Celebrate change at Canberra Labor Club’s International Women’s Day Charity dinner

Posted on 18 February, 2022

One of Canberra’s biggest celebrations of International Women’s Day is back again—and you’re invited.

The Canberra Labor Club International Women’s Day Charity dinner is back for 2022 on Thursday 10 March and is the perfect way to celebrate our community’s fierce and fabulous women.

Featuring an all-star panel of phenomenal Canberra women, live entertainment, a three-course dinner, drinks package, charity raffle and more, the evening will be held in support of Toora Women Inc with every $100 raised going towards supporting a women who is breaking free of trauma and rebuilding her life.

Established in 1982, Toora supports vulnerable women against such issues as domestic and family violence, alcohol and other drug dependencies, and homelessness in the ACT and surrounds and has become an icon of Canberra’s not-for-profit scene.

This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) theme is #BreakTheBias, and a diverse panel has been assembled to unpack the light and shade surrounding this important day—including author Zoya Patel, Gai Brodtmann, President of the Master Builders ACT Grace Ferreira and CEO of Toora Women Inc. Kellie Friend with more speakers to be announced soon.

Hosting the evening will be Ginger Gorman (pictured above, right), Editor of BroadAgenda at the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation at the University of Canberra and author of Troll Hunting, the ground-breaking 2019 book on cyber hate and trolling.

Ginger says that IWD isn’t just a chance to celebrate how far we’ve come, but to shine a light on areas that still need to be addressed.

“I’m someone who has experienced both bullying and sexual harassment at work. Once I had kids, I was also put on the “mummy track” and passed over for promotions in favour of far less-qualified men. I also have experience of sexual assault. I wish these things were extraordinary—but the sad fact is that they aren’t,” says Ginger.

“You might look around and think that things seem more equal that they were 20 or 30 years ago. But in fact, Australia’s national gender pay gap is currently 14.2% and one in five Australian women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. (This compares to one in 20 men).”

“IWD is a day to open up these conversations, talk about these experiences and work out how to make things better. I am so proud to be hosting this event at the Labor Club in support of Toora Women’s Inc.”

Panellists from last year’s 2021 IWD celebration.

For the Canberra Labor Club, hosting this event annually is a no brainer.

“Canberra Labor Club is incredibly proud of our commitment to gender equality with our current workforce ratio at 56% female and 44% male, and our Board of Directors committed to 50/50 split,” says Natasha Mijoc, Marketing Manager for Canberra Labor Club.

“We encourage and support the female cohort to pursue careers in the club industry. We established a “Women In Clubs” scholarship in 2021 and currently have two female employees studying Certificate IV in Business Operations.”

With tickets just $98 per person for a three-course dinner, drinks package, entertainment, charity raffle and panel discussion, the final question is—what are you waiting for?

HerCanberra is a proud media partner of this event