Catherine Jane Caro (born 24 June 1957) is a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

social commentator Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

, writer and lecturer based in Australia.

Early life and education

Caro was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1957 and emigrated to Australia with her parents as a five-year-old in 1963. She attended

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

in 1977.

Working life

Caro started her career in marketing, however soon moved into advertising. Caro has appeared on Channel Seven's ''Sunrise'', ABC television's '' Q&A'' and as a regular panellist on ''

The Gruen Transfer ''Gruen'' (previously known as ''The Gruen Transfer'') is an Australian television program focusing on advertising, which debuted on the ABC on 28 May 2008. The program is hosted by Wil Anderson and produced by Andrew Denton's production comp ...

''. Caro has worked in the advertising industry and lectures in advertising at the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university in its current form was founde ...

. Caro was a speaker at the 2014

Festival of Dangerous Ideas A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival constitutes ...

. She is on the boards of the

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

Public Education Foundation and

Bell Shakespeare Bell Shakespeare is an Australian theatre company specialising in the works of William Shakespeare, his contemporaries and other classics. Founded by actor John Bell and based in Sydney, it is Australia's only national theatre company. Apart f ...

, and is an ambassador for the

National Secular Lobby The National Secular Lobby is an Australian pro-secular organisation, founded in July 2017 and officially launched in January 2018. It aims to promote secular principles and the separation of church and state in Australia. The National Secul ...

. In Australia, Caro is represented by Wall Media management. A proponent of

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

, Caro is also a

and

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

.Jane Caro
at Twitter. Caro had been tipped to run against

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

in the 2019 Australian federal election, for his long-held Sydney seat in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

, the

Division of Warringah The Division of Warringah ( ) is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. It is on the north shore of Port Jackson and the Tasman Sea coast, stretching from Wollstonecraft to Curl Curl, comprising North Sydney and ...

, but instead publicly advocated voting for the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

Sarah Hanson-Young Sarah Coral Hanson-Young (née Hanson; born 23 December 1981) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since July 2008, representing the Australian Greens. She is the youngest woman to be elected to federal parlia ...

specifically. Caro stood as a Reason Party candidate for a New South Wales

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

seat in the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 May 2022, to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Morrison government, Liberal–National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, soug ...

Awards and recognition

In 2018, Caro won the Women in Leadership Award in the 2018

Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

. She was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in the

2019 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

in recognition of her "significant service to the broadcast media as a journalist, social commentator and author". In 2023 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the B & T Women in Media Awards.

Publications

* * * * * * * * * * *

Edited works

Contribute

References

External links

*
Jane Caro
on ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...

''
Jane Caro
s articles on ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''
Jane Caro
s articles on ''Online Opinion''
Jane Caro
s articles in ''The Sydney Morning Herald''
Jane Caro
on The ABC {{DEFAULTSORT:Caro, Jane 1957 births 20th-century atheists 20th-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian writers 21st-century atheists 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian women writers Atheist feminists Australian activists Australian atheists Australian feminist writers Australian non-fiction writers Australian women non-fiction writers Australian women novelists Living people Macquarie University alumni Members of the Order of Australia Academic staff of Western Sydney University Australian lecturers British lecturers English emigrants to Australia