What Menopause Support Actually Looks Like in Schools with Mary Coustas | Season 4: Episode 14

Women make up 72% of Australia’s school workforce, and every one of them will experience perimenopause and menopause. Many navigate these changes during their peak leadership years, often carrying symptoms that look identical to burnout. In a sector where one in two educators already reports feeling burnt out, and fewer than half feel encouraged to talk about their health at work, this isn’t just a health conversation. It’s a psychosocial safety issue.

If you are a male or a younger educator tempted to skip this conversation, don’t walk away just yet. You cannot design psychologically safe, sustainable schools without understanding what is happening for nearly three-quarters of your colleagues. When experienced educators exit the profession early or step back into part-time roles because of unaddressed symptoms, our entire system absorbs the shock.

To open Term 4 and mark Menopause Awareness Month, I am joined by Mary Coustas. You might know her best as Effie, one of the most loved characters in Australian comedy, but Mary is also an acclaimed author, truth-teller and passionate advocate. 

After a decade-long journey to motherhood, Mary became a late-in-life mum, and then menopause arrived. In her words, it didn’t just hit her; it king hit her. She wrote MaryPause to make sense of the experience, and then co-founded UnPause, an online telehealth platform connecting women across Australia with menopause-literate practitioners.

This is a funny, honest and practical conversation about the three ‘pauses’, the many symptoms most of us have never heard of, why women hide what’s happening rather than ask for support, and what schools can actually do about it.

In this episode: 

• Mary’s personal story with IVF that masked perimenopause, and the menopause that arrived straight after starting motherhood
• How the three biological phases of pre-perimenopause, perimenopause, and menopause progress across different ages
• Why over 32 common symptoms and 100 less common ones extend far beyond hot flushes to include anxiety, rage, brain fog, and imposter syndrome
• The real reason so many women are misdiagnosed with depression when they are actually hormonally depleted
• How burnout and perimenopause work in cahoots, and why leaders must rule out the hormonal piece first
• What genuine organisational support looks like when schools move beyond superficial morning teas to tackle access, literacy, and trust
• How the UnPause platform, daily symptom-tracking app, and Teachers Health partnership deliver streamlined clinical care for busy educators

About Mary

Mary Coustas is an iconic Australian actor, writer, and comedian, celebrated for her Logie Award-winning character Effie, who debuted in Wogs Out of Work before headlining the television sitcom Acropolis Now. Alongside her extensive stage and screen career, Mary is an accomplished author. Her memoir, All I Know, documented her decade-long journey through 23 rounds of IVF, the loss of her daughter Stevie, and her path to motherhood.

In 2025, Mary published MaryPause, transforming her experience into an honest, public resource. That same year, she co-founded UnPause, a digital health platform that gives women direct access to specialised clinical care, symptom tracking, and ongoing midlife support. Mary continues to tour nationally, currently performing in her stage show Frigid to Feral, using comedy, candour, and lived experience to dismantle systemic stigmas.

If anything in this episode raises something for you, support is available. Lifeline 13 11 14.

LINKS AND RESOURCES

• UnPause: Telehealth Menopause Care, Australia-wide 
• Menopause support with UnPause | Teachers Health
• Free download: The UnPause Straight Talking Guide To Menopause: An informative guide to help educate women and men about this inevitable physiological transition
• Book: MaryPause by Mary Coustas
• Teachers Health Group launches Australian-first menopause support partnership as demand for women’s health solutions grows | Media Releases | Teachers Health
• Menopause support benefit | Teachers Health
• Book: All I Know by Mary Coustas (Allen & Unwin)
• Menopause Friendly Australia (Grace Molloy)

Connect with Mary

Websites: 

• www.maryandeffie.com
• unpause.com.au 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-coustas-43347938b/?isSelfProfile=false

Instagram: 

• @mary_coustas 
• @unpauseposse 
• @effiegoodthanks 
• @unleashed.show

Connect with Adrienne:

• Website: adriennehornby.com.au
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205
• Email: hello@adriennehornby.com.au 
• Staff Wellbeing Survey: adriennehornby.com.au/staff-survey
• Well-Led Schools Partnership Program: adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships