12/03/2026
Around Australia many events were held to acknowledge International Women's Day, as we end the week, Australian Women's Health Alliance like many will continue to call for action to address the systemic barriers and ensure fair, inclusive and accessible justice for women and girls. đź’—
Continuing to call for health rights, barriers and continued funding for progress for health and wellbeing for all women.
Australian Women's Health Alliance celebrated International Women's Day in Brisbane with member organisations and stakeholders.
We would like to thank:
✔️ Paralex Legal for their partnership
✔️ King & Wood Malleson for the venue
✔️ Alana Kennedy, funder of Ochre Sun for gifting all of our guests products from her range.
To recognise the theme we invited our Queensland Director Holly Brennan OAM and our keynote speaker Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Commissioner Natalie Lewis to share their wisdom.
Holly reminded us of the role's women take on, the voluntary roles, paid ones and family related roles, mothers, aunt, kinship carers and we must realise one's ability to manage stress and reminding us of social health and to build supportive relationships when we balance the scales.
By building supportive relationships and connecting with the community, we must consider the broader factors, cultural, wellbeing, environmental and socioeconomic factors which contribute to our overall health. Holly also spoke of the values of leadership and how the values of leadership is fitting to the Australian Women's Health Alliance, and how it is important to have an Indigenous CEO leading the conversation for the Alliance. Though it is the first time in 40 years the Alliance has had a CEO, this is to the challenge of funding. The board of directors always felt that there is a need for a National Women's Health Alliance.
Commissioner Lewis carried the message of the 'barefoot ballerinas" across North Queensland, where are young girls learning to dance through the Young, Black and Proud program, a program that creates space for Aboriginal girls to be visible in ways that are joyful, creative and powerful. đź’« But too often the systems surrounding Aboriginal girls operate in ways that undermine leadership; discrimination and exclusion shape everyday life.
Commissioner Lewis summed the theme in just a few words, "International Women's Day is often framed as a moment to celebrate progress, but celebration is not a measure of equity, outcomes are, and the most honest place to judge those outcomes is where women face the greatest barriers to safety and justice."
Here's to the strong women
May we know them
May we be them
May we raise them.
