• Moving forward with intention by navigating the tension of complex reform
• Backing your judgement: making confident decisions in high-stakes environments
• Translating government objectives into actionable departmental strategies that staff can connect with
• Balancing fiscal and operational goals with staff wellbeing and purpose
• Communicating to drive effective, unified change

• Applying mediation techniques to resolve conflicting workplace perspectives
• Leveraging personality differences to build high-performing, inclusive teams
• Modelling respectful communication during difficult or fierce conversations
• Finding common ground with challenging colleagues to achieve shared goals
• Creating an environment where people can contribute and perform

This 10-minute interactive ‘mini lab’ uses peer coaching to turn workplace friction into leadership growth.

• Leading under pressure: Making high-stakes decisions in moments that define your leadership
• Lead loudly, lead differently: Courage in the face of resistance
• What it takes to challenge entrenched systems and keep going when the pushback comes
• Navigating leadership when you’re underestimated, dismissed or “too different”
• Turning conviction into influence without losing authenticity

Jana Pittman has spent a lifetime performing under pressure – on the world’s biggest athletic stages, in the delivery suite, and in the unforgiving court of public opinion. 

With a rare ability to speak to what resilience really costs, she draws on her journey from dual Olympian and World Champion to practising obstetrician to illuminate what it actually takes to reinvent yourself at the highest level.

Honest, warm, and fiercely compelling, this session will leave you with a new understanding of what grit looks like when the goalposts move entirely, and the quiet courage it takes to back yourself when no one else yet sees the vision.

• What constitutes true allyship?
• Emphasising the ongoing journey, not the one-time act
• Moving beyond tokenism: Discussing the difference between performative allyship and actively sharing speaking opportunities with women who have less power or privilege
• Educating on how biases show up in everyday actions
• Strategies for engaging everyone, including men, in discussions about gender equality

In small groups, you will role-play allyship scenarios, such as interrupting a ‘manterruption’ or addressing a microaggression.

• How diverse voices at the table mitigate risk and drive performance
• What is one example of when your distinct perspective has helped avoid a crisis?
• When has your background or perspective given you an edge that others lacked?
• What is your advice for leaders to better tap into the strength of diverse perspectives in your team?
• Empowering employees to feel safe to show up as their whole selves

• Guiding staff through the psychological shifts of tech-led transformation
• Maintaining human-centric accountability within automated decision-making
• Bridging the capability gap by fostering a mindset of continuous agility
• Championing data integrity as a foundational pillar of ethical governance

Pause for a moment to consider the unique strengths you bring to the table, then share those qualities with your neighbours. This is a space to learn from one another’s journeys and celebrate the different ways we all show up as leaders.

• Embracing setbacks as stepping stones – progression is rarely a straight line
• Leaving the comfort zone behind – where ambition stalls  real growth begins
• Practising wise compassion – getting tough things done with care and humanity
• Choosing kindness as strength – boundaries, hard conversations and curiosity are kind
• Embracing femininity – leading through cooperation & influence over power and control

Shadow Minister Shannon Fentiman traces her transformative journey from a young girl inspired by her grandfather’s political debates to one of Queensland’s most formidable advocates for systemic reform. This story celebrates the grit required to navigate high-stakes portfolios and the unwavering resilience needed to lead when the stakes shift amid uncertainty and complexity.

• Making impact your north star – the uniting force behind every leadership decision
• Letting impact drive strategy, resourcing and finance as your clarity to cut through complexity
• Saying no with confidence: letting an ‘impact focus’ sharpen what truly deserves your energy
• Inspire and motivate teams through impact – even in resource-constrained environments
• Lead credibly, act boldly and deliver change

In this special Q&A moderated by Annabel Crabb, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joins the stage to redefine the architecture of influence. Aligned with our theme, “The Courage to Lead Differently,” Ardern draws from her bestselling memoir, A Different Kind of Power, to challenge the outdated notion that leadership requires a “thick skin” or an iron fist.

(This session will be livestreamed from Canberra)

Pause to reflect on one key insight from today and where it could shift how you lead in practice. Share your thinking with those around you, learn from different perspectives, and leave with one clear, practical action to take back into your role.

• Unpacking behaviours that sustain culture and performance when disruption is constant
• Rebuilding engagement and momentum in teams experiencing fatigue and fragmentation
• In a landscape of economic pressure, how do you motivate your people to do more with less?
• Embracing agility when everything is changing
• Making decisions in the midst of disruption and& uncertainty

This fireside conversation explores the trailblazing career of Margaret McMurdo, moving beyond the accolades to the grit required to forge a path where none existed. Starting as the first woman ever employed as a law clerk in the Queensland Public Defender’s Office, Margaret reflects on what it was like to be “at the bottom of the rung” in a legal world that was almost exclusively male-dominated.

We will delve into the seminal shifts in women’s status in Queensland, the early struggle to integrate the public service, and the evolution of workplace rights—from the days of mandatory “accouchment leave” to the modern era of leadership. This session is a deep dive into a “softly, softly & collegiate” style of change-making: leading with quiet yet unwavering persistence that eventually broke the glass ceiling in the Australian appellate courts.

Share a moment you nearly talked yourself out of an opportunity, but chose to step forward anyway. What shifted your thinking? And what would you say to someone facing that same hesitation today? 

Annabel Crabb has spent nearly 30 years watching Australia’s leaders up close — in parliament, in their kitchens, and in an increasingly volatile political and economic arena. With a gift for naming dynamics that many find hard to pin down, she draws on the very latest from Canberra to illuminate what is going on and what you can expect next. Funny, forensic and deeply human, this session will leave you with a new understanding of what your ministers are really up against, and what to expect in the months and years to come.

(This session will be livestreamed)

• Refining executive judgment: Maintaining clarity and making objective decisions under high-pressure demands
• Steering through reform: Guiding a team through organisational complexity and legislative shifts
• Strategic priority alignment: Mastering resource allocation when operational directions are redefined
• Anchoring teams in uncertainty: Providing a consistent vision during periods of systemic change

• Exploring how health & wellbeing show up and hold us back at work
• Unpacking the evidence linking physical and mental health for women
• Identifying gaps in leadership that undermine women’s health and performance
• Building practical tools to support yourself and your team’s wellbeing
• Turning healthy habits -diet, exercise and rest into leadership strengths