She Shapes History

02/06/2026

June is an HUGE month at She Shapes History and we would love to see you on a tour.

We're only able to run these tours because people show up for them.

So to everyone who's told us "I've been meaning to book a tour!” over the past few months… maybe June could be the month you finally do it?!

Because if the last week has taught us anything, it's that telling women's stories in public spaces still matters a lot.

01/06/2026

June is an HUGE month at She Shapes History and we would *love* to see you on a tour.

We’re only able to run them because people show up ❤️

SO to everyone who’s told us “I’ve been meaning to book a tour!” over the past few months…maybe June could be the month you finally do it?!

Because if the last week has taught us anything, it’s that telling women’s stories in public spaces matters *a lot*.

01/06/2026

There are a handful of people in this country who I think are very actively reshaping the story we tell about Australian history and pushing us to look differently at our past and at what it means to be an Australian.

Santilla Chingaipe () is right at the top of that list.

I've admired Santilla for such a long time. I truly think she's one of the sharpest thinkers working in Australian history, and by far one of the most articulate people I've ever shared a stage with.

About a year ago to the day, we were both on a panel at the Melbourne Writers Festival, hosted by the incomparable Natasha Mitchell and recorded for Big Ideas. I cannot tell you how nervous I was. It was my first time doing a panel like that, and I spent most of it in awe of her and a decent chunk of it thinking: why on earth do I have to answer questions after this woman? She's such a thoughtful, incredible speaker that I low-key felt a bit like the village jester by comparison. I've admired her even more since, and I genuinely still can't believe we're getting her for this.

Meet Santilla Chingaipe.

Santilla is a Zambian-born filmmaker, historian and author whose work excavates the stories of Black and African-descended people in Australian history. Her book Black Convicts, which traces nearly 500 people of African descent transported here as convicts, was shortlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize and the Queensland Literary Awards. Her SBS documentary Our African Roots was the first time an African-Australian journalist interrogated this nation's colonial history on Australian television.

I could not be more excited for her to kick off the first talk. Alongside Harini Rangarajan and Jacinta Mackay, we're going to have the most amazing conversation.

Also, it's such a full-circle moment: Big Ideas will be recording the talks to broadcast on Radio National and release as episodes of their podcast. A year ago, sitting on that panel feeling a little bit like the village jester, I never would have imagined this is where we'd be.

Sita xx

P.s. I'm watching the ticket sales closely and it's getting closer and closer to selling out!

31/05/2026

Only 10 out of Melbourne’s 580 statues are of real women. It makes it seem like women haven’t actually don’t anything worth celebrating. This tour shows you that couldn’t be further from the truth. Melbourne has been shaped, every step of the way, by badass women. And this tour introduces you to them.

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning, we take a small group on a two-hour walk through Melbourne sharing the stories of the women who made this city what it is and who far too few people have ever heard of. We can also run a private tour at any date / time that works for you if you can get a group together.

This is a women’s history walking tour of Melbourne for locals and visitors alike, no prior knowledge needed, just curiosity. Hopefully we’ll see you on one soon xx. LINK IN OUR BIO!!

31/05/2026

This is a *ridiculously* rare opportunity to join our team in a research + tour development capacity!

You’ll get to work with our incredible Product Lead, Dr Zoe, and help us build and launch a brand new tour.

It’s a 12-week fixed-term contract (July – October 2026), 2.5 days a week. And while we’re a remote-first workplace and you can work from home, you *must* be Melbourne-based as you’ll need to attend Boroondara site visits and walkthroughs, and occasionally meet with Zoe in our Melbourne office.

Please help us spread the word by sending this to anyone you think might be a great fit!

Head here: https://app.notion.com/p/Project-Coordinator-Research-Tour-Development-36f953298bfe80fa88d9fa37d3d0569b to apply and find out more about the role. Applications close Sunday June 14.

26/05/2026

🚨 Content warning: harassment and intimidation in public space. 🚨

This is not our usual content, but it is an important conversation.

Following an incident on one of our Wollongong tours, our Product Lead, Dr Zoe Condliffe, reflects on what this moment reveals about gender, public space, history and belonging.

