Stephanie Trethewey
Stephanie Trethewey
Founder & CEO – Motherland, 2024 Australian of the Year for Tasmania, 2022 Rural Woman of the Year
Stephanie Trethewey is the 2024 Australian of the Year for Tasmania. She’s a visionary leader who has transformed personal challenges into a nationwide movement to support rural mothers across Australia. Stephanie’s transition from life in the city and a successful career in television journalism, to embracing farm life and rural motherhood in Tasmania, has been both a brutal and beautiful journey. Her struggles with postnatal depression and isolation inspired the creation of Motherland, a national charity that fervently advocates for the mental health and well-being of rural mothers, and celebrates and connects them through platforms like the Motherland podcast and Motherland Village program.
The Motherland podcast has been downloaded nearly one million times, and Motherland Village, Australia’s first online rural mother’s group program, connects rural women to their own personalised support group via a personalised six-week program.
In early March 2024, Motherland held their inaugural Motherland Conference which welcomed more than 250 rural women from around the country to Launceston. Designed by rural mums, for rural mums the event celebrated the incredible role rural mothers play in the community and continued to contribute to Stephanie’s mission of reducing isolation and enabling meaningful connections.
In 2022, Stephanie was named the national winner of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award, and in 2023 she celebrated the release of her debut book, Motherland. Stephanie is also the co-founder of the Tasmanian Agricultural Company (Tas Ag Co) and sits on the Australian Advisory Council of Thankful4Farmers.