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#IWD2024

ANU celebrates women every day and particularly on International Women's Day (IWD).

To mark International Women's Day this year, come along to the Susan Ryan Oration, our flagship IWD event, on Monday 25 March and hear from Padma Raman PSM, Executive Director of the Office for Women at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 

In this week's edition, we are also sharing the work and stories of our community's commitment to female empowerment, gender equity and the issues facing women in all walks of life.

Read more stories and events on our IWD page

Elizabeth Blower. Image: ANU 

Rowing for 24 hours straight on Lake Burley Griffin isn’t how most of us would choose to spend our Saturday, but ANU staffer Elizabeth Blower is ready to get her boat in the water and make her own waves. 

On 9 March, Blower will launch her single scull from Sullivan’s Creek and row continuously across the Canberra lake until 9am the following morning.

Image: Bessie Rischbieth and Ruby Rich attending the 12th Congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Istanbul, Turkey, 1935. Photo: Â鶹´«Ã½AV Information Service.

Women not getting credit when credit’s due? Sounds familiar. That’s why you should meet the Â鶹´«Ã½AV women who have helped to shape our nation’s history and improve the lives of women everywhere. 

Despite leaving an incredible mark on both the development of feminism in Australia and our nation, Bessie Rischbieth, Olive Zakharov and Ruby Hammond aren’t widely known household names.  

One ANU researcher thinks they should be – and is working hard to make sure the three trailblazers of get the attention they deserve. 

 

As part of his doctoral research at the Neuroimaging and Brain Lab with the , Dr Ananthan Ambikairajah found that women can't actually blame menopause for weight gain.

Instead, he finds that you can blame ageing for weight gain. Menopause is likely only responsible for weight redistribution.

"I definitely get that it may not seem like an empowering message," he says. "But actually, it is, because it emphasises the need to focus on preventative strategies for women’s health."

International Women's Day serves as a poignant reminder that there is an ongoing global struggle for gender equity and a need for concerted efforts to break down barriers, and to celebrate, acknowledge, and empower women and gender diverse people in all spheres of life.

This week marks the official launch of the University's . The Strategy is the University’s solid commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable environment for staff, students and the community we serve. 

The Strategy's development was led by Professor Fiona Jenkins, Convenor of the ANU Gender Institute and Chair of the Gender Equity Working Group along with the ANU Gender Equity Plan taskforce, who researched cultural change, reviewed good practice and undertook extensive consultation with our community to develop the strategy.

Monday 25 March, 6-7pm

The 2024 Susan Ryan Oration will be delivered by Padma Raman PSM, Executive Director of the Office for Women (OFW) at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 

The Susan Ryan Oration stands as the University's flagship International Women's Day celebration, dedicated to honouring the late Susan Ryan, one of our community's greatest advocates for age and gender equality. 
 
This annual event provides a platform to commemorate Susan's remarkable legacy of advocacy and her profound contributions that have positively impacted Australia and the global community. 

Register now

Friday 8 March, 12-2pm  

Hosted by the , engage in an enlightening conversation on International Women’s Day as the College celebrates the achievements of women and explores pathways to inclusion.

Wednesday 27 March, 6-7.30pm  

Hosted by the Ambassador Stephanie Copus Campbell AM, an influential advocate for gender equality, will be delivering the 2024 Pamela Denoon Lecture. 

Thursday 7 March, 4-5.30pm 

This talk will present a nuanced examination of contemporary Chinese artworks and the artists' personal narratives. 

is supported by the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Centre on China in the World at ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.

Thursday 7 March, 5.30-6.30pm 

The sequence of numbers 1, -24, 252, -1472, 4830, ... was extensively studied by the great Indian mathematician Ramanujan almost a century ago. These numbers - the values of Ramanujan's tau-function - have been the guiding force behind several themes in Number Theory.  Mathematical Sciences Research Visitor (from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India) will explore this topic and more at this public lecture.

This event is hosted by the .

Register now

Are you new to ANU this semester?

All commencing coursework students are invited to respond to the . Check your ANU email for your invitation from ANU Institutional Research.

Free ANU merchandise is up for grabs for those who participate.

The survey closes tomorrow (Wednesday 6 March) at 11.30pm. 

Following an issue identified during out pre-change checks, and in consultation with our firewall partner (Palo Alto) and our valued ANU technical stakeholders, we elected not to proceed with the migration of our firewalls over the weekend.

As the network outage did not take place, no systems have been impacted.

We thank you for your patience as we work to keep ANU safe. We will work to migrate our Firewalls in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.