Contributing a wealth of experience, Neth Hinton is a valued member of the SuniTAFE Board of Directors. 

She first joined the Board in 2018 and has held the position of Board Chair since July 2022. 

Before being appointed to the Board, Ms Hinton worked in a range of roles. 

“I had three children before I went to university, so I didn’t start my studies until I was 25. I trained as a social worker and I worked for a few years at St Vincent’s, which was a great place to work.”

“Over time, I worked at different health services and eventually became a project manager, then an executive. I finished my career at Eastern Health as a senior executive, so I’m sort of used to being in charge of things!” she said.

Since she started her career, Ms Hinton has seen the role of women in the workplace change positively. 

“When I started my career in health, the nurses back in the day, in the 80s, were very much down the pecking order. Over time though, you can see them having a much higher status. It’s not the same for every industry, but I think that’s happened for many women. Nevertheless, there’s still a way to go.”

The theme of International Women’s Day this year is ‘#EmbraceEquity.’ 

Unlike equality, where every person is allocated the same resources and opportunities for success, equity acknowledges that every person requires different levels of support to reach the same outcomes. 

Ms Hinton believes that equity is important in the workplace. 

“While we say that we’re all born equal, it’s not exactly true in the sense that some people have a lot more life opportunities than others. There are all sorts of things which prevent us from really being on an equal footing. So, it is really important to give everyone at least an equal chance.”

“We’re not all going to wind up in the same position and that’s good because we don’t have to. So long as everyone has the opportunity to do their best and to do what they want to do,” Ms Hinton said.
Ms Hinton has seen the pursuit of equity unfold within the TAFE Sector. 

“Boards in the public sector are expected to have close to equal numbers of women and men. In the past, you might have had one or two women, but now there’s a real emphasis on having people from various backgrounds and particularly on having a balance of women and men. So, there are institutional ways in which women’s position has been improved too,” she said. 

Reflecting this shift, the SuniTAFE Board is currently comprised of almost equal numbers of men and women. Despite this, Ms Hinton views them simply as colleagues. 

“We are very fortunate to have a group of strong, talented women on the Board, but I don’t really see the Board in those terms. We have been very fortunate to get really terrific people of either gender who all contribute in unique ways. I just see the board members as people,” she said.  

This is her ambition for SuniTAFE as a whole. 

“One of my goals is for SuniTAFE to be ‘gender blind’, in the sense that all staff have an equal opportunity to apply for positions, an equal chance of being appointed to them, and that no one suffers discrimination on the basis of their gender or anything else,” Ms Hinton said. 

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated globally on 8 March each year. This is an opportunity for agencies across government to celebrate the diverse contributions and achievements of women and girls in Victoria, and to elevate underrepresented voices to ensure IWD is a celebration of all women equally. To read more about International Women’s Day 2023, click here.