Speakers for
National Conference
Friday Symposium:
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, the Hon Natasha Fyles MLA
Terese Edwards Chief Executive of Single Mother Families Australia
Dr Terrance Fitzsimmons Managing Director Australian Gender Equality Council
Our Host, Darwin BPW Member Wendy Burns
Friday Welcome Reception:
Northern Territory Minister for Equality and Inclusion, the Hon Lauren Moss MLA
Saturday Gala Dinner:
Host Amy Hetherington
Northern Territory Minister for Equality and Inclusion, the Hon Lauren Moss MLA
Lauren Moss is the Member for Casuarina. Elected in 2014, Lauren was appointed Minister for Tourism, Sport and Culture. She was the Territory’s youngest parliamentarian at 27 years of age.
Since then Lauren has held a number of ministerial portfolios including Minister for Education, Minister for Women, Minister for Children, and Minister for Corporate and Information Services.
Currently Lauren is the Northern Territory’s Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security; Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention; Minister for Equality and Inclusion; Minister for Youth and Minister for Seniors.
Holding a Bachelor of Business from Monash University, Lauren was the recipient of Excellence in Youth Leadership award and the NT Pride of Australia Young Leader Medal.
As a long-standing advocate for mental health support for young people, Lauren is also passionate advocate for young and senior Territorians, as well as ensuring the Territory is an inclusive community for all. As the Territory’s first Minister for Climate Change she recognised the importance of responding and taking action against the impacts of climate change.
Friday Welcome Reception Guest
Friday Women's Economic Security Symposium Speakers
Hon Natasha Fyles MLA
Natasha Fyles is the 12th Chief Minister for the Northern Territory and has served as the Member for Nightcliff since 2012. Born and raised in Darwin, Natasha has always been an active member of the community, participating in a number of sports growing up including representing the Northern Territory in swimming.
Natasha attended university in Canberra before returning home to Darwin to assume a role teaching at a local Darwin school. Following this Natasha assumed the role of Executive Director of The Royal Life Saving Society of the Northern Territory. In this role she delivered water safety programs across the Territory in both urban and remote centres.
As Chief Minister, Natasha has taken the critical portfolio as Minister for Major Projects. This reflects her belief that the Territory is finally achieving due recognition for its strategic importance in the IndoPacific, and as an investment destination for a diverse range of projects that will sustain it for decades to come.
Terese Edwards
Chief Executive of Single Mother Families Australia: 2009 to present. Primacy is to address compound and structural disadvantage. Addressing a system that produces diminished and unsafe lives without economic security or certainty. An outcome for too many single mothers & their children. Appointed to the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce 2022.
Various executive positions, including Economic Security 4 Women, the Australian Women Against Violence Alliances and a former Deputy President of ACOSS with roles on the
Published Author: Out of Wedlock ~ Out of Luck, a chapter in the Women and Whitlam, Revisiting the Revolution (2023).
Engagement with the United Nations, including a formal complaint and presentation at the Convention on the Status of Women regarding single mothers' inability to access a parenting payment. New York (2019)
Co-produced '10 Stories of Single Mothers': A documentary illustrating the hardship of our income support system (2014). Unsung Hero: Hesta Award:2019. Irene Bell Award: International Women's Day (SA): 2018
Current PhD Candidature with a Masters Public Administration,
Post Grad Diploma Management, Post Grad Cert Public Policy.
Dr Terrance Fitzsimmons
Dr Fitzsimmons is an Associate Professor in Leadership with the University of Queensland Business School. He is the Managing Director of the Australian Gender Equality Council (AGEC), a body whose members comprise of peak national bodies representing 400,000 women across industry sectors in Australia. He is the director of the UQ AIBE Centre for Gender Equality in the Workplace.
In February 2020 he released a report in partnership with the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency examining leading practices in progressing workplace gender equality in Australia. In 2021 he released the ‘Towards Board Gender Parity’ report with the Australian Institute of Company Directors examining how Australia became one of only three countries in the world to achieve 30%+ women on their ASX200 boards without recourse to legislated quotas. In July, 2022 he released the ‘Experiences of COVID-19: The pandemic and work/life outcomes for Australian men and women.’ Looking at the gender differential experiences of COVID-19 on men and women.
He has published in the world’s leading journals on the topics of leadership and gender equality, advises many of Australia’s largest firms on issues of diversity and inclusion and speaks regularly in Australia and overseas in the area of gender equality. He has served as national and state presidents of not for profit bodies as well as a being a director on boards of Listed Public Companies in Australia and overseas.
Our Host
Wendy Burns
BPW Darwin member
Wendy is a highly experienced, Internationally Certified Transformational Coach, Author, and Speaker. Wendy has over 20 years in leadership in various Australian Government Regulatory Environments leading teams through organisational change.
By the invitation of the President of Paraguay in 2016, Wendy joined John Maxwell bringing transformational change to the nation using a values based leadership model. As a transformational coach, she works with executives, leaders, individual women and women’s groups to enable them to understand the importance of values based self leadership. Wendy works closely with women to help them find their voice, empower their lives and know their truth.
She is a fervent believer in ‘The Power of Choice’ in a person’s life as a powerful tool in the process of breaking free from old patterns of thinking and behaviours that hold them back from living in their true purpose. The author of two best-selling books, Remarkable You and Unmask Stop Hiding Start Living, she speaks on professional topics such as leadership and empowering women as well as being an inspirational speaker on the topic of suicide, domestic violence, alcoholism and sexual assault from the point of being a survivor and having intimate first-hand experience in these areas.
Saturday Gala Dinner
Amy Hetherington
Amy Hetherington is a high energy MC, comedian, business owner and new mum from Darwin, Northern Territory. She engages her audience with a joyful combination of positivity, wit and charm. Amy has been facilitating and MCing functions and meetings for 10 years and has a bag of tricks for keeping the energy up and making sure it runs smoothly.
As a comedian Amy has performed SOLD OUT shows at the Darwin Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival has supported comedy legends including Dave Hughes, Glenn Robbins, Fiona O'Loughlin and Jimeon and is currently touring a show called JUGGLE - which won the Best Overall Comedy Award at Perth Fringe. Amy is heavily involved in local events, community activities, mentoring and volunteering and believes making things more fun makes them more effective.