Ita Buttrose

Ita Buttrose
Born	Ita Clare Buttrose (1942-01-17) January 17, 1942 Potts Point, Sydney, Australia
Occupation(s)	Media leader, writer, magazine editor, journalist, television personality
Years active	1959–present
Known for	Founding editor of Cleo; youngest editor of The Australian Women's Weekly; Chair of ABC (2019–2024)
Notable work	Autobiography: A Passionate Life; Guide to Australian Etiquette

Ita Clare Buttrose (born 17 January 1942) is a prominent Australian media leader, writer, former magazine editor, journalist, and television figure.

She was the inaugural editor of Cleo, a widely circulated women's publication recognized for its forthright coverage of sexuality, including pioneering nude male centrefolds. Subsequently, she became the youngest individual to helm The Australian Women's Weekly, which at the time was the highest-selling magazine per capita worldwide.

Between 2013 and 2018, Buttrose served as a panel member on Network Ten’s morning show Studio 10.

In 2019, she was appointed chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. She maintained this position until March 2024, when Kim Williams succeeded her. Her leadership period was marked by controversy, notably surrounding the 2023 termination of ABC Radio Sydney presenter Antoinette Lattouf due to her views on genocide (refer to Controversies).

Early life and education

Born in Potts Point, Sydney on 17 January 1942, Buttrose was named after her maternal grandmother, Ita Clare Rodgers. She has Jewish roots through her mother but was raised in the Catholic faith. Her father, Charles Oswald Buttrose, was a journalist and former editor of The Daily Mirror. By age 11, she had already resolved to pursue a career in journalism.

Her early childhood included five years in New York City while her father worked as a correspondent. The family returned to Australia in 1949 and settled in Vaucluse. After her parents divorced during her adolescence, she attended both private and public schools before completing secondary education at Dover Heights Home Science High School. She left school at 15 to begin working.

Buttrose started her career at Australian Consolidated Press as a copy girl for The Australian Women's Weekly, later becoming a cadet journalist with The Daily Telegraph and its Sunday edition. Her first published byline appeared in 1959 when she covered Princess Alexandra's visit to Australia at age 17.

Career

At 23, Buttrose was appointed women's editor of the Telegraph. In 1966, she won a racetrack fashion competition that awarded an overseas trip, which included attending Expo 67 in Montreal. The following year, she briefly worked for the British publication Woman's Own before returning to Australia after receiving a telegram from Sir Frank Packer, who offered her previous position back.

In 1971, she was chosen as the founding editor for a new Australian women's magazine. Initially intended as an Australian version of Cosmopolitan, that plan collapsed when Hearst sold rights to rival publisher Fairfax. Consequently, Packer and Buttrose launched Cleo in 1972 ahead of its competitor. The magazine quickly sold out its first print run and broke new ground by featuring Australia's first nude male centrefold (actor Jack Thompson) alongside frank articles about female sexuality, including the country's first sealed magazine section. Despite being pregnant during this time, Buttrose continued working, challenging workplace norms for women.

She led Cleo as editor until 1975 before taking over as editor of The Australian Women's Weekly from 1975 to 1976. Later, she served as editor-in-chief for both magazines between 1976 and 1978 and then became publisher of Australian Consolidated Press’s Women’s Division from 1978 to 1981. In 1981, she transitioned to Rupert Murdoch's News Limited as editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, becoming Australia's first female editor of a major metropolitan newspaper and joining News Limited’s board. Between 1982 and 1983, she hosted a weekend radio talkback program titled Ita on station 2UE and frequently appeared across media platforms. Her public profile inspired the rock band Cold Chisel to compose the song "Ita", featured on their acclaimed album East.

From 1984 until 1988, Buttrose chaired the National Advisory Committee on AIDS (NACAIDS), personally participating in national campaigns aimed at alleviating public concerns about blood donation safety. During the mid-to-late 1980s, she also contributed a weekly advice column called "Ask Ita" for Woman's Day.

