2023 Australian Awards for Excellence in Women’s Leadership

Women & Leadership Australia recently announced the winners of the 2023 Australian Awards for Excellence in Women’s Leadership.

The national winner was Karen Mundine, CEO of Reconciliation Australia. Over the course of Karen’s career, she has played an instrumental part in some of Australia’s watershed national events including the Apology to the Stolen Generations, Centenary of Federation commemorations, Corroboree 2000, and the 1997 and 2021 Australian Reconciliation Conventions.

Karen explained, “I carry in me my family history and the history of the Bundjalung Nation. My grandmother, mother and aunties – role models to me and many others – set standards and expectations through their resilience and their own achievements. My life experiences might be a bit different to them but I share their resourcefulness and resilience, their determination to live their lives on their own terms and with purpose.

“To achieve real, meaningful change to our systems, to the way things have been done in the past, we need to have a diversity of people at the table. I remind all women, don’t underestimate what you might bring to the table – own it, everything you know you are, and all the things that you’re not – your perspective is unique,” she said.

The state and territory winners were:

• ACT: Natasha Bullock - Assistant Director, Collections and Exhibitions, National Gallery of Australia.
• NSW: Tu Le - Lawyer, Marrickville.
• Northern Territory: Pat Anderson AO - Chair, Batchelor Institute. Pat is a proud Alyawarre woman known nationally and internationally as a powerful advocate for the health of Australia’s First Peoples.
• Queensland: -Rochelle Courtenay - Founder & Managing Director, Share the Dignity, a national charity founded in 2015 with the mission to ensure that everyone is afforded the dignity of having access to period products that so many of us take for granted.
• South Australia: Moya Dodd - Partner, Gilbert + Tobin, Former Vice Captain, The Matildas.
• Tasmania: Donna Adams – Commissioner of Tasmania Police and Secretary of the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management.
• Victoria: Georgie Harman - CEO, Beyond Blue.
• Western Australia: Zahra Al Hilaly. Zahra is an internationally recognised young leader for her work in gender equality and youth governance.

You can learn more about these remarkable women here: https://www.wla.edu.au/post/2023-australian-awards-excellence-womens-leadership

• Topics:

• Awards
• Women