Before joining She Shapes History, Zoe founded She's A Crowd, a feminist data startup that mapped over 120,000 stories of gender-based violence and harassment in public spaces across Australia. Her PhD explored how women's experiences are heard, recorded, believed and taken seriously.

At She Shapes History, we believe history is not just about the past.

It shapes who feels visible.

Who feels welcome.

Who gets remembered.

Who gets to move freely.

And who is still being told, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways: “You don’t belong here.”

This conversation matters because women and girls are still being asked to negotiate their right to the city — in ways that are often dismissed, minimised or treated as normal.

We're not here to demonise young boys, but we refuse to accept intimidation is normal on our tours.
Women and girls belong in public space.
We belong in the city.
We belong in history.
And we belong in the future.

25/05/2026

When I started thinking about who should join our first talk with the National Library of Australia, I went back and forth on something: did I want voices who'd already shaped the national conversation about how we engage with history, or voices on the cusp of doing that? In the end I knew I wanted the latter.

I knew I wanted a First Nations perspective. And I knew I also wanted someone who'd genuinely lived inside the Library's collections, not just visited them.

Then it hit me. We were already working together through a content partnership with the University of Sydney's Nursing School. I had one of those moments where you just go: Oh, it's her. It's so obviously her.

Meet Jacinta Mackay.

Jacinta is a Wiradjuri woman, nurse, researcher and oral historian at the National Library, currently finishing her PhD with the Uni of Sydney.

As a 2024 National Library Scholar, she worked with the Bringing Them Home oral history recordings to explore how understanding the Stolen Generations can shape more culturally safe nursing care for Aboriginal communities.

Her work rests on a simple, urgent conviction: that listening to Indigenous voices, in the archives and on country, is what real change in our medical system actually requires.

The National Library holds the largest and richest oral history collections in the country, and it’s one of the key ways women's stories have been documented and held over time.

Jacinta is one of the few people the Library trusts to record those histories for First Nations communities. I really think someone who has worked this closely inside that collection will bring so much to the first talk.

A Wiradjuri woman and nurse, raised in regional Australia and now working inside one of our major academic institutions, Jacinta sees this country's past in a way that's sharp, funny and so bloody interesting. And it’s a perspective you don't often get to hear.

She is absolutely a voice to watch and, mark my words, I truly think we're getting her right before the rest of the country catches on.

Sita x

P.S. I'm watching the ticket sales and I'm confident this one's going to sell out soon, so don’t forget to get your tickets (link in bio)!

22/05/2026

15/05/2026

To be super honest, I am the opposite of online (amazing for my mental health, very very bad for curating a great line up of speakers).

I was *really* struggling to find speakers who spoke to what I wanted to do with our first talk in our series with the National Library of Australia. I needed three absolutely brilliant women to explore the question: “Why didn’t anyone tell me Australian history was interesting?”

So I turned to my dear friend Jazmeen Payne (), one of the most chronically online and in-the-know women I know, to help me find someone who wouldn’t usually speak at something like this. Someone who didn’t feel the National Library (or Australian history) was a place for her, but who was deeply engaged in the study of history more broadly.

I’m aware that’s such a specific ask!! But Jaz came through. was her number one pick.

I genuinely could not be more delighted to introduce you to her. Harini Rangarajan is a Chennai-born, Canberra-raised storyteller, archivist and musician whose work makes South Indian history, linguistics and culture accessible to contemporary audiences. In under a year, she’s built an incredible audience on Instagram, drawing people to ancient languages, oral traditions and cultural history through accessible, research-backed storytelling.

I was truly obsessed from the moment Jaz sent her through. So much in her background resonated with me on such a personal level.

For some context: my mum is Tamil, my degree focused on religion in South Asia, and my honours year looked at two Indian women’s experiences of conversion in the 1950s. For years, I didn’t see Australian history as interesting or relevant to me as a woman of colour in this country. So I didn’t even bother engaging or learning much about it.

I’m really excited to use the bloody amazing items the team at the National Library has dug up for the talk to make the case to Harini (and maybe you if you’re not convinced!) that Australian history is actually interesting, and filled with women like us. Hopefully I’ll see you there. I think this first talk in particular is going to be so special.

(We’re about 1/3 sold out, btw.)