Burnout: How do we address failures around the burden of care in contemporary Australia?

Drinks with Leah Ruppanner, PhD

Hosted by Dr Marianne Broadbent

Burnout and caregiving burdens are at crisis levels for many families.

Professor Leah Ruppanner aims to re-frame the conversation from individual failure to structural failure after talking with hundreds of women about their workloads. Based on her most recent research publication, “Drained” (2026), Leah will consider the policy implications for government, as well as proposing some high-impact strategies to reduce wasteful "shoulds", in order to reclaim energy for what matters most.

Leah Ruppanner, PhD is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Melbourne, and one of the founding directors of The Future of Work Lab and host of the Miss Perceived podcast. Her first book, “Motherlands: How States Push Mothers out of Employment” (2020) examined childcare and gender policies and their relationship to mothers' employment in the United States. Her new book, Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More (Allen and Unwin, 2026) examines how women’s unpaid work – the time they spend in housework, childcare and the mental load – impacts their ability to engage in employment, sleep and overall well-being. As the Founder of Lighten Lab, Leah's goal is to help women gain control over their time – to create more meaning, love, abundance and joy in our lives.

We are thrilled to hear from Leah as she shares the reason why caregivers run on empty and ways to reclaim the energy to live, work, and lead with purpose.