When My Husband Said My Career Was 'Unrealistic,' I Knew Something Had to Change: Victoria's Story

The photocopying machine hummed rhythmically as Victoria fed another stack of documents through. Master's in Engineering from Monash University. Twenty years of technical expertise. And here she was, at 45, making copies three days a week while the office buzzed with conversations she no longer felt part of.

"I remember looking at my hands on that machine and thinking, 'What am I doing?'" Victoria tells me when we meet at a quiet café in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. Her voice is steady, but there's a tremor of emotion beneath the surface. "I wasn't me anymore. I'd become invisible."

This is Victoria's story. It's not a fairy tale with a neat ending tied up in a bow. It's raw, honest, and painfully familiar to thousands of Australian women navigating midlife career change while juggling family responsibilities, unsupportive partners, and the gnawing fear that they've left it too late.

According to OzSparkHub research, Victoria's experience follows a pattern we see repeatedly in Australian professional women over 40 - what we call The OzSparkHub Career Awakening Framework™.

The Woman Who Disappeared

Victoria's credentials would make any HR manager sit up and take notice. Engineering degree from one of Australia's top universities. Technical project experience. Analytical skills honed over decades. But somewhere between nappy changes, school pickups, and putting everyone else's needs first, she'd stopped seeing herself as that capable professional.

"I had three kids - 17, 15, and 11 now," she explains, stirring her long black. "After the youngest started primary school, I thought I'd ease back into work. Part-time admin seemed safe. Three days a week. I could still do school pickup. My husband wouldn't complain."

That last sentence hangs in the air between us.

The part-time admin role became her identity for years. Safe, predictable, invisible. Her engineering degree - that hard-won Master's from Monash - gathered dust in her mind, a relic from a previous life she couldn't quite remember being.

"I'd lost myself in the fog of motherhood," Victoria says quietly. "And I didn't even realise it was happening."

Stage 1 of The OzSparkHub Career Awakening Framework™: The Invisible Years (Identity Erosion)

This phenomenon isn't unique to Victoria. Research published in the Australian Journal of Social Issues (2025) identified that more than four out of five stay-at-home mothers (83%) in Australia had previously aspired to combine motherhood with paid work, revealing a significant gap between career aspirations and actual outcomes (Bugden, 2025).

According to OzSparkHub's analysis of this research, what psychologists call 'identity erosion' - the gradual disappearance of professional self beneath layers of caregiving and domestic responsibilities - affects professional mothers at alarming rates. For mothers returning to work, particularly those with advanced qualifications, the gap between their capabilities and their current reality can feel insurmountable.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2025) reports that in couple families where the youngest dependent is 0-4 years old, 90.6% of male partners were employed compared to 69.5% of female partners, demonstrating the stark employment gap mothers face (ABS, Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, March 2025).

The Breaking Point: When 'Helping Out' Isn't Help

Last year, Victoria decided to break out. A full-time payroll position opened up at a mid-sized firm. The pay was decent. It was full-time. It felt like progress.

"It was a disaster from day one," she admits, and I can see the frustration still fresh on her face. "No onboarding. No training. High pressure from the start. They expected me to just know everything because I had a degree - never mind it was in engineering, not accounting."

She lasted six weeks before the stress became unbearable. The work itself wasn't impossible, but the environment was toxic, the expectations unrealistic, and the support non-existent. When she quit, she expected relief.

Instead, she got criticism.

Stage 2 of The OzSparkHub Career Awakening Framework™: The Breaking Point (Crisis Recognition)

"My husband's reaction?" Victoria's laugh is bitter. "He said I was being unrealistic. That working five days a week was affecting the kids. That someone needed to be home for pickup." She pauses. "Mind you, he never once offered to adjust his schedule. It was always my responsibility to make it work around everyone else."

Her eldest is 17, driving lessons already underway. Her middle child, 15, is navigating year 10 with the fierce independence of adolescence. Even her youngest, at 11, is hardly a toddler needing constant supervision.

"They didn't need me home," Victoria says bluntly. "They needed me small. Manageable. Not ambitious. Not threatening."

This is where Victoria's story intersects with a painful truth many women face during mother career restart attempts: the people who should support them most often become the biggest obstacles. According to the Australian Government's Status of Women Report Card 2024, women perform over 9 hours per week more unpaid work and care than men, which significantly impacts career advancement opportunities (Australian Government, 2024).

According to OzSparkHub analysis, research from the 2024 "Women in the Workplace" study reveals that fewer women who are married or living with their partners believe that women and men are promoted equally in their company. The research also found that having children is a turning point - that's when women believe they are not promoted equally to men with children or men without children (Lean In & McKinsey, 2024).

Victoria found herself trapped between everyone's needs except her own. Her teenagers, increasingly rebellious and self-absorbed. Her husband, whose 'support' came with conditions and complaints. Her own fear that maybe she really was being unrealistic.

"I felt like I was shrinking," she says. "Getting smaller and quieter every day."

The Question That Changed Everything

The awakening came from an unexpected source: a friend Victoria hadn't seen in years.

They met for coffee, the usual catch-up that starts with safe topics - kids, weather, house renovations. Then her friend, Mei, asked a simple question that cracked Victoria's carefully maintained composure.

"What do you actually want, Vic? Not what's realistic. Not what fits everyone else's schedule. What do YOU want?"

Victoria's first response was automatic: "I don't know."

But Mei pressed. "If you could do any job tomorrow, no barriers, what would it be?"

"The answer came out before I could stop it," Victoria tells me. "'Auditing. I want to do auditing.'"

She'd never said it out loud before. Never even acknowledged it to herself. But there it was, this secret desire that had been humming beneath the surface for years.

"Mei looked at me like I'd grown a second head. She said, 'So why aren't you doing that instead of photocopying?'"

Why indeed?

Stage 3 of The OzSparkHub Career Awakening Framework™: The Awakening Question (Desire Articulation)

The Fear Beneath the Surface

Victoria's reasons for not pursuing auditing were the same fears that paralyse thousands of women attempting women over 40 career transition:

"I'm 45," she lists them on her fingers. "Too old. English isn't my first language - my accent's still strong. I don't have auditing experience. I don't know where to start. It's been too long since I used my engineering brain properly. Who's going to hire me?"

There's also the unspoken fear: "My husband already thinks I'm unrealistic. If I fail at this, he'll never let me forget it."

But here's where the conversation with Mei shifted something fundamental. "She asked me, 'Do you actually like payroll? Or accounting?' And I realised - I hate it. I hate the tick-box nature, the compliance for compliance sake, the repetitiveness."

"Auditing is different," Victoria's eyes light up for the first time in our conversation. "Auditing is solving puzzles. Finding gaps. Making systems better. It's analytical, technical, requires critical thinking. It gives me that sense of achievement I haven't felt in years."

The revelation was both liberating and terrifying. She'd been pursuing the wrong path entirely, settling for what seemed accessible rather than what actually aligned with her strengths and interests.

This is what OzSparkHub defines as a career awakening - the moment when clarity breaks through years of conditioning and compromise. For many women, particularly those in their 40s and 50s, these awakenings can feel revolutionary and overwhelming in equal measure.

Why Engineering to Auditing Makes Perfect Sense

What Victoria couldn't see - buried under years of self-doubt and others' low expectations - was how perfectly her background positioned her for an engineering to auditing career path.

When I point this out, she looks sceptical. "Really? They seem completely different."

They're not. Let's break down why Victoria's engineering background makes her an ideal audit candidate:

The OzSparkHub Technical Degree Reactivation Protocol™ - our proprietary framework for leveraging dormant technical qualifications:

Systems Thinking: Engineers are trained to understand complex systems, identify failure points, and recommend improvements. This is precisely what auditors do - except instead of mechanical or electrical systems, they're examining financial, operational, or compliance systems.

Technical Expertise: Internal auditing in manufacturing, construction, or engineering firms desperately needs auditors who understand technical operations. Victoria speaks the language of engineering teams. She can assess technical risks that purely finance-trained auditors miss entirely.

Analytical Rigor: Engineering programs drill analytical thinking, data interpretation, and evidence-based decision-making into students' DNA. These are core auditing competencies.

Quality Standards: Victoria's engineering education covered quality management systems, process control, and regulatory compliance - all directly transferable to auditing roles.

Problem-Solving Approach: Engineers are trained to identify root causes, not just symptoms. This diagnostic mindset is invaluable in auditing, where surface-level findings are meaningless without understanding underlying issues.

According to research on career transitions in internal auditing, "Internal auditing welcomes diverse perspectives, with degrees in IT, engineering, and more leading into this profession" (Research.com, 2025). The field increasingly values professionals from technical backgrounds who can bring fresh perspectives to risk management and business process improvement.

Stage 4 of The OzSparkHub Career Awakening Framework™: The Engineering-to-Audit Bridge (Skills Translation)

"I'd never thought about it that way," Victoria admits. "I always saw my engineering degree as wasted because I wasn't designing bridges or buildings."

But education is never wasted. Skills can be dormant, not dead. And Victoria's engineering brain, despite years of underuse, is exactly what makes her valuable in an auditing context.

The Roadmap: From Admin to Auditing at 45

Here's where Victoria's story shifts from awakening to action. Because recognising what you want is only the first step. The second is believing it's possible. The third is building a concrete plan.

Stage 5 of The OzSparkHub Career Awakening Framework™: The Reclamation Path (Strategic Action)

Victoria's biggest misconception was that she'd need to become a CPA (Certified Practising Accountant) to enter auditing. "I looked at the CPA program and felt defeated before I started. Years of study, exams, the cost."

But here's the truth that surprised her: internal auditing doesn't require a CPA.

Let me break down the actual pathway from where Victoria is now to where she wants to be:

Short-Term Certifications (3-6 Months)

1. Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Pathway

• Offered by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Australia
• Three parts, can be completed in 6-12 months
• According to IIA global pricing (updated July 2024), costs approximately USD $1,125-$1,325 for the complete program depending on membership status (IIA, 2024)
• For Australia-specific pricing in AUD, contact IIA Australia directly at iia.org.au
• Globally recognised, highly valued in Australia
• Victoria's engineering background = strong foundation for Part 3 (Business Knowledge)
• IIA Australia connects nearly 7,000 professionals including 3,000 members Australia-wide (IIA Australia, 2024)

2. Quality Auditor Certification

• ASQ (American Society for Quality) Certified Quality Auditor
• Directly leverages Victoria's engineering and quality management knowledge
• 3-4 months preparation time
• Opens doors in manufacturing, construction, engineering firms
• Cost: Approximately $500-800 USD

Medium-Term Strategy (6-12 Months)

3. Professional Development Short Courses

• AICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors): Risk Management
• IIA Australia: Internal Audit Foundations
• Online courses: Coursera's "Auditing I & II" (free to audit, $50 for certificate)
• Total cost: $500-1,500 AUD
• Can be completed while working part-time

4. Practical Experience Building

• Volunteer for audit committee roles (schools, community organisations, professional associations)
• Offer pro-bono process improvement projects to small businesses
• Document every analytical project from current role with audit lens
• Build a portfolio demonstrating audit thinking

Victoria's Unique Advantages

The OzSparkHub 45+ Career Advantage Index™ - our proprietary assessment of age-related competitive strengths:

Bilingual Capability: Victoria speaks Mandarin fluently. This isn't a weakness - it's a significant competitive advantage for:

• Australian companies with Chinese manufacturing partners
• Engineering firms working with Chinese contractors
• Multinational corporations operating in Australia and China
• Compliance roles requiring Chinese-language document review

Technical Background: Engineering firms, construction companies, and manufacturing operations struggle to find auditors who understand technical operations. Victoria isn't competing with thousands of commerce graduates - she's in a much smaller, more specialised pool.

Maturity and Judgment: At 45, Victoria brings something 25-year-old graduates can't: life experience, emotional intelligence, and judgment. Auditing requires tactful stakeholder management, ethical decision-making under pressure, and the confidence to challenge senior leaders. These capabilities develop with age.

Flexibility: Part-time availability can actually be an advantage. Many organisations need project-based audit support without hiring full-time staff. According to SEEK's 2025 salary data, internal auditor salaries in Australia average between $80,000 and$100,000 annually (SEEK, 2025). Contract auditing work can pay $60-100/hour, offering schedule flexibility.

Addressing the Age Discrimination Elephant

Let's tackle Victoria's biggest fear head-on: age discrimination workplace concerns.

"I worry I'm too old," Victoria says. "That hiring managers will see my age and move on to younger candidates."

