Whether it’s working to decriminalise abortion, fighting for workers rights or working as a volunteer on NFP boards, Claire Pullen doesn’t sit still for long. She is this week’s Changemaker. 

Claire Pullen is relatively new to her current role of executive director of the Australian Writers’ Guild, having spent her career in the union movement and membership-based not for profits. She’s also held a number of voluntary board roles for womens’ organisation, as well as a disabled peoples’ organisation (DPO) as well. 

Pullen did an arts degree and achieved her masters in labour law then worked as a union organiser, industrial officer, campaign and communications director and a women’s officer. 

When asked about her career trajectory, Pullen replies, “I’m not sure I have a career trajectory; I’m not working to a plan. I take jobs where the work interests me and I think I can do the most good, and it’s been a good tactic so far.”

How did you get into the job you’re in now?

A dear friend who’s also an NFP leader was approached about the role and sent the recruiter to me as she thought I’d be a good match. After a few rounds of interviews, I was appointed in October 2021. 

What does a typical day look like for you?

No such thing! Like most of my staff, I work a hybrid office/remote pattern. This usually means two days a week in the office minimum, but it really depends what’s on as to which days and when. This week, I was in Aotearoa to meet with the NZ Writers’ Guild. Next week I’m in Melbourne for meetings, then Canberra more towards the end of the year. I’ve had meetings with Northern Territorians on the NSW Central Coast and done interviews from the airport security line. One constant is my dog! He joins our office dog pack of three when he comes to work with me or intrudes on Zooms if I’m working remotely. He’s a giant so just walking past sees him in frame for most video calls. He usually stops for a chat. 

What are some of the challenges working in NFPs generally?

From my perspective, almost all of us struggle with increases to NFP regulation and the posture the last government took to charities in general, particularly whose work requires us to engage politically. As an organisation that sits between industrial relations and arts, it has been a really difficult time given the former government’s hostility to both workers and the arts. We now have to work to recover from a decade of active neglect, funding cuts, and how government appointments played out in our sector. We do this while dealing with a radically changed landscape, with the entry of the big streaming multi-nationals. 

More generally, finding the balance between offering values-based work to staff while behaving consistently with those values in terms of fairness, equity, and a supportive workplace is something I talk about a lot with my peers. Too many NFP workplaces expect champagne work on a beer budget “because of the cause” and staff pick up on that hypocrisy. If you’re working to make the world a better place, you can start with treating your own people well. 

 What is your proudest achievement?

This is a hard one! A number of the things I’ve achieved to help individuals I can’t speak about, as they go direct to settlements for injured or unfairly treated workers. Outside of that, it’s either leading the successful 2019 community campaign to decriminalise abortion in NSW, or that I created the list of occupational cancers for firefighters now sitting in compensation legislation in every state and territory in Australia as well as federally.

What do you think are some of the challenges being faced by the sector going forward?

I would like to see us get better, and smarter, at politics. Some organisations are doing great work engaging with the new government and racking up wins, but the spread of those deep engagement skills is patchy. Most of the time successful work in this space is unseen and based on ongoing relationships, not a well-researched submission or a photo with a backbencher, and if we don’t grapple with this we won’t be able to make an impact.

More broadly, we have to get better at living our values. No First Nations justice project should be led by non-Indigenous Australians. Our DPOs have to be led by people with disability, or they lose the right to be called our DPOs. If you are working for the advancement of women but your leadership is only white women over 60, you aren’t representing women. Our spaces and leadership need to be intersectional in a real way. It’s no coincidence that those organisations achieving the most live these values. 

What do you do when you’re not at work?

I’m lucky enough to live on Darkinjung land near glorious beaches, so I’m often to be found with my rescue dog at the beaches and parks nearby. My maternal grandmother taught me to crochet 20 years ago, so when I get a chance I crochet, especially on planes and trains. I am an avid consumer of content- TV, film, podcasts- but that counts as work for me these days. 

What do you want to achieve by the time you retire? 

I sometimes wonder if anyone my age is going to get to retire. Without some serious repairs to our social safety net it is not going to be an option open to everyone. The dignified retirement in modest comfort that was meant to be delivered by superannuation and a robust welfare state is no longer a reality for many- though all of these things are policy choices, and can be reversed.

I hope to be of service, to achieve things that make other people’s lives better in material ways. I didn’t set out to change archaic laws in NSW or reform workers’ compensation for occupational cancer, but that’s what I did. I’m confident more opportunities like that will arise.