International Women’s Day Event 2025
March Forward: It’s time to turn promises into progress
IPAA Queensland is once again pleased to invite public sector professionals to attend our 2025 International Women’s Day Event.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2025 is March Forward: It’s time to turn promises into progress.
As noted by UN Women Australia, thirty years ago the world committed to a bold vision for gender equality through the United Nations’ Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This landmark agreement laid the groundwork for transformative change, outlining critical areas such as economic empowerment, leadership, and climate justice.
Since then, women have broken barriers, reshaped policies, and ignited powerful movements across the globe. Yet, despite these strides, the promises made remain largely unfulfilled for millions of women worldwide.
We are simply not where we should be.
The public sector offers the opportunity to set the tone for progress and to be an example of best practice when it comes to gender equity; and this event will showcase how the sector continues to march forward, noting the steps that are yet to be taken.
In keeping with the spirit and theme of International Women’s Day in 2025, this event will put a call on all leaders and allies to “March Forward” and better understanding the true benefit of equity and diversity.
We are delighted to announce that the event will again be officially opened by Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM, Governor of Queensland and IPAA Queensland Patron.
We are delighted to invite Dr. Leonora Risse, Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Canberra, to deliver a keynote on current research into policies for gender equality.
Dr. Risse will explore an evidence-informed framework to assess what works—and what doesn’t—in understanding how gender equality initiatives fit into society’s progressive journey toward equality. The keynote will examine key economic policies and prompt the audience to consider whether we have adopted an accurate definition of “women’s economic empowerment” in our conventional policy approaches, and which policy levers could propel progress in economic gender equality.
Following the contributions of our speaker, the audience will have the opportunity to participate in a facilitated Q&A.
DETAILS:
Date: Thursday 6 March 2025
Time: from 1pm to 3pm with a networking lunch on arrival from 12pm
Place: Multifunction Rooms 1 & 2, Level 41, 1 William Street, Brisbane and Livestreamed
In person Pricing: free for individual (full financial) members, $75 for organisational members and $99 for non-members.
Livestream Pricing: free for individual (full financial) members, $20 for organisational members, $35 for non-members.
Registration terms – Please refer to our Supply of Services Terms.
Accessibility – along the lines of “IPAA Queensland is committed to ensuring our events are accessible to everyone. Please contact us prior to the event to discuss any adjustments required. This may include (but not be limited to) use of a hearing loop, accessible seating or support with entering the building and accessing the event space.”
Privacy – Please refer to our privacy statement.
Photography – By attending an event or a course, you acknowledge that your photo might be taken and you consent to the taking and use (including in any publication or production) of any such photo by us in whole or in part, and in conjunction with any words or drawings, in electronic or print form.
We are proud to partner with Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
Dr Leonora Risse
Dr Leonora Risse is an economist who specialises in gender equality. She is an Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Canberra and a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia. She currently serves as an Expert Panel Member on gender pay equity for the Fair Work Commission and a Steering Committee Member on gender economic equality for Jobs and Skills Australia. Dr Risse formerly held roles as an economist for the Productivity Commission and as a Research Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government. She is a co-founder and former National Chair of the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia.
Dr Risse’s research focuses on gender gaps in the workplace, including the gender pay gap and women’s under-representation in leadership and decision-making. She engages regularly with governments and organisations on evidence-based policies to close gender gaps and how to apply a gender lens to economic analysis and policy through gender responsive budgeting. Her economic expertise extends to labour economics, disadvantage and wellbeing.
She engages regularly with the media to empower everyday audiences with a greater understanding of economic issues. In 2021 she was named as one of Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy.
Dr Risse holds a PhD in Economics, Bachelor of Economics with Honours, and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland.
Website: https://leonorarisse.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/leonora-risse/91/390/929
ABOUT IPAA QUEENSLAND
IPAA Queensland is the professional association for public servants and public purpose workers across Queensland. This includes State, Commonwealth and Local Government organisations and their workforces, as well as the public purpose sectors. We frequently engage with influential leaders across the public, academic, professional services and community sectors.
We aim to advance the capability, integrity and professionalism of public administration and promote pride in service. We do this through a strategic program of thought leadership events that enable our members to build their connections, challenge their thinking and stay informed about topics and issues relevant to public purpose.
Our values are inclusiveness, integrity, and service.
We are a lean not-for-profit, member-based association incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (QLD).
Find out more on our website.