Redefining Ageing 2023
Online Event

SILVER SIRENS’ 5 YEAR MILESTONE

Each year we are ignited by topics that touch our heart and soul. Come join us this year.

ABOUT THE EVENT
Saturday 16 September 2023

Redefining Ageing 2023 - Never Too Late

Since 2020, the Silver Sirens Redefining Ageing event has been hybrid and is now available online. It is an interactive online community from all over Australia and around the world.

Vibrant conversations take place all day in the zoom chat, and our online attendees build trust and community across the airwaves...sharing secrets and exchanging advice.

Online experience includes:

Exclusive online content - including our fireside chats where online guests get up close and personal with each speaker.
Special activities from our sponsors during each break
Online attendees can also opt for VIP online tickets entitling you to a physical gift bag, delivered to your door, before event day!

The online event is by no means a second-class experience to the in-person, but rather a truly engaging and interactive online experience.

Miraculously, the third phase of life can be a remarkable and liberating opportunity to REINVENT!!!

Event Details

"I had the opportunity to connect with women across the world and I made friends with a woman from Canada. I felt connected and included throughout the day."

- 2021 Online Attendee

2022 EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

2022 Event Highlights

TICKETS

General Admission

Tickets $135

Tickets

General Concession

Tickets $75

Tickets

"Pay it Forward" Donation

Pay What You Can

Tickets

Host a Watch Party

Tickets from $175

Tickets

Get Tickets

Full day ticket includes 12 speakers, 2 entertainers, a virtual gift bag and a recording of the event.

VIRTUAL GIFT BAG - enjoy premium beauty and lifestyle products from our 2023 event partners to redeem online.

SILVER SIRENS 2023 TOPICS

For one powerful day, our Silver Sirens leaders will explore the pillars of enhanced living.

2023 Topics

Career, Business & Vocation

It's never too late to change our careers, start a new business or find our heart's calling.

The Elders

It's never too late to do anything.

Trailblazers &

Change Makers

It's never too late to impact your community, society, or the world.

Family & Relationships

It's never too late to find love, have a family, or find your family. Dating is NOT just for kids”.

MEET OUR SILVER SIRENS 2023 SPEAKERS

Come join our role models and speakers this year, who will include our first transgender female advocate, and women who shook their lives to the foundations, changing their job, writing a debut book, and running a first triathlon at 50.

2023 Speakers

Special Guest

Jane Caro

Her latest book Accidental Feminists about the life story of women over 50 was launched in 2019.

Welcome to Country

The Elders

It's never too late to do anything.

Aunty Shirley Lomas

Aunty Shirley Lomas, a descendant of the Gamilaroi and Waka Waka Aboriginal nations a member of the stolen generations.
A small but passionate group turned up to Hyde Park in Sydney, Gadigal, to bring attention to the terrible plight of people living with disabilities across Australia, with a focus on Aboriginal families.

Aunty Shirley Lomas led the protest, with speakers decrying the overwhelming discrimination and lack of financial and political support provided to the most vulnerable people in our society.

Dr Anne Ring

I am an 80-year-old health sociologist whose understanding of ageing matters comes from extensive experience both professionally and personally. Professionally, I have a PhD in health sociology (undertaken in my 50s), where my thesis looked at health, body image and ageing issues as they were presented in the popular media for women and for men, over a 50 year period, and I have continued since then to monitor the media on those topics, as well as writing extensively about them.

In addition, I have qualifications and professional experience in psychology (BA), medical anthropology (MA), and health education (Grad. Dip), and for several years was principal researcher in medical education research at the University of Queensland (publishing as Anne Wise). Personally, I understand some of the challenges of growing older, both through my own continually increasing experience as an ageing person and also as a carer and advocate for my parents in their final years. This background has given me a broad understanding of the complexities that we face and manage in our daily lives and in our society as we age.

