Nina Stevens

There has been much discussion recently about the ‘motherhood penalty’, a term used to describe the specific disadvantages that mothers encounter in the workplace. These challenges can encompass pay issues, perceived incompetence, damage to career progression, and problems on return to work. In a study published last year by campaign group Pregnant then Screwed, 52% of the mothers surveyed reported that they had experienced workplace discrimination.

Diverse beginnings My route to law hasn’t been particularly direct. From a philosophy undergraduate degree, working in a search and rescue and emergency response NGO in Greece, setting up my own community interest company, and a brief stint working in investigations, it hasn’t always been clear to me that law was where I would end up. It is Russell-Cooke’s breadth of expertise, without compromising its depth that showed me there was place in law where I could express my diversity of interests.

A world-first trial has just started in Sydney as researchers test a new way to try to manage Type 2 diabetes. The disease affects 1.8 million people in Australia with more than 100-thousand developing the condition in the past year alone. Researchers are honing in on the lining of a specific section of the small intestine - the duodenum - which helps regulate blood sugar levels. The procedure involves inserting a catheter through the mouth into the small intestine.