After the pandemic. What happens next? And why women's leadership is important, October 2021

For our October online conversation, Congress founding members Dr Jenny Robinson and Dr Janet Salisbury were joined by Dr Emma Dawson (Executive Director, Percapita; co-editor of the book What happens next? Reconstructing Australia after COVID-19) and Professor Susan Harris Rimmer (Director, Griffith University Policy Innovation Hub; co-convenor of the Griffith Gender Equality Research Network; leader of the Climate Justice theme of the new Griffith Climate Action Beacon).

The Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, which were the impetus for founding the Women’s Climate Congress, already showed that urgent action was needed to stabilise the climate and rebalance the political culture that had brought us to this impasse. Then COVID came along. In this conversation we ask how this health crisis will reshape our thinking. The Black Death of the 14th Century disrupted European society and contributed to the Renaissance. And after the Great Depression and the Second World War, economic thinking was transformed with a determination to create a more equitable society. What will be the legacy of COVID-19? And at this pivotal moment in history, why is it vital for ‘Women Rising’ to inform these changes?

Meet our guest conversationalists
Dr Emma Dawson Emma Dawson is Executive Director of public policy think tank Per Capita. She has worked as a researcher at Monash University and the University of Melbourne; in policy and public affairs for SBS and Telstra; and as a senior policy adviser in the Rudd and Gillard Governments.

Emma has published reports, articles and opinion pieces on a wide range of public policy issues. She is a regular contributor to Guardian Australia, The Age, Independent Australia and The Australian Financial Review, and a frequent guest on various ABC and commercial radio programs nationally. She appears regularly as an expert witness before parliamentary inquiries and often speaks at public events and conferences in Australia and internationally.

Emma is the co-editor, with Professor Janet McCalman, of the collection of essays What happens next? Reconstructing Australia after COVID-19, published by Melbourne University Press in September 2020. She joined the Board of Australia21 in June 2021.

Professor Susan Harris Rimmer
Human rights are the basic minimum protections which every human being should be able to enjoy. Women remain a group who have been denied many basic human rights such as education, right to vote, having their own independent identity, being able to plan families, being protected from violence and achieving equality in the workplace. Susan’s work is about changing this.

As the Director of the Griffith University Policy Innovation Hub, Susan leads the gateway for government, industry and community knowledge partnerships. The Hub provides insights and analysis that help to shape the future of Queensland, Australia and the Asia-Pacific. They collaborate with industry partners such as The Electoral Commission Queensland, CSIA and WOW Women of Australia.

With Professor Sara Davies, Susan is co-convenor of the Griffith Gender Equality Research Network. https://www.griffith.edu.au/research/gender-equality-research-network. Sue also leads the Climate Justice theme of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon. https://www.griffith.edu.au/research/climate-action