Leading the Way - Australian Women Lawyers National Conference 2024

Australian Women Lawyers cordially invite you to attend the AWL National Conference in Canberra from Friday, 18 October – Saturday, 19 October 2024, themed “Leading the Way”. 

The AWL National Conference is the premier conference for women lawyers, thought leaders, change champions, students, and professionals in the Australian legal profession. 

The AWL National Conference is held once every two years and covers substantive law topics (for which Continuing Professional Development points may be claimed) as well as highlighting inspiring new ways to think, work and live. As always, the AWL National Conference also provides exciting opportunities for change and career development for women lawyers.

The key note speaker for the Conference will be Australian human rights lawyer and barrister, Jennifer Robinson of Doughty Street Chambers in London.  Ms Robinson is most recently known for her highly publicised representation of Julian Assange and her book entitled, “How Many More Women?” coauthored with Keina Yoshida, which examines laws from around the world which silence women. 

Recently announced speakers include: 

- The Honourable Justice Chrissa Loukas Karlsson of the ACT Supreme Court;

- Dr Anna Cody, Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission;

- Carly Kind, Privacy Commissioner at the Officer of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner;

- Hannah Tonkin, Women’s Safety Commissioner of New South Wales;

- Katrina Marson, Advocate for relationships and sexuality education;

- Sapphire Parsons, senior workplace lawyer, winner of the Lawyers Weekly ‘30 under 30’ award for Workplace Health & Safety;

- Tanja Kovac, Co-founder and Director of Gender Lens Australia;

- Sarah Court, Deputy Chair at the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC);

- Leah Marrone, Barrister, Past AWL President, Board Director at TAFE SA, Member of the Law Foundation and Respect at Work Council;

- Kate Eastman AM SC, Barrister, Co-founder of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights;

- Dr Kylie Weston-Scheuber, Barrister;

- Karley Warner, ACT Aboriginal Legal Service / Chairperson of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services;

- Kirsty Salvestro, Co-founder of Kindness in Law, lawyer, mediator;

- Deborah Battisson, Executive Director, College of Law (ACT);

- Francesca Rush, Chief Counsel, Commercial and First Assistant Secretary - Australian Industry Capability for the Department of Defence;

- Alicia Fleet, General Counsel, Fleet Space Technologies;

- Tuanh Nguyen OAM, Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, founding member of Asian Australian Lawyers Association;

- Fiona McLeod AO SC, Barrister.

 Please follow our social media accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn to receive the most up to date information.  

The Conference will be held on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 October 2024 at luxurious Hotel Realm, next to the Parliamentary Circle.  A 15% discount code for bookings at Hotel Realm will be offered following purchase of a conference ticket.  

A link to the Hotel Realm website is provided below: 

https://hotelrealm.com.au/

The Gala Dinner will be held on the evening of Friday 18 October 2024 at the National Portrait Gallery, located in front of the High Court of Australia on King Edward Terrace.  If you would like to purchase a table of 10 (or less), there is an option when you purchase the tickets to specify your seating requirements.

The key note speaker for the Gala Dinner will be the Honourable Justice Louise Taylor of the ACT Supreme Court. Appointed in 2023, Justice Taylor a Kamilaroi woman, was the first Indigenous woman to become a Supreme Court judge in Australia.  In 2018, she was also the first Indigenous person to become a judicial officer in the ACT.  Prior to her appointments, Justice Taylor had an extensive career in criminal law specialising in family violence.  

The Gala will also include the announcement of the AWL award which recognises women who have provided long term leadership and commitment in the support and advancement of women in the legal profession and recognises women that have made an outstanding contribution to the legal profession in Australia.  

A link to access a map to the National Portrait Gallery is provided below:

https://www.portrait.gov.au/co...

2024 National Conference Dress code:

- Conference - Business casual

- Gala dinner - Cocktail