Susan Horsburgh

Workmates in the 1960s, Iris and Moira met in the same aged-care home in Melbourne – happy to have a friend they knew before they were “old ladies”.

Same time, same table, same order: Ian and Scott met through their wives decades ago. Without ever planning ahead, they catch up over flat whites each week.

Award winning investigative journalist Kate McClymont AM will be giving the inaugural Women in Media Oration Honouring Caroline Jones AO on 8 August, a gala dinner taking place the evening before the 2024 WiM Conference. A ten-time Walkley winner,…

From Melbourne Zoo's family troop to Werribee Open Range Zoo’s bachelor group, let’s explore the social dynamics of Western Lowland Gorillas.

Robyn Davidson’s solo desert trek made her famous 46 years ago, setting the course for her extraordinary life. But before that, her mum’s suicide shaped the woman she would become. Words by Susan Horsburgh.

Lifelong financial disadvantage means more older women than ever are facing homelessness in Australia, especially in the current rental crisis. So, what can be done to house them?

By Susan Horsburgh June 30, 2023 — 8.55am , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. When Egyptian-Australian Hazem Hamouda, 59, flew to Cairo in 2018…

Chrissie Foster, 67, fought the Catholic Church with her late husband Anthony for two decades after two of their three daughters were raped by their priest. Their youngest, Aimee, 38, escaped the abuse but not the fallout. Chrissie: “Sometimes it…

Having lost both her husband and son, the Minister for Indigenous Australians has dealt with grief through the fortifying power of her female friendships. By Susan Horsburgh Linda Burney’s historic first speech to federal parliament in 2016 was a…

Assigned male at birth, Georgie Stone, 22, was a toddler when she told her mother, Rebekah Robertson, 55, that she was a girl. Both actors, they have since fought to improve life for trans kids – between countless cups of tea. Georgie Stone says…

Educator Jane Kanizay has four kids; Gabby Kanizay is the self-confessed “naughty one” who has always pushed boundaries. In May, with her mum by her side, Gabby became the youngest Australian to climb Mount Everest. “Gabby is more confident than I…

After a tough two years, employees are expecting more workplace empathy than ever before, which means mastering emotional intelligence is non-negotiable for modern business leaders, writes Susan Horsburgh.

After actor and campaigner Samuel Johnson was struck by a car last year, his big sister Hilde Hinton swung into action, caring for him through a tough recovery and birthing her second book along the way. Susan Horsburgh reports.

''I was completely unsure whether I'd recover, and I begged Hilde to do what she had to do.'' Trigger warning: This article contians mentions of suicide that may be distressing for some readers. When the phone call came that Saturday night last June,…

By Susan Horsburgh December 10, 2021 — 3.09pm Townsville artist Gail Mabo, 56, and the third of her seven children, dancer and didgeridoo player William Mabo, 29, share a famous family legacy, but it was both having triplets that really brought them…

Phillip Maisel thought he’d lost his twin sister during the war. Finding her again by sheer chance is just one of the things for which this (nearly) 99-year-old is thankful. In the spring of 1944, Phillip Maisel had reached the lowest ebb of his…

By Susan Horsburgh Updated June 25, 2021 — 4.14pmfirst published at 11.59am As a 1960s schoolgirl in rural Victoria, Glenda Maes, 66, idolised her hip home economics teacher, Cathy McCallum, 75, then followed the same career path. Today, the pair…

By Susan Horsburgh Updated May 14, 2021 — 3.24pmfirst published at 1.59pm Nurses Beverly Howard, 74, and Olga Learoyd, 70, have worked at Footscray Hospital in Melbourne for a combined century. Neither friend plans to retire – nor let tragedy stop…

By Susan Horsburgh Updated March 19, 2021 — 2.54pmfirst published at 11.49am Retired Melbourne IT manager Les Firth, 72, anonymously donated the sperm that led to the birth of contract administrator Alex Mallon, 32. At their first meeting in 2017,…

In the quagmire of midlife, letting yourself go isn’t such a bad thing after all. By Susan Horsburgh When I came out to the kitchen to walk the kids and cavoodle to school the other day, my husband took one look at me and laughed: “You’ve really…