OzSparkHub Analysis: Age discrimination is real and documented. According to the Australian Human Rights Commission's research, age discrimination can impact workers as early as age 45, with recent 2024 data from AHRI and the Australian Human Rights Commission showing that almost a quarter (24%) of HR professionals now classify workers aged 51-55 as 'older', an increase from 10% in 2023 (AHRC & AHRI, 2024).

Further research reveals that one in five HR professionals acknowledge their recruitment practices negatively impact older workers (AHRC, 2024).

But here's the nuanced reality: age discrimination exists, but it's not universal, and it's significantly reduced in roles where experience is valued over 'cultural fit' or 'enthusiasm.'

Auditing is one of those fields.

Why? Because audit work requires:

• Professional skepticism - easier with life experience than youthful optimism
• Confident challenging of senior stakeholders - grows with maturity
• Ethical backbone - developed through years of real-world moral navigation
• Judgment in grey areas - not something taught in textbooks

According to OzSparkHub interviews with senior audit partners, technical auditing roles consistently favour experienced candidates over recent graduates. One Big Four partner we interviewed stated: "I'd take a 45-year-old career changer with engineering background over a 23-year-old commerce graduate any day for technical auditing roles. The younger candidate might be cheaper, but the older candidate will identify risks the junior can't even recognise."

Reframing Age as Advantage - The OzSparkHub Motherhood-to-Management Translation Matrix™:

Instead of apologising for being 45, Victoria needs to own it. Here's how to position age as strength in applications and interviews:

• "Two decades of professional experience including complex project management"
• "Proven ability to navigate organisational politics and stakeholder challenges"
• "Mature judgment developed through years of real-world decision-making"
• "Strong ethical framework built on extensive professional experience"

The Transformation Mindset: Beyond Career to Identity

As our conversation deepens, Victoria reveals what this career shift really represents. It's not just about job titles or salary increases.

"This isn't about having a perfect career," she says carefully. "It's about reclaiming myself. About showing my kids - especially my daughter - that mothers can have dreams. That we're not just support systems for everyone else's ambitions."

Her voice catches. "My 15-year-old daughter said something last month that broke my heart. She said, 'Mum, why do you always say yes when Dad says no to things you want?' I didn't have a good answer."

This is where Victoria's story transcends individual career change and touches something deeper: identity reclamation.

The message society sends women, particularly mothers, is insidious: your value is in your service to others. Your career should fit around school pickups, never the reverse. Your ambitions should be 'realistic' (translation: small enough not to inconvenience anyone else).

Victoria's awakening is her refusal to accept that narrative any longer.

"I've been thinking a lot about my marriage," she admits. This is clearly difficult territory. "When I was excited about the payroll role, my husband was supportive - until it affected him. The moment I needed him to adjust his schedule, to share pickup responsibilities, the support evaporated."

She's quiet for a moment. "I don't think he sees me as a partner with equal career rights. I think he sees me as support staff for his life and the kids' lives."

I don't offer marriage advice because that's not my place. But Victoria's recognition of this dynamic is crucial. As she pursues her auditing career, she'll need to set boundaries and expectations that may make her household uncomfortable. The question is whether her partner will rise to support her growth or resist it.

"I'm done waiting for permission," Victoria says firmly. "From him, from employers, from anyone. I'm 45. If not now, when?"

The Engineering Degree That Was Never Wasted

One of Victoria's persistent beliefs is that her engineering degree was "wasted" on years of part-time admin work.

"I used to look at my graduation photos and feel ashamed," she confesses. "Like I'd let down my younger self. Like all those late nights studying, all that hard work, was for nothing."

But here's a perspective shift Victoria needed: education is never wasted, even when dormant.

Those years studying thermodynamics, structural analysis, and systems engineering didn't disappear from her brain. They shaped how she thinks, analyses problems, and approaches complexity. They gave her confidence in her intellectual capabilities that years of photocopying couldn't completely erase.

"When I helped my son with his Year 11 physics last year, it all came back," Victoria says, surprised by her own memory. "The formulas, the logic, the way to break down complex problems. It was still there."

This is what neuroscience calls 'crystallised intelligence' - knowledge and skills that persist even without regular use. Victoria's engineering training isn't gone. It's been waiting for her to need it again.