And, with ageing being a big unknown for many, and something that many others are apprehensive or in denial about, my book on this topic (the work of 13 years of research and writing) – which was launched in NSW Parliament House in September 2022 as Engaging with Ageing: What matters as we grow older – aims to be a useful introduction, for women and men, into what growing older is actually all about in our society, as a time to make the most of in our individual ways and circumstances, while accepting the need for, and providing strategies for, managing the challenges that may occur, up to and including the complexities of the ongoing conditions of living in pandemic times.

I am also a freelance writer whose articles include two that caused a stir in 2022, in the Op-Ed pages of The Sydney Morning Herald. They were, respectively, about accepting my [old] age ("I'm old and happy about it, so don't dare call me young for my age", https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-m-old-and-happy-about-it-so-don-t-dare-call-me-young-for-my-age-20210805-p58g57.html), and about the lack of progress in addressing problematic aspects of cosmetic surgery practice and promotion ("I remember last century’s great reforms for cosmetic surgery [the ones never implemented]", https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-remember-last-century-s-great-reforms-for-cosmetic-surgery-the-ones-never-implemented-20211028-p593wy.html). The article about happy old age turned out to generate fairly widespread interest, as a result of which I was interviewed on a WA ABC radio station, and invited to give the keynote address (in October) at the launch of a Victorian coastal shire’s seniors festival.

I also write (pro bono) about aspects of ageing for a number of online sites for older people (including, at various times, for the EveryAGE Counts Campaign blogsite, the Aged Care Report Card's Hello Care magazine, Older People Speak Out [OPSO]'s Life Times newsletter, and the Australian Pensioners & Superannuants League [Queensland]'s online Comet magazine).

Andreea Kindryd

Andreea Kindred: I'm an octogenarian, great grandmother, Storyteller, Australian TED Finalist and award winning filmmaker.

I worked on the original Star Trek for producer Gene Coon and arrived in Australia via the hippie trail where I've been ever since and where I wrote my book.

I helped Malcolm X push start his car. Martin Luther King told me a joke that made me blush. Bill Russell let me drive his Lamborghini. Boxing champion heavyweight Archie Moore taught me how to throw a punch.

My friend Octavia Butler insisted that I write a book. I finally have, and I want to make sure nobody misses out.

Career, Business & Vocation

It's never too late to change our careers, start a new business or find our heart's calling.

Chiza Westcarr

Chiza Westcarr is a university qualified nutritionist and skin specialist. She is also a Health Coach and Menopause Coach.

Chiza began teaching in 2000, and imparts current, nutrition and skin-relevant information to Medical Practitioners, Nurses and Skin Therapists alike.

Chiza has a real passion for all things skin and nutrition, recognising the real connection between gut health and skin health. She is often invited to write for magazines as well as speak nationally and overseas on various skin health-related topics.

In recent times, Chiza’s focus has turned to clinical consultation with a particular focus on gut health and has a strong belief that the health of the gut should be the starting point to restore health and wellness.

Chiza’s primary role in clinic is to assist in finding the best solutions for patients suffering from a number of growing health-related conditions which include (but are not restricted to) abdominal bloating and discomfort, lethargy, insomnia, skin-related conditions, stress-related disorders, anxiety, and low vitality. Menopausal health is a new area of interest that Chiza has taken on and is extremely passionate about.

By incorporating an inside-out approach, in her work as both a Nutritional Medicine Practitioner and Dermal Clinician, Chiza has been able to successfully help many of her clients improve their skin, gut, mental health and menopause symptoms. Her goal is to help fellow practitioners achieve success also.

Chiza has attained International Diploma qualifications - CIDESCO, ITEC Hons and CIBTAC. She has a Bachelor of Business Studies degree, a Bachelor of Health Science, specialising in Clinical Dermal Therapies, a Masters Degree in Human Nutrition and an Advanced Diploma in Nutritional Medicine. Chiza also has a Health Coaching Diploma from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

Vicki Larson

When she was 19, Vicki Larson somehow convinced her parents that she should spend the summer traveling cross-country with friends to gather stories to write the Great American Novel instead of working and saving money for college. She has yet to write that novel, but is incredibly honored and humbled nonetheless to have had a long, enjoyable career telling other people's stories as a journalist and nonfiction author.

