Former U.S Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Australia’s first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard AC, are set to headline the Women UNLIMITED Leadership Summit, scheduled for 29 September – 1 October.
The event, to be held across seven venues in six Australian capital cities, is poised to be the largest women in leadership event of its kind in Australia.
Organisers say the summit’s content is deeply curated to ignite new thinking, energise purpose-driven leadership and fuel collective momentum towards a more inclusive and empowered future.
The agenda features a powerful line-up of public servants, changemakers, and thought leaders who will share actionable leadership strategies.
Key Themes and In-depth Discussions:
The Women UNLIMITED Leadership Summit offers a deep dive into critical leadership areas, providing indispensable insights for today’s public sector and beyond.
- Leading with Impact and Navigating Complexity: Attendees will gain direct advice from global powerhouses. Former U.S Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton will be joining the summit in person in Sydney and Canberra, with her session also being livestreamed to other locations. She will share lessons on leading with impact when stakes are highest and effectively managing diverse personalities and evolving global challenges. Julia Gillard AC, Australia’s first and only woman Prime Minister, will reflect on her leadership journey and offer her vision for sustained progress and leading with strength in uncertain times via groundbreaking hologram technology. Journalist Leigh Sales AM will contribute insights on success, strength, and resilience, drawn from her extensive experience interviewing world leaders and powerful
figures. - Diversity, Inclusion & Allyship: Delve into the profound impact of bias in the workplace, uncovering unconscious biases that leaders might overlook, and providing practical methods to lead with allyship to foster safer, more inclusive teams. Sessions are also dedicated to neuro-inclusive leadership, focusing on how neurodivergent traits can enhance leadership skills, creativity and problem-solving and how to build workplace cultures that celebrate and leverage diverse neurological perspectives.
- Authentic Leadership & Resilience: Participants will explore the power of bringing their whole selves to leadership, understanding how authenticity contributes to high performance and psychological safety and the creation of open and honest workplace cultures. The agenda also includes sessions on adapting to challenges and building personal and team resilience, with speakers sharing their experiences of reframing failure and overcoming challenges.
- Critical Topics Affecting Women in the Workplace: A crucial element of the summit is its direct engagement with women’s health and safety issues in leadership. Panel discussions will address the often-unspoken impact of women’s health conditions, caring responsibilities, mental health stigma, menopause, endometriosis and fertility on career progression and confidence. These discussions aim to equip leaders with practical steps to foster psychologically safe and health-aware workplace cultures.
- Career Acceleration & Practical Application: The summit emphasises real-world learning, featuring practical examples and case studies from some of the most senior and accomplished women in the Public Sector. Interactive sessions such as ‘Networking UNLIMITED’ provide structured opportunities for attendees to build valuable connections and engage in conversations about their leadership journeys, setting goals and receiving peer feedback. Furthermore, attendees gain access to two exclusive post-summit online seminars, which form part of a three-month learning journey. These sessions, focused on ‘Presenting with Power for Women in Leadership’ and ‘Building Trusted & High-
Performing Teams’, are designed to enhance summit takeaways and provide practical tools for professional development beyond the event itself.
The summit will run from 29-30 September 2025 in Canberra at the National Convention Centre, with concurrent summits taking place from 30 September – 1 October 2025 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.
