Case studies

Women, Leadership and Democracy in Australia conference

For two days in December 2011, more than 90 delegates listened and debated as the Women, Leadership and Democracy in Australia conference unfolded at Old Parliament House. Co-hosted by the museum and the University of Melbourne, the conference showcased the diversity of research on women’s leadership in Australian society since 1900.

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, opened the conference. She spoke of the women who had inspired her throughout her life, her belief in the women of today, and the importance of the museum’s work in telling the stories of women leaders from all walks of life. Her address was recorded by the museum.

Ms Bryce was followed by Professor Amanda Sinclair, from the University of Melbourne, who advocated a conceptualisation of ‘leadership’ that doesn’t just ‘fit’ women in, but builds notions of power, sex and gender into our understandings of leadership. Professor Kim Rubenstein, from the Australian National University, discussed the work of trailblazing women lawyers, considering how they have used their legal training to political effect and as a form of leadership.

Over 40 other presentations told the stories of inspiring women leaders and covered a large range of subjects, including journalism, politics, architecture, the environment, policing, the church, the academy, the arts and community advocacy. For example:

• Indigenous psychologist Pat Dudgeon, from the University of Western Australia, talked about Aboriginal women’s perspectives on leadership, and highlighted the role of three Indigenous women leaders from Western Australia.
• Ms Donna Benjamin described her efforts to have The Dawn, the journal published by Louisa Lawson, digitised and made freely accessible online. As a result of her campaign, the National Library of Australia made The Dawn available via its website from March 2012.
• Dr Susan Harris Rimmer, from the Australian National University, implored female leaders to claim their successes, on the grounds that the lack of self-promotion by many successful women makes it difficult to track their achievements.
• Michael Richards, Libby Stewart and Dr Barry York, staff of the museum, presented papers on various aspects of women leaders and their representation in museums, including a discussion of the material culture of women’s leadership.

The conference also included a pre-screening viewing of the documentary Utopia Girls. The work of historian and filmmaker Clare Wright, Utopia Girls tells the story, through the eyes of five remarkable women, of how Australia became the first country in the world to give women full political equality: the right to vote and the right to stand for election to parliament.

The museum benefited enormously from hosting the conference, while fulfilling its aim of promoting relevant scholarship and forming productive collaborative relationships. In a practical sense it received a generous donation of women’s suffrage material from Dr Dale Spender. In an intellectual sense participants came away aware of the importance of saving the relics and objects of women’s leadership so that many more leadership stories can be told in the museum’s displays.

• About this report
• Letter of transmittal
• Contents
• About this report
• Letter of transmittal
• Contents
• Chapter 1: Director’s review
• Chapter 2: Agency overview
• Chapter 3: Report on performance
• Chapter 4: Management and accountability
• Chapter 5: Financial statements
• Appendices
• References
• Case studies
  • Children’s cartooning workshops
  • Discovering Mildenhall’s Canberra website
  • Marnti warajanga—a walk together travelling exhibition
  • Members’ Dining Room
  • MuseumNext 2012 conference
  • National Capital Exchange Program
  • National Indigenous Youth Parliament
  • Women, Leadership and Democracy in Australia conference