The shift from seeing her degree as 'wasted' to seeing it as 'dormant but ready to reactivate' is psychologically profound. It transforms her narrative from failure to potential.

Teaching Her Children (Especially Her Daughter)

Victoria's 15-year-old daughter is watching everything.

"She sees me backing down when my husband disapproves. She sees me settling for work that doesn't challenge me. She sees me making myself smaller to avoid conflict," Victoria says. "What am I teaching her about being a woman?"

This is perhaps the most powerful motivation driving Victoria's career awakening - not just changing her own trajectory, but modelling possibility for her daughter.

"I want her to see that it's never too late. That mothers can have ambitions. That partnership means both people supporting each other's growth, not one person sacrificing for the other's convenience."

She pauses. "Even if my auditing career doesn't work out perfectly, I want her to see me trying. See me refusing to shrink. See me betting on myself."

OzSparkHub Insight: Research on intergenerational career patterns shows complex dynamics between mothers and daughters. According to Jill Armstrong's study "Like Mother, Like Daughter?" (Policy Press), which involved intergenerational narrative interviews with 30 mother-daughter pairs, having a career-focused mother significantly influences daughters' career path choices, though the outcomes are nuanced (Armstrong, 2020).

Notably, research published in the British Journal of Political Science demonstrates a strong intergenerational dynamic from mothers to daughters in professional achievement. Female professionals come from households where their mother is more likely to be employed, earns more in the labour market, and earns a larger share of household earnings (Cambridge University Press, 2023).

Victoria's decision to pursue auditing is teaching her daughter lessons no school curriculum can provide.

Her sons are watching too. "I want them to see their future partners as equals," Victoria explains. "Not as support staff. The way they see their father treat me will shape how they treat their partners. That's terrifying and motivating in equal measure."

The Practical Reality: What Happens Next

Victoria hasn't quit her part-time admin role. She can't - the family needs her income, however modest. But she's started taking concrete steps:

Month 1-2 (Current):

• Enrolled in IIA's Introduction to Internal Auditing online course (approximately $395 AUD)
• Started documenting her analytical work from admin role with audit language
• Joined IIA Australia as a student member (approximately $120/year) to access resources and networking
• Updated LinkedIn headline: "Engineering Professional Transitioning to Internal Auditing"

Month 3-4:

• Begin CIA Part 1 study (Business Acumen)
• Volunteer for process improvement project at children's school
• Attend IIA local chapter networking events (free for members)
• Reach out to 5 internal auditors on LinkedIn for informational interviews

Month 5-6:

• Complete CIA Part 1 exam
• Begin CIA Part 2 study (Internal Audit Practice)
• Apply for volunteer audit committee roles in professional engineering associations
• Start applying for junior internal auditor roles in engineering/manufacturing

Month 7-12:

• Complete CIA Parts 2 and 3
• Build portfolio of process improvement projects
• Target contract/project-based audit roles for flexibility
• Consider ASQ Quality Auditor certification to strengthen technical credibility

Budget: According to OzSparkHub's analysis of certification costs, approximately $3,500-4,000 AUD total for first year (certifications, memberships, study materials), contact IIA Australia for current pricing.

This is achievable on Victoria's part-time income if she's strategic. It's not fast, but it's realistic. And crucially, it doesn't require quitting her current role before she has an alternative.

The Partner Conversation She's Avoiding

Victoria knows she needs to have a difficult conversation with her husband. She's been avoiding it.

"He'll say I'm being unrealistic again. That we need my admin income. That the kids need me available," she predicts. "But the truth is, my admin job pays $28 an hour for 24 hours a week. An entry-level internal auditor makes$65,000-75,000 according to industry data. Even part-time audit work can pay $60-80 an hour based on market rates."

According to SEEK's 2025 salary guide, the average internal auditor salary in Australia is between $80,000 and$100,000, with entry-level positions starting around $50,000-65,000 (SEEK, 2025). PayScale data from 2025 shows the average internal auditor salary in Australia at approximately$107,805 per year (PayScale, 2025).

The economics make sense. But Victoria suspects this isn't really about money or logistics.

"I think he likes me in a role he doesn't see as threatening," she says quietly. "Admin work is safe. Auditing - especially if I'm successful - changes the power dynamic in our relationship."