Following her tenure at News Limited, she established Capricorn Publishing and launched her own magazine titled Ita in 1989. However, due to economic downturns and falling sales figures, the publication ceased operations. Subsequently, she founded Good Life Publishing Company which issued bark!, a lifestyle magazine catering to dog owners starting in 2005.

For promotional activities and publicity management, Buttrose enlisted celebrity agent Max Markson.

Television

During the 1990s and early 2000s, Buttrose was a frequent contributor to Beauty and the Beast. She also regularly provided commentary on the Nine Network's Today show and was once considered a potential replacement for Kerri-Anne Kennerley in the network's morning lineup.

In June 2013, Buttrose joined Network Ten as a co-host of the morning show Studio 10, appearing twice weekly alongside Joe Hildebrand, Sarah Harris, Denise Drysdale, and Jessica Rowe. By 2016, she scaled back her appearances to twice per week to dedicate more time to her grandchildren.

She appeared briefly as a news reporter in episode 7547 of The Bold and the Beautiful in March 2017.

Buttrose left Studio 10 in April 2018 to concentrate on family commitments and her writing career.

Following her departure from Network Ten, she has made guest appearances on Seven Network's The Morning Show and served as a fill-in host for Sonia Kruger on Nine Network's Today Extra.

In a move that sparked debate in 2019, Prime Minister Scott Morrison appointed Buttrose as chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for a five-year term, bypassing the usual independent selection process to ensure female leadership. She opted not to pursue a second term, with Kim Williams succeeding her in March 2024.

Other roles and activities

Buttrose has written ten books, including her autobiography, A Passionate Life. In 2011, Penguin released her Guide to Australian Etiquette.

Between 1993 and 1994, she held the position of president at Chief Executive Women. She has acted as patron for numerous organizations such as Women of Vision, World Vision Australia, the Macular Disease Foundation of Australia, the University of the Third Age, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Australia, Amarant, the National Menopause Foundation, the Sydney Women's Festival, Safety House, and the National Institute of Secretaries and Administrators.

As of August 2023, Buttrose serves as an ambassador and advisory board member for the Australian Women Chamber of Commerce (AWCCI) and remains active within the professional speaking community.

Recognition and honours

In 1979, Buttrose was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), followed by an appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1988. She received the Centenary Medal in 2003 and was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001. In 2019, she was elevated to Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).

Her accolades include receiving Outstanding Lifetime Achievement at the Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism in August 2017. Earlier recognitions comprise Variety Club's 'Personality of the Year' (1984), Australasian Academy of Broadcast Arts and Sciences' 'Most Promising Newcomer to Radio' (1984), and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's 'Australian of the Year' award (1993).

In April 2011, Buttrose and Cleo magazine were portrayed in the ABC-TV two-part telemovie Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, with Asher Keddie playing Buttrose.

She was honored as the 2013 Australian of the Year and has been conferred multiple honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from Macquarie University (2014), University of Wollongong (2015), and an honorary doctorate from the University of New South Wales (2018), recognizing her impact on health advocacy, business leadership, and community service.

Personal life

At the age of 21, Buttrose wed architect Alasdair "Mac" Macdonald, with whom she had two children. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1976 following its dissolution during her tenure as editor of The Australian Women's Weekly in 1975. Subsequently, she married Peter Sawyer in 1979, but this union concluded the following year.

Buttrose took on the responsibility of caring for her father after he was diagnosed with vascular dementia; he passed away in 1999.

In his 2007 publication Who Killed Channel Nine?, former Nine Network producer Gerald Stone claimed there was a private relationship between Buttrose and Kerry Packer during her period at Cleo. According to Stone, Packer proposed marriage, an offer that Buttrose reportedly declined. She has consistently refrained from commenting on these allegations.

