Every year, on March 8th, International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world to remember the movement for women’s right, as well as the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

As a proud employer, educator and carer of women in the Australian workplace, Home Instead rejoices in the commemoration of International Women’s Day.

Currently employing over 2,000 people in local communities across Australia, we work with a wide range of diverse, committed and hard-working females. In fact, 87% of Home Instead franchise owners and CAREGivers are women and 66% of our clientele.

Not only do women want to start their own business and gain financial independence, but they also want to work in a company that encompasses meaningful values where they can make a difference and engage with their local community. These are just some of the many reasons why Home Instead has attracted so many dedicated women.

“Passion and commitment are the key ingredients to success as we provide the training, business system and ongoing support,” says Sarah Warner, Co-Founder of Home Instead Australia. “Our franchise business model has 14 years of experience, developed from our work here in Australia. We are always growing with the knowledge and ideas we obtain from our international network of partners. I think women particularly enjoy and benefit from the engagement and assistance they receive when commencing their franchisee journey from our national team, but also their fellow franchise owners. We then see these women providing support and mentoring new owners who follow them.”

Home Instead Australia’s success can be attributed to a combination of passion, hard work and personal experience for caring for loved ones. From a young age, Sarah was keen to have a fulfilling career. She established her own consultancy in the aged care sector after working with start-up companies and SMEs to develop software solutions for the health sector. One of the projects Sarah worked on involved working for the Federal Government to review technology applications specifically used in the residential aged care sector. From there she worked on projects for both residential and home care markets.

At the time, Sarah and her husband Martin heard about Home Instead and started their due diligence. They were also supporting Martin’s father at the time, who had lung cancer. With good assistance from his GPs and a nursing service, they were able to keep him at home until he passed away. Shortly after, Sarah’s mother-in-law who has a disability, moved in with them. Sarah and Martin extended their house to build her a purpose-built granny flat, enabling her to be independent even when she started using a wheelchair. Now she is 87 years old and can manage mostly on her own, with help from Sarah and Martin and Home Instead CAREGivers.

Both of Sarah’s grandmothers had dementia and her maternal grandmother lived at her family home for the last 10 years of her life. It is through their family’s circumstances that they realised there was a real need to assist families to support their ageing loved ones. Sarah’s life experiences to date have contributed significantly to her ability to engage with and provide assistance to seniors so they can retain their independence and continue to live meaningful lives.

“International Women’s Day is important as it reflects on what women have achieved in different industries and how far we have progressed in so many different aspects of life. I was privileged enough to benefit from a good education and have been provided with many amazing opportunities to develop as a person. However, this day is also a time to reflect that there are many women who do not experience the same level of freedom, support or education opportunities. Sadly we still live in a world where women are discriminated against because of their sex, race or religion. This has been one of the factors motivating my work at Home Instead. We want to continue reducing isolation and loneliness amongst elderly women in the community,” says Sarah.