On 5 March, we celebrated International Women’s Day 2025 and our Helen Williams Oration with a powerful trio of women: Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, the 28th Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Michelle Steele, Chief First Nations Officer at the Paul Ramsay Foundation, and event host Genevieve Jacobs AM, CEO of Hands Across Canberra.

Here are some of the key points from the oration, panel discussion and Q&A:

☑️Gender equality is an important tool in policymaking nowadays
☑️The office of the Governor-General has the power to convene and bring people together and listen with compassion
☑️Many women turn away from stepping into the spotlight due to the abuse they often have to face
☑️The role of the Governor-General should be modern, visible, and optimistic
☑️Policy work is hard; support each other
☑️There is a lot more light than shade, but shade teaches us what still needs to be done
☑️Care is the work, it is not a soft or a uniquely feminine trait, it is hard to do
☑️Caring also means honouring the women who came before us
☑️If we don’t have a culture of challenge, we can’t have a culture of change
☑️We have to be optimistic about what we do
☑️We’re fearful of listening to communities – but most things actually get fixed when you listen to people
☑️Listening to diverse voices is a powerful act of consultation.

The vote of thanks was delivered by Carolina Dorman from our tier one partner MinterEllison. The Welcome to Country was generously delivered by Ngunnawal emerging elder and leader Selina Walker.

Video – a video of the event is below or can be viewed on the IPAA ACT Vimeo channel.

A transcript of the event can be found here.