The Circular
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Interview with Professor Gail Pacheco, EEO Commissioner
Gail Pacheco is currently an adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at the Auckland University of Technology and she is the Kaihautū Ōritenga Mahi Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Commissioner at the Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission. She was invited by Eva Hartshorn-Sanders of the International Action Hub to provide her perspectives on a series of questions of importance to our members. What are two significant issues facing women and girls in Aotearoa New Zealand?... -
New book on Marie Curie and connection with Graduate Women International
Dava Sobel, the bestselling author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, offers a new biography, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science. The book chronicles the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the young women who trained in her laboratory. Marie Curie née Skłodowska is still the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. Her... -
President’s kōrero – June 2025
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.My strength is not mine alone, it comes from the collective. Kia ora e hoa mā – greetings to all friends and colleagues working together within NCWNZ for the greater good. Maybe that sounds idealist, but let’s face it, that’s who we are as an organisation. “Practical dreamers” who have a vision for the future and then look at the detail of how we can make it happen. The “we”... -
NCW Southland hosts speakers from local agencies
NCW Southland recently has been privileged to hear speakers from two local agencies. At the Annual General Meeting in May, Donagh Booth from Age Concern spoke of her role in Elder Abuse Response. Her work in Invercargill has been an eye opener for her. She did not realise the spread of elder abuse within her home town. Examples she gave listed sons who have never left home, sons with issues who returned home, mothers who have become isolated because friends... -
NZ Radio and Podcast award for Conversations with Wāhine
The Wellington Access Radio radio show Conversations with Wāhine are celebrating after their win at the NZ Radio and Podcast Awards in Auckland held on 5 June 2025. The team picked up the Best Access Radio Programme Award for 2024 at the star-studded event, held at SkyCity Auckland, and attended by radio and podcast hosts and personalities from around Aotearoa. -
Women in local government - insights from a community board member
NCWNZ Ōtautahi Christchurch Branch created NEW (Network of Elected Women), a group that we invite to Kate Sheppard House every year for a get together and we collaborate with on various other events. We asked one of the NEW members to write about being a Community Board member, to encourage women to stand for local government roles. Jackie has five terms under her belt on her community board in North Canterbury, two of them as chair, and is likely to... -
NCWNZ Past President Christine Low
This is the fourth of a series of articles focusing on the NCWNZ Past Presidents Oral History Project with interviews by Carol Dawber in 2016. See the introductory article in The Circular at "NCWNZ Past Presidents oral history interviews from 2016" (August 2024). This month, we honour Christine Low, who served as NCWNZ President from 2004 to 2008. Christine led with warmth, wisdom, and a strong work ethic—balancing a full-time career while championing pay equity, practical advocacy, and international engagement.... -
2025 King’s Birthday honours
188 people received honours in the King’s Birthday list. Again, as with the 2024 King's Birthday list, men received more awards than women: this year, 53% (100) compared with 47% (88). Women received more awards than men in two categories: Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) and King's Service Medal (KSM). There were more awards for arts related activities 17% (34) than sports related ones 13% (25). See the full list at https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/kings-birthday-honours-list-2025. -
Messages from NCWNZ interns Amandine and Mathilde
Kia ora koutou, Bonjour à toutes, Well… here I am, writing this message on my very last day as an intern at the National Council of Women of New Zealand. I arrived in New Zealand in mid-January, and I’m now heading to New York for a new internship in the field of peacekeeping operations. Thank you all so much for welcoming me here. This internship has been an extraordinary learning experience. NCWNZ Interns (l-r) Mathilde Jaulin and Amandine Chabrier -
Equal Pay Act changes and teacher aides
English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher aides belong to the cohort of social services employees whose applications for pay claims have been curtailed by the recent Equal Pay Act. As most teacher-aides are women, they have little comparison with men to gauge their work status. They are often on contract pay, dependent on income from ESL student funding, and within school hierarchies have tenuous job security. However, teacher aides (TAs) carry out significant functions in schools. Within classrooms, they...