This is uncomfortable territory, but it's the reality many women face during significant work-life balance women renegotiations. Partners who've benefited from women's career compromises often resist changes that would require them to adjust in return.

Victoria is determined to have the conversation anyway. "I'm not asking permission anymore," she says. "I'm informing him of what I'm doing and what support I need. If he can't provide it, that's information too."

That last sentence lingers between us, heavy with implications neither of us needs to spell out.

45 is Not an Ending - It's an Awakening

As we finish our coffee, Victoria seems both energised and terrified. This is the paradox of awakening - exciting and destabilising in equal measure.

"I keep thinking, what if I fail? What if I'm really not smart enough anymore? What if the age discrimination is worse than I think?" she admits.

But then she counters her own fears: "But what if I don't try? What if I'm 55, still photocopying, still invisible, still shrinking? That's worse than any failure."

This is the calculation every person facing midlife career change must make: the risk of trying versus the certainty of regret.

Victoria's story isn't finished. She hasn't landed her dream auditing role yet. Her husband hasn't become suddenly supportive. Her fears about age discrimination haven't disappeared.

But she's taken the first step, and that matters more than people realise. She's stopped accepting other people's definitions of what's realistic for her life. She's stopped shrinking.

"I told my daughter about the auditing plan," Victoria shares as we're leaving. "She said, 'Finally, Mum. I was wondering when you'd wake up.'"

That phrase: 'wake up.' Not 'figure it out' or 'make a change.' Wake up.

Because that's what this is for Victoria and thousands of women like her. Not a career change. An awakening. A refusal to remain dormant when there's still so much potential waiting to be activated.

According to OzSparkHub research, Australian women's workforce participation reached a record high of 63.5% in January 2025, with women in their 40s showing high and stable employment rates (ABS, 2025). The data suggests continued workforce engagement through this age range, challenging outdated perceptions about women's career potential at midlife.

At 45, Victoria isn't at the end of her career. She's at the beginning of the one that actually aligns with who she is, not who everyone else needs her to be.

Your Turn: Is It Time for Your Awakening?

If Victoria's story resonates with you - the feeling of invisibility, the dormant qualifications, the fear it's too late, the unsupportive partner, the worry about age discrimination - you're not alone.

According to OzSparkHub, thousands of Australian women are navigating this exact transition. The good news? Your engineering degree, science background, technical expertise, or analytical skills aren't wasted. They're dormant, waiting for you to need them again.

Ask yourself:

• What did I want to be before I became who everyone needed me to be?
• What kind of work gives me that sense of achievement I've been missing?
• What's the real barrier - practical constraints or other people's comfort?
• What am I modelling for my children about ambition, compromise, and self-worth?

Ready to explore your path from engineering (or any technical field) to auditing or another analytical career?

The OzSparkHub Career Awakening Framework™ - Five Stages:

1. The Invisible Years (Identity Erosion) - Recognising professional self has been buried
2. The Breaking Point (Crisis Recognition) - Acknowledging current path is unsustainable
3. The Awakening Question (Desire Articulation) - Naming what you actually want
4. The Skills Translation Bridge (Capability Mapping) - Connecting dormant skills to new career
5. The Reclamation Path (Strategic Action) - Building concrete plan forward

OzSparkHub Exclusive Resources:

Download our Engineering to Auditing Roadmap - a comprehensive guide covering:

• Certification pathways that leverage technical backgrounds
• How to position age and experience as advantages, not liabilities
• Script templates for difficult partner conversations about career changes
• Budget planning for career transition while working part-time
• Job search strategies targeting technical auditing roles

Take our Skills Audit Tool to discover transferable skills from both your professional background AND your years of motherhood that translate to high-value analytical careers. You might be surprised at how qualified you already are.

Based on OzSparkHub's proprietary assessment framework, we analyze your existing capabilities through three lenses:

• Technical Skills Reactivation - Dormant professional qualifications
• Motherhood Management Translation - Leadership and project management from parenting
• Life Experience Advantage - Maturity-based competitive strengths

Join our community of women navigating midlife career transitions. You don't have to figure this out alone. Connect with others who understand the unique challenges of changing careers at 40+, managing unsupportive family dynamics, and overcoming age discrimination fears.

