Ita Buttrose

One of Australia's leading media personalities, Ita Buttrose was the founding editor of Cleo magazine. She was also editor of The Australian Women's Weekly, Editor in Chief of the Sydney Daily Telegraph & Sydney Sunday Telegraph and the Sun-Herald in Sydney and editor and founder of ITA Magazine. She has also published A Passionate Life, Your Guide to Modern Etiquette, My First Forty Years and a short story Interlude in New York. Shortly a motivational book written by Ita will be published and she is now working on her first novel. As CEO of Capricorn Publishing 1988-94, Ita and her company designed and edited Tax Pack for the Australian Tax Department, theatre programs for shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease and Aspects of Love and designed the special "secret" identity program for Telecom and its transition to Telstra. Now a director of Buttrose & Dominguez, Ita's company does specialist publishing such as DJ's, David Jones' magazine for account card holders. In 1995-6 Ita hosted a talkback and news/comment afternoon show on 2GB. She has also been a guest commentator on 3UZ with John Blackman and Wilbur Wilde, and hosted shows on 2KY and 2UE. Ita is a constant guest on television talk shows and current affairs shows and was a regular guest on the John Mangos Show. She is patron of Women of Vision, World Vision Australia, The University of the Third Age, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Australia, Amarant, the National Menopause Foundation, the Sydney Women's Festival, Safety House and National Institute of Secretaries and Administrators. Among Ita's current appointments are The Olympic Club, Director of The Smith Family, Chairwoman Australian Service Nurses National Memorial Fund Committee, Australia Beautiful Council, spokesperson, National Arthritis Foundation Director, Adelaide Arts Festival and Director Sydney Symphony Council. Ita received an OBE in 1979 and Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988. She was the first woman to receive the Harnett Medal for community service and achievements in publishing, journalism, radio and TV. She was named Variety Club's Personality of the Year in 1984, Australasian Academy of Broadcast, Arts and Sciences for most promising Newcomer to Radio, also in 1984, and in 1993, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Australian of the Year.