Older Women Count

The #OlderWomenCount campaign is 7 days of visibility and advocacy leading up to International Women's Day (IWD), a global focus women's achievements and gender inequalities. The campaign celebrates the achievements and contributions of older women, raises awareness of the inequalities they experience and promotes strategies for respect and inclusion. 
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We believe that celebrating older women's contributions is a critical step in creating a culture where #OlderWomenCount and the gender inequalities and ageism they experience is combatted. Our mission is to ensure #OlderWomenCount in every family, community, institution, policy, celebration and strategy - every day of the year.

​The campaign is launched on March 1st each year with an online event calling families, communities and service providers to action.

2024: The Biscuit Tin

We are delighted to announce our 2024 Campaign - #TheBiscuitTin. This campaign calls out the ageist/sexist representations of older women in popular culture. Ways to get involved include:
  • A free online seminar with Author, Journalist, Feminist Jane Gilmore - book at Humantix (here)
  • A Citizen Researcher initiative to gather and critique representations
  • A series of photograph or older women, biscuit tins and stories of achievement
  • Recipes for respect 
  • Check out #TheBiscuitTin web page here. 
We are also delighted to announce our 2024 Campaign partners - Elder Rights Advocacy and Whitehorse City Council. 

2023: Older Women Dancing 

Thankyou to our event presenters: Janet Bromley, Yorta Yorta Artist and First Nations Art Officer City of Greater Bendigo; Dr Deborah Wood, artist; Debra Nicholl, CEO of Elder Rights Advocacy; Suzanne Phoenix, Photos Punctuate My Life; Yumi Lee, CEO of Older Women’s Network NSW and Dr Catherine Barrett, Founder and CEO Celebrate Ageing. Check the Older Women Dancing video below.
  • Campaign partner: special thanks to Elder Rights Advocacy ​
  • Media release - here and thankyou to The Senior Newspaper for the front page spread here 
  • Checklist: download the #OlderWomenCount Checklist (here) ​
Elder Rights Advocacy provides information and advocacy for people in Victoria who receive aged care services. Our service is free, confidential and independent of the government and aged care providers. We support you to make sure your voice and opinion are heard. Elder Rights Advocacy is a member of OPAN. In Victoria, phone 1800 700 600 or (03) 9602 3066 Monday to Friday, 9-5 pm. Elder Rights Advocacy can arrange an interpreter or translator. In other states/territories, phone OPAN on 1800 700 600 between 8 am and 8 pm Monday to Friday to be put through to your local advocate.

2022: Break the Ageism Bias

The theme for our inaugural campaign drew on the global theme of Break the Bias; with a call to break the ageism and sexism biases that older women experience. Artist Suzanne Phoenix worked with graphic designer Wuthipol Ujathammarat to develop our logo. For the past 10 years Suzanne has curated a photographic exhibition exploring what IWD means to a broad range of cis and trans women and gender diverse people (here). Suzanne's work has been hung in the National Portrait Gallery (here). 

Thanks to Plakit for distributing posters across Victoria, NSW and Canberra. We asked community members to help us find the posters and share photographs of them on social media with hashtag #OlderWomenCount (images below).

Why the campaign is needed

Older women make valuable contributions to our society as leaders, CEOs, academics, carers, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, neighbours, colleagues and friends. Despite this older women are devalued and experience significant disadvantage at the intersections of ageism and sexism and inequalities include: 
  • Older women are the lowest income earning family group (here)
  • 758,000 older people are unpaid carers - 67% of them are women (here), who are twice as likely to report low wellbeing than the broader community (here)
  • 34% of single older women live in poverty (here)
  • 60% of older women leave paid work with no super (here) and women with super have 28% less than men (link)
  • 60% of older women rely entirely on old age pension (here)
  • 40% increase in homelessness for older women (here)
  • Older women are more likely to experience workplace discrimination (here)
  • 28 older women (55+) were killed in family violence homicides in 2023 (link)
  • 14% of older people experience elder abuse – victims are more likely to be women (link)
  • 23% of women aged 60 years+ have experienced physical or intimate partner violence (link)
  • Older women are more likely to be sexually assaulted (here).

Project partners 

The #OlderWomenCount project is a partnership between Celebrate Ageing, The Older Women's Network NSW and photographer Suzanne Phoenix. We are passionate about valuing and respect for older women and passionate about making sure that every Australian knows that #OlderWomenCount. 
Dr Catherine Barrett, ​CEO Celebrate Ageing Ltd
Yumi Lee, CEO Older Women's Network NSW
Suzanne Phoenix
​(photo Theresa Harrison)

In the Media

Thankyou to the journalists who covered the #OlderWomenCount campaign - you are helping us to make change: 

More information 

This campaign is a partnership between Celebrate Ageing Ltd, the Older Women's Network NSW and Suzanne Phoenix, Photos Punctuate My Life. For more information please contact us: