Cirrus@Austlit

'Whack! Ash Barty was four years old when she hit a powerful shot at the head of her tennis coach. He said she wasn’t old enough to play but he saw how determined she was.

'Since then, she’s whacked millions of tennis balls and travelled away from home for months at a time to practice and play. Until, finally, she became the number one female tennis player in the whole world.'  (Production summary)

'When a woman has a baby, sometimes things can go wrong. When you are in a poor country, those things often don't get fixed.

'Dr Catherine Hamlin saw these women needed help and decided to do something about it. She devoted her life to working in the poorest villages in Ethiopia saving thousands of women's lives. She did it all with kindness and determination.' (Production summary)

'You know those girls who are great at sport? That was Nova.

'She practised hockey endlessly in her backyard until one day she became the first Indigenous woman to win an Olympic gold medal but she wasn't finished.

'She went on to win a gold medal in sprinting and then took her courage and energy into politics, becoming Australia's first Indigenous woman to be elected to Federal Parliament.' (Production summary) 

'Dorothea loved to write. So much, that she would write stories and poems in her own secret code.

'She had a passion for the beauty of the Australian landscape, and her poetry was so good that people all over the world read it. Dorothea wrote one of Australia's most famous poems — My Country.' (Production summary)

'Have you ever stood on a 10m diving board and peered down? It's a long way.

'Rhiannan Iffland, world champion cliff diver, leaps off at least double that! That's taller than a telephone pole and as big as a Brachiosaurus. But it's not easy. She had to conquer her fears to become the best.' (Production summary)

'Asthma stopped Adelaide Miethke from playing outside with other kids.

'She felt alone and trapped. So when she grew up and became a teacher, she had an idea. Adelaide realised that outback kids were isolated just like she was.

'She invented the School of the Air to teach kids from the bush using a two-way radio! Then she fought boldly for female teachers to get the same pay as male teachers.' (Production summary)