19-20 October 2023

Voices Shaping the Future was a two‑day celebration of conversations, performances, and workshops by and for young women and those interested in their views on gender inequality and intersecting injustices in the world today.

The program incorporated a National Youth Summit of 100 young women organised by Julia Gillard’s Global Institute for Women's Leadership (GIWL), a public Conversation Series based on the issues young women want to discuss, and a Schools Day event hosting over 200 Queensland school girls and featuring young women who are changing lives with their big ideas, practical workshops and the much‑loved WOW speed mentoring on the Wheel of Brisbane! 

The program wrapped up with award winning concert Spinifex Gum featuring Marliya, where the voices of young First Nations women from Gondwana choirs combined with the poetic yet compelling lyrics of The Cat Empire’s Felix Riebl and choreography by Deborah Brown, delivered a performance that lives with us long after the final note has been sung.

Voices Shaping the Future was presented by QPAC and WOW - Women of the World Australia, with contributions from the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and the Australian Human Rights Commission and celebrated the UN International Day of the Girl Child which fell on 11 October 2023.