Lifestyle

Meet the 2015 Women of the Future judges

Julie Bishop, Denise Morcombe, Chloe Shorten and Jesinta Campbell join the distinguished judging panel for the 2015 Women of the Future awards.

Chloe Shorten, the wife of Labor leader Bill Shorten, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are part of a stellar panel who will judge this year’s scholarship fund for young women.

Ms Shorten joins her mother, the Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce, who is the patron of The Australian Women’s Weekly Qantas Women of the Future Awards.

It is Ms Shorten’s first shoot, while Ms Bishop topped last year’s The Australian Women’s Weekly CPA Australia Power List.

The Weekly is calling for entries in this year’s awards, which recognise young women aged between 18 and 28 who are dedicated to transforming the lives of others.

Eight winners will share a prize pool of $100,000, including $10,000 Qantas travel bursaries and 12-month Qantas Club memberships.

Last year, the judges chose Laura O’Reilly for her work providing jobs for young people with disabilities.

The People’s Choice winner, Annabelle Chauncy, is behind School For Life, the project she and a friend built from scratch in Uganda.

The other judges include Today show co-host Lisa Wilkinson, 7.30 anchor Leigh Sales, Interplast ambassador Turia Pitt, Qantas executive Olivia Wirth, model Jesinta Campbell and co-founder of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, Denise Morcombe.

Asked what she thought were the biggest challenges for working women, Ms Shorten nominated “the slow progress of equal opportunity for women”.

“For women to be respected and valued in the workplace as equals remains one of the biggest challenges,” she said.

Ms Morcombe said she believed the biggest challenge for working women was the difficulty of juggling work life with a family.

Entries for the Women of the Future Awards close on June 24, 2015. The full story and pictures of the judges are in next month’s magazine, on sale Monday, May 18.

To enter the competition and for further details go to wotf.aww.com.au

The winners will be announced in September at a gala dinner hosted by Ms Sales and Sky News presenter David Speers.

For details about the event, email [email protected].

From left to right: Olivia Wirth, Leigh Sales, Denise Morcombe, Lisa Wilkinson, Chloe Shorten, Jesinta Campbell, Turia Pitt and Julie Bishop

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To enter the competition and for further details go to wotf.aww.com.au

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