The Equal Opportunity Commission recognises that Mother’s Day may be experienced in many different ways across our diverse community. For some, it is a time of celebration and connection. For others, it may bring reflection, grief, loss, longing, or mixed emotions. Experiences of motherhood, caregiving, family, culture, identity, and relationships are deeply personal and diverse, and we acknowledge these varied experiences with care, respect, and inclusion.
Mother’s Day is an opportunity to honour mothers and mother figures by recognising the diversity of motherhood and the many attributes, identities and lived experiences that interconnect to shape it.
This Mother’s Day, the Commission invites you to pause and consider the characteristics that define your mother or mother figure, and the ways these have shaped how they have lived and experienced motherhood.
For some, their personal attributes may have supported them to be the best mothers they could be, making their journey richer, fuller and joyful. For others, those same attributes may have been experienced as barriers, bringing challenge, hardship or pain.
You might like to reflect on how your mother’s race, lived experience of disability, religious belief, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics have shaped their life as a mother. How did these attributes intersect and combine? Did they make the experience of motherhood easier or more difficult? Did some provide strength and resilience, while others placed obstacles in their path?
Alongside reflecting on our mothers’ personal experiences, it is also important to consider how mothers experience public life. Mothers engage with workplaces, education, housing, systems and services not only as parents or guardians, but as people with distinct identities. How do these spaces respond to mothers of different races, abilities, beliefs, political convictions or sexual orientations? Where do systems support inclusion, and where do they continue to create disadvantage?
Mother’s Day is opportunity to reflect more deeply on the importance of recognising mothers in the fullness of who they are, and on our shared responsibility to ensure that every area of public life opens pathways to equality of opportunity and encourages equitable outcomes for all Australians who experience motherhood.
To learn more about equal opportunity as it relates to our personal attributes, characteristics and the intersection with areas of public life, visit the Commission’s website or explore our information sheets and resources.
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