Speech to the UN Women Australia International Women's Day event

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I am very proud, very proud, to be patron of UN Women Australia. 

The work of this organization here in Australia and throughout the region is so vital.

And its partnership approach to achieving gender equality makes the biggest differences. 

As we all reflect on the decades that have passed since the Beijing Declaration in 1995, I do believe that we can celebrate that what was visionary then is action today.

I want to start with just a moment of reflection, because here we are in the heart of Sydney, with a distance between us and northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. 

And I think it is important that, as we enjoy this glorious time together, we should be thinking about the regions that are anxiously preparing for the arrival of Cyclone Alfred and its impact. 

I know that, like me, you are holding everyone that is anxiously awaiting all of that impact in your hearts, and that we will stand up across the country in support of the recovery that will be required.

We will support the extraordinary work of the SES, all the frontline responders, and the volunteer organisations who I have been speaking to in recent days, who are in readiness, setting up the evacuation centres and preparing to help wherever they can. 

It is the ultimate act of care. 

And, as Commander in Chief of the Australian Defence Force, I also thank the ADF personnel who are prepositioning to respond and will be called on to assist from the very start of the action that will come with the weather systems. 

Today, I put on my little heart brooch, which says ‘I love Lismore’. 

It is a sign that I am thinking about everyone who will be affected. 

I visited Lismore and Ballina and have seen the long-term effect that these enormous events have. 

And our thoughts should always be with those families, particularly, and organisations and communities, that will be dealing with the impact of that weather for months and years to come. 

But turning to the to the topic of today, I am so pleased to be here in support of the 2025 UN Women's theme. 

March forward, turning promises into progress. 

International Women's Day. Week began for me on Monday in Canberra, and, over the course of the week, I have observed many things. 

A roundtable on domestic violence; I have yarned with First Nations school kids, particularly the young girls; spoken to a crowd of public policy experts; and shared a meal with a group of exceptional farmers and scholars who represent our agricultural heart.

At each gathering, and especially today, as we await cyclone Alfred, I have been thinking, particularly, of Australian women in all of our diversity

The vast diversity and scale of the landscape of their lives, and the shifting demands and expectations that the women across this country and the world meet with such energy, generosity and care. 

I also want to thank all of the young people in schools today across the country, who started this week by pinning on the purple ribbon.

With that simple gesture they honour a powerful history and add their voices to the women's movement all over the world. 

They claim that space, and they fill it with their optimism and their promise. 

Now, as your Governor General, and only the second woman to hold this office, I think today is an important time to acknowledge the generous wisdom of the extraordinary Dane Quentin Bryce, the first woman to serve as our government. 

We owe her a debt of gratitude for her pioneering and compassionate leadership in everything she did across her career, ultimately taking on this office of Governor General.

She described the role as finding the balance between honouring tradition and being thoroughly contemporary. 

And, in her example and in the example of my other predecessors, I find ways to perform my role as a modern, visible and highly optimistic Governor General, uniting and celebrating the very best of Australia, and doing that through a commitment throughout my term to care, kindness and respect. 

So, as we celebrate the work of the UN today, I reflect sometimes on my previous work in policy and advocacy and community engagement, especially on women's economic and social equality. 

But as you all know today, in the role of Governor General, I have a different responsibility and an extraordinary opportunity,

This office has no power to determine or influence policy. 

It has no politics, no money to give. 

I cannot pass judgment nor withhold favour.

But I do have the superpower to convene and host, to bring people together to discuss and debate the things that matter, to listen carefully and to visit places Governors-General may not have been before. To welcome you to Government House and Admiralty House

To be a governor general for all Australians. 

And in the words of one of my predecessors, Sir Zelman Cowan, to take the opportunity always to reflect the light and shade of our national story back to all Australians, and in the words of another of my predecessors, Sir William Deane, to always act with compassion. 

We held a roundtable last year at Government House in Canberra to advise Her Majesty, Queen Camilla, on the challenge of gender-based violence in Australia.

It was a remarkable gathering that inspired an unprecedented national meeting this week, also at Government House in Canberra, to discuss domestic family and sexual violence, convened by Michaela Cronin, our commissioner for domestic, family and sexual violence. 

That discussion brought together, for the first time, Commonwealth commissioners and ambassadors representing the gender, disability, First Nations, children and young people, eSafety and veteran sectors. 

The outcome was a strong statement affirming Australia's leadership in facing the challenge of gender violence and a united determination to transform the promise of action into progress, just as the UN theme for International Women Day asks of us.

The statement they released is above politics, beyond argument, and absolutely representative of the expectations of all Australians, women and men.

An inclusive statement, recognising that violence is not a women's issue for women to solve, but a community issue that cannot be addressed without everyone – girls and women, boys and men – at the table and finding the solution together.

Working in partnership with care and respect. 

Now I know, as does everyone here, the weight of work that remains to be done to ensure that women are safe in their homes, their communities and workplaces; to close the gender pay gap; to assure women's social and economic equality; and to make sure that progress here in Australia is shared by women around the world.

