History of SUN

Plans for establishing a formal network of women at the University of Sydney were developed by the participants of the annual Women in Leadership Program. Developed by the University's Centre for Teaching and Learning in 1995, and now coordinated by the Staff and Student Equal Opportunity Unit, the Women in Leadership Program is designed to both develop participants' leadership skills for application in their present positions and to provide advice and encouragement to those participants seeking to move into more senior positions. The Program was made possible initially by two grants from the Commonwealth Staff Development Fund (CSDF).

The Program's participants resolved to use the remaining CSDF funds to establish a formal network, since they agreed that it would benefit women on campus by providing a forum for discussion of leadership and career development issues, and the opportunity for forging mentoring relationships. It was also agreed that the University itself would benefit from such a network as a source of input from University women into policy development.

While the University of Sydney’s Women in Leadership Program catered initially to academic women at the level of Senior Lecturer and above, in 1997 the Program was made available to academic women at levels A to C and general staff women at levels 6 to 9. It was agreed that the new network should also be open to all University women.