Her book, "Acting Our Age: How Women are Changing the Story of Aging," will be published April 4, 2022 by Rowman & Littlefield.

She's the co-author of "The New I Do: Reshaping Marriage for Skeptics, Realists and Rebels" (Seal Press, 2014), which was featured in a Modern Love essay in The New York Times, and was named a Best Book of 2014 by PopSugar.

In addition to a being an award-winning reporter, columnist and editor at a San Francisco Bay Area newspaper, her writing can be found in The New York Times, The Guardian, Aeon, The Washington Post, Newsweek, AARP's The Ethel, Role Reboot and HuffPost. Her essays have appeared in the anthologies "Nothing But the Truth So Help Me God: 73 Women on Life's Transitions" and "Knowing Pains: Women on Love, Sex and Work in Our 40s," a fundraiser for breast cancer.

A native New Yorker, Vicki is a divorced mom of two wonderful young men who happen to be taller than she is now so she's a lot nicer to them, and dog-mom to a slightly neurotic rescue, Mia.

Tania Dalton

Tania is a 55 year old Health Coach, Personal Trainer and positive ageing advocate.
Passionate about empowering midlife women to thrive without dieting or extremes, Tania works
primarily online helping women create simple and sustainable healthy lifestyles through her
Beautiful Midlife programs.

Tania wants to reinvent the way we age, so that we can look and feel our best in midlife and beyond.

"I joined Silver Sirens in 2021 and have been lucky enough to attend both the 2021 and 2022 events online. Living in Perth makes attending the event in person a hard task, but attending online has all the benefits, without the 4-hour plane ride!

Since becoming a member, I have found the group to be super welcoming and inclusive and the presentations very educational and entertaining. It’s great to know that there are so many like-minded women out there fighting the war against societal invisibility for women over 50."

- 2021 & 2022 Online Attendee

Relationships & Family

It's never too late to find love, have a family, or find your family. Dating is NOT just for kids.

Carolyne Ness

Carolyne was single and desperately wanted to have a child.

She travelled to New Dehli, India alone for IVF treatment using an egg and sperm donor in 2017. The embryo transfer was successful, and she gave birth aged 58 to a healthy son.

Carolyne lives at the Central Coast, NSW with her son Javed age 5, who started school this year.

Marianne Longsworth

When I made the decision all those years ago to fly across the Tasman, it was because of a man... I had pretty much just unpacked my suitcase when I realised I had made a huge mistake but I was too embarrassed to go back and admit my friends had been right all along, so I decided to stay in Sydney.

Luckily for me I did...as it was in Sydney that I would meet my knight in shining armour...albeit not until the age of 54! They say patience is a virtue...but as much as I had always wanted to be married I had never found that special someone...actually neither my husband Peter who turns 60 next month nor I had been married before, so the whole marriage thing was completely new for both of us.

I met Peter through mutual friends almost 20 years ago, and our paths had crossed occasionally during that time, there was definitely an attraction but he was very much a confirmed bachelor with a fear of commitment, so for all intents and purposes not really husband material.... but finally either the stars aligned or the penny must have dropped because he asked the me to marry him on the eve of my 54th birthday and we got our happily ever after.

Simone Turner

Simone was a single mum of identical twin daughters living her life but not until she ‘came out’ in 2017 at age 44, did she really start living her authentic life.

Simone is also a foster carer of 18 years and has fostered 30 babies over that time.

Simone met Louise at the end of 2017 and they got married last year. Simone and Louise now live in the Blue Mountains where they continue to foster babies together.

Trailblazers & Change Makers

It's never too late to impact your community, society, or the world.

Jane Caro

Jane Caro AM is a Walkley Award winning Australian columnist, author, novelist, broadcaster, documentary maker, feminist and social commentator. She spent 35 years as an award winning copywriter and 7 years teaching Advertising Creative in the School of Communication Arts at Western Sydney University. These days she is a full time writer, social commentator, speaker and broadcaster.
She has published thirteen books, including four novels Just a Girl, Just a Queen and Just Flesh & Blood – a trilogy on Elizabeth Tudor, Mother, and a memoir Plain Speaking Jane. She created and edited Unbreakable featuring stories women writers had never told before, which was published just before the Harvey Weinstein revelations. Her latest book Accidental Feminists about the life story of women over 50 was launched in 2019. She is currently working on a novel.