But I also know the many, many examples of optimism and progress that I have the great privilege to encounter on all of your behalf in my role as your Governor General. 

From my swearing in in July last year until today, I have visited every state and territory, some more than once.

In the cities and in tiny towns, on the coast and far into the bush, I encounter Australian women who turn promises into progress every single day, with hearts full of love, with mighty determination and always without hesitation

From the women recognized in our national system of honours and awards, like former Matilda Clare Polkinghorn, who daily encourages a new generation of excellence enthusiasm and participation in women's sport.

And while on the subject of sport, it is worth reflecting the fact that Cricket Australia has made sure that our Australian women's team is paid the same as the men's team. 

And, when Cricket Australia talks about parental leave, it doesn't just mean for the women's team. 

It means it for the men's – how good is it when we see some of our amazing men's cricketers actually take the leave to see their children being born, and absent themselves from an international tour, knowing that they will not be humiliated or chastised by their fellow cricketers because they're doing the thing that all parents want to do. 

But it was the advancement of women and parental leave and equal pay, I think, that built that confidence for the men to behave in that way. 

It is a great example of everyone rising with the tide. 

And I am very excited by today’s announcement that I am a patron of Netball Australia. 

There is so much great work that goes on in netball across our country, including the men who play netball. 

I want to also highlight the work of many other women I have met, including the 2025 Australian of the Year Local Heroes Vanessa Brettell and Hannah Costello, whose Cafe Stepping Stone in Canberra offers culturally and linguistically diverse migrant and refugee women life changing employment pathways. 

I have met Dr Jacinta Vu, the West Australian local hero whose dentistry not-for-profit, Healing Smiles, helps women escaping violence to rebuild their lives one trauma- informed, care-filled dental visit at a time.

I have visited organisations that embrace young women experiencing need at its greatest, whether it is mental ill health, domestic violence or homelessness. 

These organisations step up for those women. 

They ensure that women with their babies and children are always given the care that they need. 

And then, Dianne Haggerty, who, with her husband Ian, was named the West Australian of the Year for 2025 for the work that she leads on developing modern and sustainable farming practices. 

And, finally, to the brilliant Country Women's Association, all around the country, who have been advocating for families for over a century. 

They do that everywhere, in local branches and in the state branches.

In every field of endeavour, wherever I go, I see the very best of Australia. 

I see women as mentors and trailblazers, farmers and footy players, scientists and soldiers, advocates and policy makers, speakers and thinkers, writers, artists, makers and shapers. 

And I see women always marching forward together. 

Now, it was through the CWA in Perth that I first came to learn of a remarkable contribution to Australian life and the advancement of women that was made many, many decades ago by 

Dame Raigh Roe DBE. 

You may not have heard of her, but she was celebrated as Australian of the Year in 1977 when she was World President of the Associated Country Women of the World. 

Her worldview was shaped by her conviction that, in her words, ‘in the open spaces of the countryside, in the crowded cities, wherever there are women in isolation, there are others who will see the need and go forward to meet them. 

It may have well been written for 2025 UN International Women's Day.

Steadfast and determined, Dame Raigh went forward to meet women here in Australia and around the world. 

And I keep thinking about all this work that has been done forever – for decades, for over a century and beyond tens of thousands of years. 

By First Nations women.

By women mayors and local politicians today, with the SES and the RFS volunteers, the women of the Red Cross and Sir John Ambulance, who will be offering support right across the coast in the days ahead.

The women in agriculture and the women who serve in our modern and diverse Australian Defence Force, including my aide-de-camp, Captain Katie Higgins, who joins me today. 

As a member of the Engineering Corps in the Australian Army, Katie has commanded troops in recovery operations across the world and across Australia 

She gives me a direct insight into what happens in a modern defence force where women are not just welcome, but women are leading. 

It is these women who exemplify that promises have been transforming into progress forever. 

We just need to pay attention. 

When we meet barriers together as women and men, we will march forward together. 

We lift one another up with care and kindness and respect that encourages, inspires and always involves others. 

So, on International Women's Day, with all the tasks ahead, I remain optimistic, but realistic.

I'm hopeful, because of women I've already described, but also for women like Dr Katrina Wruck in Queensland, a brilliant young Mabuigilaig and Goemulga woman doing world-first chemical research, advocating for First Nations knowledge, and empowering remote communities. 

And because of the research insights and progress that has emerged in the 50 years since the founding of the office for women, which is still teaching us the pathways we can follow.

And because of the luminous influence of those extraordinary pioneers, Dame Edith Lyons and Dame Dorothy Tagney, who with their entry into Parliament 18 years ago, left a legacy today in the composition of parliaments, cabinets, shadow cabinets and the bureaucracy.

And, of course, I take my greatest inspiration and optimism from all of you. 

Together. 

We share our past with each other. 

We are working together productively, and we are designing a future together. 

I take inspiration from every one of you. 

So, on this International Women's Day, let's celebrate all who have pioneered and led and all of us across the country who, in 2025, are giving our energy, our passion, our creativity and our optimism to growing a better, more equal Australia. Thank you very much.