Best known as a journalist and a fighter for women's rights, Shirley Stott Despoja began her career in journalism in Sydney and Canberra, her first work being with a church newspaper, The Anglican, in Sydney. In 1960 she joined the staff of The Advertiser. At that time she was the only woman in general reporting; all the rest were in the Women's Department where they covered "women's issues" of cooking, fashion and family. She attributed her acceptance as a general reporter alongside the men to the fact that she had grown up with older brothers and "knew the bahaviours required to be an honorary mate" (Paper presented at State Convention of the National Union of Women Students, University of Adelaide, 1990)
Shirley was The Advertiser's first arts editor and was literary editor for two long periods. She has been a dance critic for nearly forty years. However, she regards her most important writing as the articles she wrote about violence against women, and child sex abuse, in years when the prevalence of these abuses was largely still denied. She was The Advertiser's first female leader writer and is best known for a weekly column "Saturday Serve" which was uncompromisingly feminist and political, although it sometimes seemed to be about gardens and cats. She fought and won two long cases against abuse in the workplace.
Shirley Stott Despoja writes for The Adelaide Review and reads and paints for recreation. She is an activist for the hearing impaired. She has a daughter, Natasha, and a son, Luke.
