Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Friday 10 April
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Elaine Canty is an Australian pioneer.
Canty was Victoria’s first female sports broadcaster on ABC Radio and Television in Victoria, and the first woman to anchor Australia-wide Olympic Games coverage, from Barcelona 1992 (she covered four Games in total). She’s also the first – and only – woman to have been appointed to the AFL Tribunal (in 1996). ‘It caused an enormous ruckus at the time because I hadn't played football,’ she recently told Sydney Morning Herald, ‘but no one thought to ask if the eight other tribunal members had played AFL football. In fact, only two had.’
For eight years, she presented a daily current affairs and talkback program on 774 ABC Melbourne, and produced an award-winning radio documentary series on drugs in sport – after steroids started to make headlines.
Canty’s corporate credentials are too comprehensive to list, including directorships for the Victorian Institute of Sport, Athletics Australia, M2002 World Masters Games, VicHealth, the State Sport Centre’s Trust and more. She recently retired as the long-serving Chairman of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. She’s also chaired the boards of Queen Victoria Market and the Melbourne Wholesale Fish Market, and been a director of Royal Women’s Hospital, Womens and Children’s Health and several not-for-profits.
Her work across Australian media, sport and law were recognised this year with her appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia. For Elders in Conversation, she’ll speak with ABC RN’s Amanda Smith about her multi-faceted career – and decades-long contribution to Australian cultural and sporting life.
Featuring
Elaine Canty
Elaine Canty AM is a pioneer in the media, sport and the law.
She retired recently as the long serving Chairman of the Board of one of Australia’s most iconic institutions, the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. For four years, she chaired the Board of Management of the much loved Queen Victoria Market. She was also Chairman of the Melbourne Wholesale Fish Market.
She currently sits on the boards of several not for profit organizations.
In addition to her board duties, Elaine runs corporate presentations consultancy Canty Communications Pty Ltd, and for more than twenty years has been a regular presenter and guest on ABC radio and television.
On Australia Day 2015, Elaine was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.
In 2006, she was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Role of Women in recognition of her outstanding service to the community and being an inspirational role model for women.
Elaine is a former director of Athletics Australia (1998 – 2003), Women’s and Children’s Health, (1999 – 2004), Royal Women’s Hospital (2004 – 2007), M2002 World Masters Games, VicHealth,(1997-2006) and the State Sport Centre’s Trust. She is a foundation director (1989 - 2000) of the Victorian Institute of Sport and one of the founders of the Essendon Football Club Women’s Network.
The first female sports broadcaster on ABC Radio and Television in Victoria, she is also the first and only woman to be appointed to the AFL Tribunal (1996 – 2005). She was the first woman to anchor Australia-wide Olympic Games coverage (for the ABC from Barcelona 1992).
For eight years, she presented a daily current affairs and lifestyle talkback program on 774 ABC Melbourne. She has covered four Olympic Games, and produced and presented an international award-winning sports documentary series.
Before joining the ABC, she worked as a solicitor, as a tutor in Clinical Legal Education at Monash University and also spent a year teaching senior Mathematics in London.
She has three adult children and is married to Roy Masters.
Amanda Smith
Amanda Smith is the presenter of The Body Sphere on ABC Radio National. She trained as a ballet dancer and is a graduate of the dance school of the Victorian College of the Arts. She also has a degree in classics from the University of Melbourne.
At the ABC, Amanda created The Sports Factor for Radio National. She presented The Sports Factor from its inception in 1995 until 2002, forging a new approach to sports broadcasting. Subsequently, she presented the feature series Great Lovers and RN's arts and culture programs, The Deep End and Artworks.
Amanda created The Body Sphere for RN in 2012, a program that’s about the ways we use our bodies to create and compete with, nurture and abuse, display and conceal.