Jane Caro

Catherine Jane Caro (born 24 June 1957) is a feminist social commentator, writer and lecturer based in Australia.

Early life and education

Caro was born in London in 1957 and emigrated to Australia with her parents as a five-year-old in 1963. She attended Macquarie University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English literature in 1977.

Working life

Caro started her career in marketing, however soon moved into advertising.

Caro has appeared on Channel Seven's Sunrise, ABC television's Q&A and as a regular panellist on The Gruen Transfer. Caro has worked in the advertising industry and lectures in advertising at the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at University of Western Sydney. Caro was a speaker at the 2014 Festival of Dangerous Ideas.

She is on the boards of the NSW Public Education Foundation and Bell Shakespeare, and is an ambassador for the National Secular Lobby.

In Australia, Caro is represented by Wall Media management.

A proponent of public education, Caro is also a feminist and atheist. Caro had been tipped to run against Tony Abbott in the 2019 Australian federal election, for his long-held Sydney seat in the Australian House of Representatives, the Division of Warringah, but instead publicly advocated voting for the Australian Greens, Sarah Hanson-Young specifically.

Caro stood as a Reason Party candidate for a New South Wales Australian Senate seat in the 2022 Australian federal election.

Awards and recognition

In 2018, Caro won the Women in Leadership Award in the 2018 Walkley Awards. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her "significant service to the broadcast media as a journalist, social commentator and author". In 2023 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the B & T Women in Media Awards.

Publications

——; Bonnor, Chris (2007). The Stupid Country: How Australia Is Dismantling Public Education. ISBN 9781742246246.
——; Fox, Catherine (2008). The F Word: How We Learned to Swear by Feminism. UNSW Press. ISBN 9780868408231.
—— (2011). Just a Girl. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702238802.
——; Bonner, Chris (2012). What Makes a Good School?. New South Books. ISBN 9781742241418.
—— (2015). Just a Queen. Univ. of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702253621.
—— (2015). Plain-Speaking Jane. Pan Macmillan Australia Pty, Limited. ISBN 9781743534847.
—— (2017). "Unbreakable": Women Share Stories of Resilience and Hope. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702259678.
—— (2018). Just Flesh and Blood. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702260018.
—— (2019). Accidental Feminists. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 9780522872835.
—— (2022). The Mother. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760879662.
—— (2025). Lyrebird. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781761471537.