Category Archives: latest

My charity, The Sunlight Foundation , is passionate about stamping out the vile sex trade of children in Cambodia.  Having visited many places in Cambodia recently and seen the heroic work of several charities, I saw firsthand the grinding poverty that feeds the sex trafficking of children. The hardest question for me was “Why?” Why do […]

I was just recently in Cambodia meeting front line charities involved in rescuing and restoring young girls sold into the sex trade, meeting many of the girls, and seeing up close the poverty that creates this vile practice. One of these amazing charities is Destiny Rescue, an internationally-recognised Christian non-profit organisation dedicated to rescuing children […]

While in Phnom Penh, I was privileged to meet with Silvia Pasti, UNICEF’s Head of Child Protection in Cambodia to learn more about child abuse and what is being done to address the problem. Like everyone, I believe no child should be exposed to violence, abuse or neglect and she explained that in Cambodia the […]

I have a commitment to be a voice for sexually exploited, vulnerable children who cannot speak for themselves. These children have a right to be heard, especially those crying silently for justice. I hope you will support my charity, The Sunlight Foundation, and Miss Australia International to help these children. Read more…

I was disgusted to read recently that the rapper T.I subjects his daughter to the degrading ritual of “virginity testing”. I couldn’t decide if he was protecting a higher bride-price for his daughter in the marketplace or callously demonstrating his power over a woman by forcing his will on her rights to her own body. Probably both, I concluded, as […]

Do you believe in your dreams? I don’t mean the ones that have Prince Charming meeting you on a windswept beach and riding off into the sunset type dreams.  I mean the ones that make you make you feel uncomfortable, make you think about deeper meanings, perhaps even those dreams that have the power to change […]

I am feeling so honoured today by being selected to join an amazing group of women in F MAGAZINE who have achieved great things with their lives. Women’s voices around the world are calling out for and leading change and I hope I can do my part to be a voice for the silent children […]

In my hometown of Melbourne, November 5th was the day that a horse race stopped our nation. Melbourne Cup Day is the glamour social event of the year to a sport-obsessed city and is a public holiday. Yes, we Melbournians, and probably most Australians, had a day off from our toils so we could watch some horses […]

When Dorothea McKellar wrote those words more than a hundred years ago, having far horizons and jewel seas to love would have been a great lure for immigrants.  Even I wanted to be a “jillaroo” when I was young as you can see!! My early life and dreams though, were far removed from a wide […]

OMG, what am I going to wear? Why is this the first thing we think of when something truly awesome has just happened?  I had just got the message that I’d been chosen as finalist in the Miss Australia International Pageant. Me! I was Cinderella and I was going to the ball – I couldn’t […]