International Women’s Day Gala 2026

Three-time Walkley Award winner, Virginia Trioli is the presenter of ‘Creative Types’ on ABC TV and iView and is one of Australia’s best-known journalists, with a formidable reputation as a television anchor, radio presenter, writer and commentator.

An Honours graduate in Fine Arts from Melbourne and La Trobe Universities, Virginia is the author of A Bit on the Side: Reflections on What Makes Life Delicious (2024) and Generation F (1996), her celebrated response to Helen Garner’s ‘First Stone’.

Virginia has held senior positions at the Age newspaper and the Bulletin magazine; she has hosted ABC radio and television programs in Sydney and Melbourne, including Drive, Mornings, QandA, Lateline and 7.30, and was the founding anchor of ABC News Breakfast on ABC TV, which she co-hosted for 11 years.

She hosts the ABC podcast, You Don’t Know Me and writes her Weekend Reads column for ABC News online each Saturday.

Kate Fitz-Gibbon is an internationally recognised expert in violence against women and children. She is a Professor (Practice) with the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University and an Honorary Professorial Fellow with the Melbourne Law School at University of Melbourne. Kate’s qualifications include a Phd in Criminology, Masters of Human Rights Law, Graduate Certificate of Higher Education, and she is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Kate’s areas of expertise include domestic and family violence, femicide, responses to all forms of violence against women and children, perpetrator interventions, and the impacts of policy and practice reform in Australia and internationally. She has significant experience with qualitative and survey-based research methods, and a strong record of conducting research that ethically and safely engages with family violence victim-survivors, people who use violence, and practitioners.

Kate’s research has shaped policy submissions to national and international law reform bodies, has been cited by the High Court of Australia, and has been published in 8 books and over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles. She has been appointed to Commonwealth and state-based advisory committees, and led consultations and public reports for the Commonwealth Department of Social Services, the Victorian, South Australian and ACT Governments, the Fair Work Commission, and the Australian Institute of Criminology among others. In 2021, she was appointed Chair of Respect Victoria, and in 2024 she was appointed to the Victorian Children’s Council. In 2024, Kate was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Antoinette Braybrook AM is an Aboriginal woman who was born on Wurundjeri country. Her grandfather and mother’s line is through the Kuku Yalanji. Antoinette is the CEO of Djirra, a position she has held since the service was established in 2002.

Antoinette seeks to give voice and visibility to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly Aboriginal women who experience family violence. She is a strong advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control and self-determination.

Antoinette’s leadership and influence have received significant state, national and international recognition. This includes her appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia, receiving an Honorary Doctorate and Alumni Award for Excellence from Deakin University, and being named Melburnian of the Year, becoming the first Aboriginal person to receive this award in its 20-year history. Her voice has influenced human rights and gender justice discourse at the highest levels, including the United Nations and Women Deliver, where she has firmly positioned Aboriginal women’s experiences within conversations on violence, racism and structural inequality.

Tania Farha is currently the CEO of InTouch, a specialist family violence service that provides services, programs and responses to family violence in migrant and refugee communities in Victoria.  Prior to moving to InTouch, Tania was the CEO of Safe and Equal, the peak body for Victorian organisations that specialise in family and gender-based violence across the continuum, including primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery. Previously, Tania has held executive positions across the Victorian Departments of Justice and Community Safety and Premier and Cabinet, including as CEO of the former Office of Prevention and Women’s Equality. Tania worked at UN Women for over four years as a policy specialist in the Ending Violence Against Women Section and worked for Victoria Police for over nine years to improve its responses to family violence, sexual assault and child abuse.

Karen Fletcher has worked in public health, prison and human rights law since her first job at Legal Aid 35 years ago. She is currently the Executive Officer of Flat Out Inc, a grassroots community organisation that supports and advocates for women, trans and gender diverse people to get out and stay out of prison.

Karen has degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Queensland and a Master’s in public health law from La Trobe University, Melbourne.