She appears frequently on ABC Radio, The Drum, Sunrise & Weekend Sunrise. She created and presented 5 documentary series for ABC Compass, airing in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. She and Catherine Fox present a popular podcast with Podcast One, Austereo Women With Clout. She writes regular columns in Nine Newspapers and her opinion pieces appear regularly in The Saturday Paper, The Guardian and The Big Smoke.

She is on the boards of Bell Shakespeare and The Public Education Foundation.

Kittu Randhawa

I am the founder and Project Lead of the Indian (Sub-Cont) Crisis & Support Agency (ICSA), the very first NGO for the Indian Subcontinent Community in Australia. I established this NGO in response to a growing demand in services for the CALD (Indian Subcontinent) demographic in Australia due to the many gaps and need for bespoke and tailored support.

I recognised that significant gaps existed in the welfare space to address specific needs of the CALD community were in part based on hypothetical assumptions and research is based on refugee experiences but not other migrant pathways. This at a time when changes in migration patterns means more people on temporary visas over long periods of time and compounding the situation was the rapid influx of people from the Indian Subcontinent (2007-2013).

I am the senior case manager and specialist in CALD Domestic & Family Violence and I am the subject matter expert in complex and culturally driven forms of family violence.

Anne Hodgson

Anne Hodgson had a rewarding career in the Disability sector, working in Senior Management for over 20 years. With tertiary qualifications in Business Management, Training, Aged Care and Disability – embarking on a new career in 2016 was an exciting prospect. Anne and her husband managed an Eco Accommodation and Education Business known as Shepherds Gully. Over 6 years, they welcomed thousands of guests to the mud brick house they built in 1990, people keen to experience and learn about sustainable living and natural building. However, in 2022, as the realization that the climate was in crisis, Anne joined the team at Rising Tide. Finding a niche in the organisation and using skills gained over years in management, Anne is finding fulfillment in her role as a climate justice advocate.

"The 2020 online event was so interactive that the time flew by. I loved the entertainment
between speakers and the videos with past speakers"

- 2020 Online Attendee

2023 ENTERTAINERS

Sheena Miss Demeanour

A shining star of Australian Burlesque, Sydney based burlesque artist and choreographer, Sheena Miss Demeanour puts spice in your life with her wit, charm and tease. Known for her versatility and her various dance backgrounds, Sheena brings to the stage breathtaking burlesque performances.

Donna Ashworth - Poet

Donna Ashworth is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of several poetry books, the latest, available for pre-order now; LIFE, LOSS and LOVE. This exciting new collection aims to provide inspiration and comfort for absolutely every bump in life’s road. From marriage, parenting, self-love, ageing, body image, grief, loss and much more, no stone is left unturned and no trouble unheard within these covers. Donna has almost a million followers across social media, as well as many celebrity readers, and enjoys engaging with them all, reminding each other daily that we are here to thrive!

Malika

Malika is a racial ambiguous woman of a middle something age who loves sparkling. A performer and creator for most of her life, she is a speaker, emcee, musician, funeral celebrant, comic, interviewer, performer, teacher, writer, advisor, advocate, community event organiser, superhero, church founder, game show enthusiast, part time chef and chauffer (aka mum).

2023 Entertainers

TESTIMONIALS

"The most precious part of this conference is that it is intimate and incredibly personal - what a wonderful investment of our time. Thank you to all in this online session and to the SS moderators." - 2022 Online Attendee

"Thanks to everyone involved this has been such a beautiful day and entree to my birthday tomorrow 🙏🥰" - 2022 Online Attendee

"What a wonderful day. So much knowledge and inspiration shared. Such a strong sisterhood. I am grateful for being a part of this and looking forward to next year." - 2022 Online Attendee

"...It's been lovely to be here today with you all. Appreciate your pearls of wisdom, I've learnt a lot. Thank you & look forward to finding my tribe..." - 2022 Online Attendee

"I have gained so much strength, perspective and wisdom..." - 2022 Online Attendee

HOST A WATCH PARTY FOR A CHANCE TO WIN!