Your engineering degree wasn't wasted. Your motherhood years weren't wasted. Your analytical brain isn't gone, just dormant. And 45 isn't the end of anything - it's the beginning of who you were always meant to become.

Stop shrinking. Start awakening.

Sources & References

Australian Government & Regulatory Bodies

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

• ABS (2025). Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, Australia, March 2025. Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/barriers-and-incentives-labour-force-participation-australia/latest-release
• ABS (2024). Spotlight: Changes in participation rates for men and women in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/spotlight-changes-participation-rates-men-and-women-australia

Australian Government

• Australian Government (2024). Status of Women Report Card 2024. Retrieved from https://genderequality.gov.au/status-women-report-cards/2024-report-card

Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

• AHRC & AHRI (2024). Employer biases against older and younger generations hindering Australian workforce productivity. Retrieved from https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/employer-biases-against-older-and-younger-generations-hindering
• AHRC (2024). Age Discrimination: exposing the hidden barrier for mature age workers. Retrieved from https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/publications/age-discrimination-exposing-hidden-barrier-mature-age

Professional Bodies & Industry Data

Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA)

• IIA Australia (2024). Factsheet - IIA-Australia Professional Membership. Retrieved from https://iia.org.au/member-resources/factsheets/factsheet-iia-australia-professional-membership
• IIA (2024). Internal Audit Certification Costs | IAP, CIA, CRMA Pricing. Retrieved from https://www.theiia.org/en/certifications/new-to-certification/Pricing/

Salary Data Sources

• SEEK (2025). Internal Auditor Salary in AU. Retrieved from https://www.seek.com.au/career-advice/role/internal-auditor/salary
• PayScale (2025). Internal Auditor Salary in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Internal_Auditor/Salary
• Hays (2024). Salary Guide FY24-25 Australia. Retrieved from https://www.hays.com.au/salary-guide

Academic Research

Motherhood & Career Research

• Bugden, F. (2025). "Australian women's motherhood aspirations: I've always wanted to be a mum. But at the same time, I wanted the career and everything too". Australian Journal of Social Issues. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.336
• Johnstone, M., & Lucke, J. (2022). "The Emotional Impact of Unfulfilled Career Aspirations for Stay-at-Home Mothers in Australia". Journal of Family Issues. doi: 10.1177/0192513X211030730
• The Impact of Motherhood on Women's Career Progression: A Scoping Review of Evidence-Based Interventions (2024). PMC. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11047346/

Intergenerational Career Patterns

• Armstrong, J. (2020). Like Mother, Like Daughter? How Career Women Influence their Daughters' Ambition. Policy Press. Retrieved from https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/like-mother-like-daughter
• Cambridge University Press (2023). "Working Mothers and Political Daughters: Intergenerational Dynamics of Women's Political Officeholding". British Journal of Political Science. doi: 10.1017/S0007123422000680

Gender Equality in Workplace

• Lean In & McKinsey (2024). Women in the Workplace 2024: Key Findings & Takeaways. Retrieved from https://leanin.org/women-in-the-workplace

Career Transition Resources

• Research.com (2025). Internal Auditor Careers: 2025 Guide to Career Paths, Options & Salary. Retrieved from https://research.com/careers/internal-auditor-careers
• Building a Career in Internal Auditing: Pathways and Qualifications (2024). Retrieved from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/internalauditing/chapter/01-06-building-a-career-in-internal-auditing-pathways-and-qualifications/

Data Verification Note: All statistics and data points in this article have been verified against primary sources current as of October 2025. Where Australian-specific data was unavailable, we've clearly indicated when international research has been referenced for comparative context. OzSparkHub is committed to evidence-based career guidance using only verified, citable sources.

Victoria's story is based on a real person whose name and identifying details have been changed to protect privacy. If you're experiencing relationship challenges while pursuing career growth, please reach out to Relationships Australia or similar support services. Career transitions can expose relationship dynamics that may require professional support to navigate safely.

Ready to explore your own career awakening? Contact OzSparkHub for personalised career transition support designed specifically for Australian women over 40.

Source: OzSparkHub - Victoria's Career Awakening Story - https://www.ozsparkhub.com.au/blog/victoria-engineering-to-auditing-midlife-career-change