Controversies

In 2023, Buttrose became embroiled in a dispute concerning the termination of ABC Radio Sydney presenter Antoinette Lattouf. Federal Court Justice Darryl Rangiah mandated that the ABC compensate Lattouf $70,000 after determining that the ABC, Buttrose, and others had acted unlawfully. Leaked WhatsApp communications exposed a coordinated effort by the 'Lawyers for Israel' group, with Buttrose exerting pressure on Lattouf's manager to facilitate her dismissal. Justice Rangiah criticized the ABC’s response as yielding to “pro-Israel lobbyists” who leveraged Buttrose to “cancel” Lattouf.

Court filings and an affidavit from ABC Managing Director David Anderson revealed that Buttrose, having recently completed her five-year term as ABC chair, intervened in Lattouf’s firing by pressuring senior management and circumventing established disciplinary protocols. Critics contended this compromised internal governance and editorial independence. Initially, the ABC supported the actions taken by Buttrose, Taylor, and Anderson but later withdrew this endorsement, acknowledging considerable unwarranted expenditures and mismanagement inconsistent with the organization’s principles.

These incidents have intensified discussions regarding the influence of senior leadership and Board members over editorial choices at the ABC.

Selected works

Buttrose has written or co-written numerous publications, including:

• A Guide to Australian Etiquette (2011)
• Eating for Eye Health: the Macular Degeneration Cookbook, co-written with chef Vanessa Jones (2009)
• Get in Shape: A complete workout for strength, health & vitality, co-authored with Lee Campbell (2007)
• Motherguilt: Australian women reveal their true feelings about Motherhood, co-authored with Dr Penny Adams (2005; reissued 2006)
• How Much Is Enough? Your Financial Roadmap to a Happy Retirement, co-authored with Will Buttrose and Mike Galgut (2003)
• What is Love? (2000)
• A Word to the Wise (1999)
• A Passionate Life (1998; paperback update 2001)
• Every Occasion: The Guide to Modern Etiquette (1985)
• Early Edition: My First Forty Years (1985)

Introductions

• Foreword: Martins, Ralph and Ragg, Mark. Understanding Alzheimer's: the complete Australian guide to the management and prevention of Alzheimer's (2013).

External links

Year	Title	Role	Type
1974	No Man's Land	Herself	TV series, single episode
1975	This Day Tonight	Herself	TV series, single episode
1977	Maggi Eckhardt Show	Guest	TV series, single episode
1978; 1981	The Don Lane Show	Guest	TV series, two episodes
1979	This Is Your Life: Ita Buttrose	Special guest	TV series, single episode
1979	This Fabulous Century	Herself	TV series, single episode
1979; 1981	Parkinson in Australia	Guest	TV series, two episodes
1980–1984	Various programs including Celebrity Tattletales, The Mike Walsh Show, and presenter duties on Our World with Ita Buttrose	Guest / Presenter	TV series / specials
1981–1985	Hosted Queensland Fashion Logie Awards; appeared as panelist on Beauty and the Beast; hosted ABC's Prince Philip Award For Australian Design (1982)	Host / Panelist / Guest	TV specials / series
1986–1992	Presenter on Wednesday Woman; guest appearances on shows such as Late Night with Jono and Dano, The Bert Newton Show, and multiple episodes of Midday	Presenter / Guest	TV series, multiple episodes
1992–2003	Regular guest on programs like Good Morning Australia (26 episodes); appearances on Real Life, Midday with Derryn Hinch, among others	Guest / Host	TV series, multiple episodes
2004–2010	Guest roles on shows including Rove Live, specials like 20 to One, and news broadcasts such as Ten News, Nine News, Seven News, and ABC News	Guest / Herself	TV series / specials
2011–2024	Frequent host on Studio 10 (2013–2018); guest spots on programs including Today, Sunrise, The Morning Show, and events such as the Australian of the Year Awards; recent news appearances on 9 News and 7 News Spotlight	Host / Guest	TV series / specials