Held on the 7th Mar 2019
at 6pm to
7:30pm
The 2019 International Women's Day Address
will be presented by
The Honourable Lara Giddings
Premier of Tasmania 2011-14
A hundred and seventeen years since Australian women won the right to vote, and the debate in the community still rages on how to reach gender equality in our parliaments, on our boards and in our family homes. Why is gender equality so hard to achieve? The reasons are many, from institutional bias to personal sacrifice. Nowhere is this more evident than in politics, where women are under-represented. Tasmania’s first female Premier Lara Giddings’ experiences rising to the top of the state’s political tree came at a personal sacrifice and left her believing she could never have a family. Becoming a mother aged 45 has given her a different perspective on the challenges facing female leaders like New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as she juggles her two important roles. Lara will discuss gender quotas, bullying and the support that women can provide each other as they balance career and family. Embracing this year’s International Women’s Day theme, #BalanceforBetter, she will consider the institutional and societal challenges for achieving a better gender balance at home and in the workplace.
About the Speaker
Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 2011-2014, and the first woman to hold the position. First elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1996 at the age of 23, she was also the youngest woman to be elected to an Australian parliament. Lara represented the electorate of Lyons from 1996-98 and Franklin from 2002 until her retirement from politics in 2018. She is a University of Tasmania alumnus, having studied an Arts/Law degree. Her ministerial portfolios included Economic Development, Arts, Health and Human Services, Attorney-General and Treasurer. Lara is a founding member of Emily’s List, a national organisation that provides financial and mentoring support to progressive Labor women candidates, and of the International Women’s Forum in Australia. She is a fierce advocate for progressive social policy and, as Premier, led a move for Tasmania to go it alone on same-sex marriage before the reform was adopted federally.
Lara has been among our strongest voices on work/life balance for women. Once concerned her career would prevent her having children, she announced she was pregnant, with the help of an egg donor, at the age of 44 in 2017. She gave birth to daughter Natasha last year.
About the Lecture
International Women's Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. The United Nations designated March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1975, later adopting a resolution calling on nations to annually mark a day for Women's Rights and International Peace.
Since 2013, the University of Tasmania has marked this occasion by inviting a person contributing to the advancement of women to deliver a public address relating to the occasion.
Refreshments from 5.30pm.
This event will be broadcast live through the University's Livestream channel - https://livestream.com/universityoftasmania. You can watch live or at a later date.
