WIMWA 2026

The WIMWA Summit is turning 18...

Help us blow out the candles...

This year marks 18 years of WIMWA annual conferences, and we're celebrating by handing the stage to two of Australia's sharpest and funniest voices on work and leadership:

 Annabel Crabb and Lisa Leong, who we are delighted will host WIMWA 2026 in Perth.

Eighteen years on, we are still curious.

We just ask better questions now.

How do we build workplaces where more people can thrive? Or even better matter?

What does great leadership look like in a changing industry?

How do we hold on to our human-ness as technology becomes more capable?

Tomorrow needs everyone. But what will it take to make sure everyone has a place at the table? 

How do we create workplaces where people can do their best work, stay focused, support one another and go home with something left in the tank?

These are the conversations we'll be having across two inspiring days with leaders, big thinkers, academics, executives, allies and talent from across the mining and resources sector.

Meet your hosts

Annabel Crabb has spent two decades getting some of Australia's most influential people to put the talking points aside and have real conversations. Through Kitchen Cabinet, her ABC journalism and The Wife Drought, she's challenged the way we think about leadership, work and care.

Lisa Leong, host of ABC Radio National's This Working Life, brings warmth, curiosity and humour to the biggest questions shaping modern work — from AI and burnout to energy, purpose and belonging.

Brooke Boney is a journalist and broadcaster, former Today show presenter and Oxford graduate, now undertaking a PhD in Philosophy. Her 2025 book All of It explores love, loss and ambition. Her grandfather, a coal miner, was her earliest role model and reference point for success.

Expect big ideas. And practical ones.

And the people who make WIMWA unlike any other conference.

"I love that every year there are new speakers, new ideas that push the boundaries of conventional thinking. It is beautifully and thoughtfully curated."

- past WIMWA Summit delegate

Two days. Eighteen years. One room you'll be glad you were in.

This September, the WIMWA Summit turns eighteen — and we're celebrating the way we always have: by filling a room with the most generous, curious and courageous people in our industry and giving them two days of conversations that matter.

Your hosts across both days are the incomparable Annabel Crabb and Lisa Leong, joined on Thursday by Mirika Winmar.

Day One - Thursday 24 September

We open the way every WIMWA gathering should: with Gina Williams AM singing Wanjoo, a Welcome to Country from Aunty Freda Ogilvie, and this year a toast to eighteen years, led by Annabel and WIMWA founder Sabina Shugg AM.

The morning belongs to story and legacy - South32 Karen Dias on the horizons ahead, Joanne Farrell honouring the life and legacy of the extraordinary Dr Erica Smyth AC, and something many of you have been waiting for a moment to hear Gina Williams AM in conversation with Annabel Crabb sharing a little of her inspiring story.

Then we get to work. Managing Director DevX Resources Marnie Finlayson sits down with Lisa Leong for a conversation that doesn't flinch. Annabel chairs a leadership reckoning with Newmont GM Boddington Chris Dark, GM Operations at Hancock Iron Ore Jodi Moffittand Mineral Resources' Marieh Zargar on what "good" leadership looks like now and  Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology, and the inaugural Director of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership Michelle Ryan follows with what the latest research.

After lunch:Dr Emily Musgrove unpacks the paradox of acceptance., followed by Perenti's President Contract Mining Gabrielle Iwanow on what stays the same when everything changes, and Lisa Leong joined by Managing Director Chemicals & Natural Resources at Accenture Sevi Rich and Principal Engineering PMO at BHP Casey Frew

We close the day with ,neuroscientist Dr Mark Williams on why, in an industry obsessed with what machines can do, human connection is still our superpower.followed by Industry legend Laura Tyler on why the future of mining is human, and Annabel Crabb ends the day with the excellent Gina Williams AM sharing a little bit more of the story behind the voice - before we raise a toast together at networking drinks.

Day Two - Friday 25 September

Friday opens with the question underneath everything else we do: if the future needs everyone, how do we make sure everyone is actually at the table? Ben Wyatt AO former WA Treasurer, now a director at Rio Tinto, West Coast Eagles and Woodside Energy with Annabel Crabb in conversation together. GM Dampier Salt at Rio Tinto Lily Meneghel follows on leadership and opportunities, and PwC Partner Beth Shaw on feedback -the skill we all say we want and yet almost none of us enjoy.

After morning tea we are in for a real treat, and a exclusive for WIMWA a interactive masterclass featuring Dr Emily Musgrove and Lisa Leong invite us to look more closely at the values that shape how we work, lead and make decisions. Through conversation, reflection and practical exercises, they explore the curious relationship between acceptance and change and how greater clarity about what matters can help us navigate uncertainty, focus our time and energy, and support greater, more sustainable productivity at work.

After lunch, the keynote we can't wait for: drawing on 12 years experience as Work Futurist at Atlassian, Dominic Price who brings the future of work firmly into the present. Change at the current pace can feel like something that happens to you - what Dom offers is a way to meet it: practical, deeply human ways of working that help people and teams keep pace with the technology around them, and even get ahead of it

Then Head of Sustainability and Enterprise Risk at Vulcan Energy Samantha Langley reminds us that what you see is only ever part of someone's story,

and after a cup of tea, we are joined by Annabel Crabb for her keynote "The juggle is real" if you've not been in the room yet for a keynote from Annabel, this will ceratnly provide lots of laughter and insight into the reality of caring and work.

We finish the way eighteen-year-olds should: a closing conversation bringing Brooke Boney, Dominic Price and Dr Emily Musgrove back to the stage with Annabel Crabb and Lisa Leong, before the return to the stage for one last song from Gina Williams AM, and a finish that sends you out buzzing to enjoy a sundowner together before heading into the long weekend.

Thursday 24 & Friday 25 September 2026 · 9:00am start both days ·

Everyone's invited.

Whether you're just starting your career, leading a team, running an operation or simply curious about what better workplaces look like, there's a place for you.

WIMWA has always believed that stronger workplaces are built when more voices are part of the conversation.

We'd love you to join ours.

Seating options

Bringing your team?
Book a table of eight or ten and enjoy reserved seating together across both days.

Coming on your own?
Choose a place at one of our social tables. Some of the best conversations at WIMWA have started with a simple question:

"Is anyone sitting here?"