Bettina Arndt - Biography

Biography

She was born in Penrith, England to Heinz Arndt (1915 – 6 May 2002) and Ruth (née Strohsahl) (20 March 1915 – 20 March 2001), the youngest of three children (brothers Christopher and Nicholas).

In 1971 after completing her Bachelor of Science at Australian National University, she moved to Sydney where she trained as a clinical psychologist specialising in sexual therapy. In 1973 she completed her Master of Psychology at the University of New South Wales, where her thesis was on orgasm problems.

Arndt came to prominence in the 1970s by editing Forum, an Australian adult sex education magazine, which led to frequent radio and television appearances. She was appointed Editor in 1974 and remained in the position until July 1982. Her work in sex education also involved post-graduate courses, seminars and lectures for groups including doctors and other professionals. Following the death of her husband and business partner, Dennis Minogue in 1981, Forum magazine closed. Arndt moved on to writing about broader social issues for newspapers including The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. During this period Bettina also had her own radio program on 2GB and regular radio segments in major cities all over Australia.

In 1986, Bettina married American lawyer Warren Scott and moved to New York City. She lived in Manhattan for five years and whilst living in the States, she wrote a highly successful weekly newspaper column which was syndicated through The Age in Melbourne (and published in Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane). She had two books published featuring collections of her writings, Private Lives (1985) and All About Us (1989). In August 1991, Bettina returned with her family to live in Australia. In 2009 she published her book The Sex Diaries which became an international best-seller. This was based on the diaries of 98 couples talking about how they negotiate sex and deal with mismatched desire. She followed this up with another diary project, looking at male sexuality, which lead to her latest book, "What Men Want", published 1 September 2010.

Arndt has served on a number of committees advising the Australian government on policy matters, including the Family Law Pathways Advisory Group, the National Advisory Committee on Ageing, the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Review Team and the Child Support Review Reference Group.