Cairns Tropical Writers Festival will host a breakfast with award-winning author , journalist and broadcaster Tracey Spicer AM as a satellite event at The Hilton in Cairns on Monday 23 July 2018 .

Well known as a national anchor newsreader with the Ten Network for 14 years , Tracey was sacked by email aged 39 in 2006 while on maternity leave . With speculation she was fired due to her age , she hired a lawyer , her ground-breaking fight about discrimination in the workplace making national news .

Always a powerful advocate for women ’ s rights , social justice and equal opportunity , Spicer is co-founder and national convener of Women in Media that surveyed 1000 female journalists in 2017 . It found almost 100 % were relegated to low-paid , low-profile , low-power roles , with almost half experiencing intimidation , abuse or sexual harassment in the workplace .

Spicer has produced and presented documentaries in Bangladesh , Kenya , Papua New Guinea , and India , and is an ambassador for World Vision , World Wildlife Fund for Nature , the Penguin Foundation , Dying with Dignity , Autism Spectrum Australia , QUT ’ s Learning Potential Fund , ActionAid anti-poverty and global human rights agency , Domestic Violence NSW , and Karitane Parenting Services . She is Patron of the NSW Cancer Council , the newborn care unit at the Royal Hospital for Women , Life ' s Little Treasures Foundation and the National Premmie Foundation , and the face of the Garvan Institute ’ s research into pancreatic cancer , which claimed her mother .

Spanning television , radio , newspapers , magazines and online , Spicer now runs two companies as a freelance writer , speaker , media trainer and broadcaster , Spicer Communications and Outspoken Women . Her TEDx talk has had 5 million views . Check it out on YouTube . Watch her take her make-up , high heels and other prescribed ‘ armour ’ off , and suddenly be more real and effective , and trusted .

Her advocacy has also seen her nominated for a Walkley Award , and in 2018 she was

appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia , " for significant service to the broadcast media as a journalist and television presenter , and as an ambassador for social welfare and charitable groups ".

Describing herself as ‘ the bogun from Brisbane ’, last year she published her no-holds-barred “ femoir ”, The Good Girl Stripped Bare . In the book , Spicer is her usual defiant and outspoken self , given to hilarious public confessions as she nails the structural barriers facing women in the workplace . She encourages us all to “ shake off the shackles of being the good girl ”.

In the wake of the scandals in the entertainment industry in Hollywood and elsewhere , Tracey has become the face of the # MeToo movement in Australia to break the silence . More than 1600 women across industries and backgrounds have contacted her with their stories involving over 100 men , 40 of them household names .

Working with the police to bring them to court , Spicer has just launched Now Australia together with Tina Arena , Deborah Mailman , Sacha Horler , Clare Bowditch , Missy Higgins and a host of other women in entertainment to bring about permanent change . Equivalent of the Time ’ s Up movement in the US , this is a service to support both men and women who have been sexually harassed , assaulted or intimidated in workplaces , putting them in touch with counsellors and lawyers .

Early Bird Weekend Passes

Women in Media FNQ , and the Media , Entertainment and Arts Alliance have supported Tracey ’ s visit to Cairns . Tickets to the 23 July breakfast with Tracey Spicer AM , and Early Bird Weekend Passes to the Cairns Tropical Writers Festival on 10-12 August , are both available at www . cairnstropicalwritersfestival . com