International Women’s Day Panel - Women in Leadership: Balancing the Scales

Aunty Dr Matilda House welcomed a crowd to the Lowitja O’Donoghue Cultural Centre on unceded Ngunnawal and Ngambri land at ANU for an International Womens Day panel with The Honourable Linda Burney, Senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Prof. Penny Sackett, together with Interim VC Prof. Rebekah Brown; and Prof. Bina D'Costa.

With leadership that spans community advocacy and public life, these people with extraordinary careers explored together how we create more equitable systems and institutions. The Panel addressed being the first, being yourself and kind, not putting up with BS, dealing with persistent intersectional racism and how leadership is best when collective and when many voices shape it.

Professor of International Relations at the Coral Bell School and CEVAW Chief Investigator, Professor Bina D'Costa, opened the panel:

In a world marked by ruptures—from wars to the everyday struggles for safety, dignity, and justice—women’s personal and political lives are so often the first to be disrupted and the last to be repaired. These realities make our commitment to inclusive leadership not only an intellectual responsibility, but an essential one.

Event details

Join us on Wednesday, 11 March 2026 for ANU International Women’s Day event, aligned with this year’s theme, Balancing the Scales. This special evening panel will bring together women whose leadership spans community advocacy and public life to explore how we create more equitable systems and opportunities across Australia. 

Confirmed speakers include the Honourable Linda Burney Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Senator for New South Wales and Professor Penny Sackett, Distinguished Honorary Professor. The panel will be chaired by Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Rebekah Brown and the event will be opened by Professor Bina D'Costa.

The Honourable Linda Burney a member of the Wiradjuri Nation, Linda Burney is a natural leader. Born in 1957, Linda was one of the first Aboriginal students to graduate from Mitchell College, now known as Charles Sturt University, with a teaching degree in 1978. After teaching for only two years, at the young age of 22, Linda asked to join John Lester, Lynette Riley and Trevor Cook in establishing the first Aboriginal Education Unit within the NSW State Department of Education. In this role Linda assisted in creating the first ever Aboriginal Education Policy in NSW which set the template and ongoing standards for Aboriginal education across Australia. Linda’s achievements are clearly demonstrated over three decades of continuous commitment championing Aboriginal rights in education, reconciliation and politics. Linda has contributed significantly to the development of Indigenous communities locally, regionally and nationally as an educator, championing reconciliation in Australia and as Member of the NSW Parliament.

Dr Mehreen Faruqi is the Greens’ senator for New South Wales. She is a civil and environmental engineer and life-long activist for social and environmental justice. In 2013, she joined NSW State Parliament, becoming the first Muslim woman to sit in an Australian parliament. In 2018, Mehreen became Australia’s first Muslim senator. She has been a passionate advocate against racism and misogyny.

Since emigrating from Pakistan in 1992 and completing her doctorate at the University of New South Wales, Mehreen has worked in leadership positions for local government, consulting firms and as an academic in Australia and internationally. This includes her roles as Manager of Environment and Services for Mosman Council, Manager of Natural Resources and Catchments for Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, Director of the Institute of Environmental Studies (UNSW) and an Associate Professor in Business and Sustainability (AGSM, UNSW).

Mehreen has delivered major projects including stormwater reuse and recycling infrastructure, integrated water cycle management, hydropower generation, cycleways and rainforest rehabilitation, as well as working for action on climate change and waste reduction. She has chaired a number of panels and committees on sustainability, water and waste management for industry, local, state and federal government.

Mehreen is a member of the National Tertiary Education Union.

She has been named one of the 100 most influential engineers in Australia and received the UNSW Faculty of Engineering Award for Leadership, and remains a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and a member of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand. Throughout her career, Mehreen’s work has focused on developing solutions to social and environmental challenges.

Mehreen has been involved in feminist and anti-racist activism throughout her life. She introduced the first ever bill to decriminalise abortion in New South Wales and won the closure of pregnancy discrimination loopholes. Mehreen’s work for reproductive rights was recognised with the feminist Edna Ryan Grand Stirrer award in 2017 “for inciting others to challenge the status quo”. Her “Love Letters to Mehreen” series has highlighted the online harassment, bullying and toxicity experienced by women of colour in public life.

Since joining the federal senate in August 2018, Mehreen has been an outspoken advocate for public education, social housing and animal welfare. She continued her work calling out discrimination in her first speech, condemning the “legitimisation, normalisation and encouragement” of hate in politics and the media. She is the Australian Greens’ spokesperson for education and lifelong learning, housing, animal welfare, local government, gun control and industry.

Professor Penny D. Sackett works at the intersection of climate science and energy, often providing expert advice on the climate impacts of fossil fuel projects. Trained in the United States, she has held roles at Princeton, and the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. As Australia's Chief Scientist (2008–2011), she championed evidence-based policy and public engagement on sustainability. She has served on national and international advisory bodies, including the ACT Climate Change Council and the Potsdam Institute. Her ongoing interests include sustainability, complex systems, and leadership during change. 

Professor Bina D'Costa is a leading scholar of global politics whose work focuses on humanitarian crises, human rights, and the protection of children and young people. She is a Professor of International Relations at The Australian National University and a UN Special Rapporteur with the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. She holds an ARC Future Fellowship and leads the Migration and Trafficking research stream at the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Her work bridges academic research and humanitarian practice, with extensive field experience across Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, and East and Southern Africa. 

Additional information:
This event will be recorded and published via ANU TV. Registration is required for this event. Accessible parking spaces are available around campus should you require them.