Political Pathways for Women in Local Government

Lineup

• More details about Licia Heath

  Licia Heath

  Licia Heath is the inaugural CEO of Women for Election and she’s dedicated to inspiring and equipping more women across the country to run for public office at the local, state or federal level. In addition to training women to run for office, Licia is also focused on engaging more women in Australia’s political process and educating them on the various roles they might like to take to help another woman get elected. She sets the tone that gender-balanced governments improve quality of life not just for women and girls, but for all of society. Licia ran in the high-profile Wentworth by-election in October 2018 and helped shape the political debate on a national platform. She spent over 19 years in the finance and asset management sector and worked at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse in London and Australia. She helped establish Ironbark Asset Management, an Australian-based asset management business.

• More details about Anya Murray

  Anya Murray

  Anya Murray is currently Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement at the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA). She is an experienced Strategic Communications, Stakeholder Engagement and Media Management professional with extensive corporate, state and local government experience. With a career spanning more than 25 years, Anya has spent the last 15 years leading high performing communications, media and strategic engagement teams in the Local Government sector. She has worked most recently at Yarra City Council and Greater Dandenong City Council. She is a natural storyteller, who is passionate about enhancing the reputation of organisations, celebrating the work they do and their contributions to community, Anya started her career as a journalist, completing her cadetship at Fairfax and later moving to News Corp where she worked across a variety of mastheads, first as a reporter and later as a News Editor and Chief of Staff. A passion for delivering positive outcomes for communities saw Anya transition to government communications where she has built a deep understanding of the inner workings of government and recognises the importance of good governance. During this time, she has specialised in media and crisis management, community engagement, advocacy, digital and print content production, brand enhancement, emergency management and risk mitigation. Anya holds a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) from RMIT and also a Graduate Certificate in Business Management.

• More details about Leonie Morgan AM

  Leonie Morgan AM

  Leonie Morgan AM is an experienced consultant who has worked across Australia and the Asia Pacific to encourage women to stand for local government and for parliament. Leonie is an expert on political mentoring. Leonie set up and coordinated the first ALGWA (Vic) mentoring program after the 2016 elections and the mentoring program she and Linda Bennett developed and implemented for ALGWA after the 2020 elections was awarded the 2022 best National Women’s Program by the Minister of Local Government. Leonie is again working with ALGWA (Vic) to coordinate the 2025/2026 Mentoring Program. She is a Member of the Order of Australia for significant services to women, in particular equal political representation.

• More details about Cr Sarah Gilligan

  Cr Sarah Gilligan

  Cr. Sarah Gilligan is a second term councillor at South Gippsland and Executive Officer for ALGWA Vic. Before entering local government Sarah worked in major events, film and television, project management and development. Sarah discovered the power of coaching and mentoring working as Development Manager for the Australian Centre for Dialogue at the ANU Law School, after which she became an ICF Coach herself. Sarah loves helping women thrive personally and professionally, she championed and coordinated the 2025 ALGWA Vic mentoring program funding and roll out and believes ALGWA Vic’s strength is in its network and commitment to women supporting women.