and advocacy, is addressing women’s under-representation in leadership.

Julia Gillard is the Chair of Beyond Blue, one of Australia’s leading mental health awareness bodies; is Chair of global funding body for education in developing countries, the Global Partnership for Education; and is Patron of the Campaign for Female Education.

Patricia Karvelas is a prominent Australian journalist, beginning her professional career at the ABC and SBS 20 years ago. She currently presents Radio National’s flagship radio current affairs programme RN Breakfast ...

Jaclyn Booton is the Executive Director of the Stella Prize. She has over 15 years’ experience in the cultural sector, with a focus on the performing arts and literary events. She was previously the Senior Producer for Talks & Ideas at Sydney Opera House where she oversaw its two annual festivals: All About Women and Antidote.

Prior to that, Jaclyn spent four years as General Manager of the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, leadings its business strategies and event operations. She has also held senior management positions with Arena Theatre Company, Back to Back Theatre and Circus Oz, and served on the boards of Express Media and SYN Media.

Jaclyn holds a BA (Hons) in Performance Studies and Gender Studies from the University of Sydney, where she spent several years teaching a range of undergraduate programs and conducting research on large-scale community events. She is a life-long bookworm and sees no contradiction in being both an NRL fan and a lover of literature.