Host a watch party for a chance to win $550 worth of prizes

PAST WATCH PARTIES

“I loved that the presenters and speakers acknowledged we people online: I was ‘in the room’ with everyone. It was great that speakers joined the event online, setting the standard for future hybrid events.”

- 2022 Online Attendee

Meet the Founder

MEET THE FOUNDER OF SILVER SIRENS

Faith Agugu

If you want to shift your inner dialogue about ageing, Faith Agugu is the woman to have in your corner. She has always had the instinct that she would get better with age, and she is hoping to inspire other women into the same mindset, hence Silver Sirens.

In 2018 Faith launched the inaugural Silver Sirens event in Sydney. “We had some iconic Australian women who took the stage to speak about this potent and transformational period of our lives. Health, beauty, business, leadership and spirituality were all on the agenda on the day."

As a trained psychotherapist with a Bachelor of Social Science, Faith has helped hundreds of women at her Sydney-based practice, The Healing Process, to experience their ‘third age’ as a renaissance of self and true rebirth.

Faith believes that women often internalise cultural messages that warp our ideas of age into something to ignore or even fear, blinding us to our own accomplishments, sexiness and worth.

Faith’s vision to be of service to a wider audience has garnered an audience that doubles year on year, and national media attention, such as feature articles on Silver Sirens in Mindfood Magazine and The Guardian.

2023 © CynthiaSciberras_SIRENS_2023 (21 of 45)_edited.jpg

2023 CHARITY PARTNER
OLDER WOMEN'S NETWORK NSW (OWN)

The Silver Sirens event is meant to not only inspire, but contribute to tangible positive change in older women’s lives. This year we acknowledge the growing number of women over 50 at risk of homelessness and seek to align with individuals and organisations working to reduce this trend. On the day, we will be raising money for NSW’s Older Women’s Network OWN (OWN), who have addressed and run workshops for older women on low incomes and in public housing since the mid-1980s.

They do superb work, and have been a vital, consistent voice for older women who are tackling issues such as elder abuse, income insecurity and domestic violence.

By attending this event, you will help us reduce the trend of homelessness amongst women over 50!

https://ownnsw.org.au/our-work/homelessness/

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can I buy a ticket on the day?
- Ticket sales will close 1 hour before the event begins.
What does my ticket include?
- 12 speakers, 2 entertainers
- Recording of the event
- Gift Bag: Inside the Silver Sirens Virtual Gift Bag you will enjoy premium beauty and lifestyle products from our 2023 event partners that can be redeemed online
- Online Giveaways: Enjoy online competitions and one online attendee will win the online lucky door prize

FAQs

2023 Sponsors

SILVER SIRENS 2023 SPONSORS

Acknowledgement of Country

At Silver Sirens

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the country throughout Australia

and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

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Redefining Ageing 2023 Online Event

SILVER SIRENS’ 5 YEAR MILESTONE

ABOUT THE EVENT Saturday 16 September 2023

Redefining Ageing 2023 - Never Too Late

​Miraculously, the third phase of life can be a remarkable and liberating opportunity to REINVENT!!!

2022 EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

TICKETS

SILVER SIRENS 2023 TOPICS

MEET OUR SILVER SIRENS 2023 SPEAKERS

2023 ENTERTAINERS

TESTIMONIALS

HOST A WATCH PARTY FOR A CHANCE TO WIN!

PAST WATCH PARTIES

MEET THE FOUNDER OF SILVER SIRENS

2023 CHARITY PARTNER OLDER WOMEN'S NETWORK NSW (OWN)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

SILVER SIRENS 2023 SPONSORS

Redefining Ageing 2023
Online Event

ABOUT THE EVENT
Saturday 16 September 2023

Miraculously, the third phase of life can be a remarkable and liberating opportunity to REINVENT!!!

2023 CHARITY PARTNER
OLDER WOMEN'S NETWORK NSW (OWN)