On 1-2 December 2011 the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, together with the University of Melbourne, will host a national conference on Women, Leadership and Democracy in Australia. The conference is being conducted as part of the ARC Linkage project Women and Leadership in a Century of Australian Democracy, being co-ordinated by the University of Melbourne.

Women, Leadership and Democracy in Australia aims to provide a forum for researchers, activists, politicians, community, business and civic leaders, and others interested in the history and future of women’s leadership in Australia.

The conference programme will showcase the diversity of research on women’s leadership in Australian society since 1900—revealing new understandings of women’s civic and political leadership, from neighbourhood to international level.

Speakers will also explore the experiences of women who performed significant leadership roles at the community level including consumer, political and environmental movements—as well as in Indigenous, migrant and rural communities. The extent to which Australian women have provided leadership in multilateral organisations concerned with global democracy, such as the United Nations, will also be a key theme.

Finally, the ways in which women’s leadership is recorded and saved in archives and museums, as well as women who have been leaders in the fields of entertainment, the academy, literature and the public service will be discussed.

The conference programme is now available and registrations are open on the University of Melbourne’s website.

Discounted early bird rates are available for registrations made before 30 September 2011.

For any inquiries please contact Dr. Mary Tomsic.