Courage. UNLIMITED.
We are leading in a time of sustained pressure, complexity and change. Across industries, leadership now demands results in conditions defined by uncertainty – balancing growth with risk, navigating constant disruption, and sustaining performance as expectations continue to rise.
Women UNLIMITED creates the space to lead in exactly this context
In 2026, this landmark summit convenes leaders navigating ambiguity and transformation at scale. Headlined by global leader The Rt. Hon. Dame Jacinda Ardern, it brings together voices who have led with clarity, empathy and courage under pressure – making decisive calls when certainty is limited. The focus is how direction, trust and momentum are established when the path ahead is unclear.
Across two days, the focus is practical: staying effective in complexity, leading teams through change and performance pressure, and making confident decisions with incomplete information – while strengthening clarity in how we lead.
Women UNLIMITED is where leaders step out of the noise, reconnect with what matters, and return ready to lead with grounded courage.
2026 theme: The courage to lead, differently
Watch out our summit video below
Our speakers in
Melbourne 2026
The Rt. Hon. Dame Jacinda Ardern
Christine Holgate AM
Professor Marcia Langton AO
Kellie Parker
Louise Adams
Kate Williams
Angela Colantuono
Naureen Alam
Catherine Liddle
Marnie Baker AM
Danielle Wood
Mike Schneider
Professor Shelley Dolan
Lisa Chiba
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin
Professor Michelle Ryan
Elizabeth Kim
Christelle Young
Sarah Walsh
Krithika Hansen
Simon Kuestenmacher
Holly Ransom
Why attend
Melbourne Corporate 2026
The Women UNLIMITED Summit provides two days of insights and strategies, plus two post-summit online seminars forming a three-month learning journey.
All times are shown in AEST.
Welcome to Country & opening remarks from the MC
Leading under pressure: Making high-stakes decisions in moments that define your leadership
- Reflecting on the moments of crisis that tested and ultimately strengthened my leadership
- Making high-stakes decisions with incomplete information and competing pressures
- How to prioritise ruthlessly and protect your team when resources and time are scarce
The Glass Cliff: Why women in leadership are deliberately handed ‘the poison chalice’
- What is the Glass Cliff phenomenon and what does it mean for women and people of colour in leadership?
- Recent events in domestic and global leadership and how they exemplify the Glass Cliff phenomenon
- The very conscious biases that lead to women being put on the glass cliff
Morning tea
Networking UNLIMITED
Join your fellow attendees for a networking experience curated by Women UNLIMITED. With a set of intriguing questions in hand, you’ll engage in leadership conversations and discover new connections as you work your way through your networking card. It’s a great way to break the ice and start building valuable connections from the very beginning.
In Conversation with Jacinda Ardern: Finding the courage to lead differently
In this headline session, 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.
Through a candid exploration of her six-year tenure, navigating terrorist attacks, volcanic eruptions, a global pandemic, as well as first-time motherhood, she illustrates how radical empathy and vulnerability are not liabilities, but the ultimate strengths. Ardern will address the “confidence gap,” the realities of balancing high-stakes governance with motherhood, and the bravery required to walk away at the right time. This interview offers a masterclass for any woman ready to lead with authenticity, proving that kindness and decisiveness can coexist to drive profound change.
Interactive reflection activity
Reflect on one insight from today’s session and consider: where in your current role could you lead differently? Share with your neighbours and leave with one practical intention to take back to your team.
Lunch
Optimism as a strategic choice: Building a resilient workforce to navigate evolving challenges
- The human side of industry transition & transformation
- Leading the crucial human element of major technological shifts
- Fostering an engineering and creative mindset to solve new problems
Navigating the main challenges facing leaders in 2026
- What can leaders do to reassure team members who are concerned about the impacts of AI?
- In a landscape of budget cuts and economic pressure, how do you motivate your people to do more with less?
- Do you have any tips for making decisions where priorities are evolving and certainty is limited?
How do you lead differently?
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.
The storyteller's edge: Using narrative to lead, influence & drive change in complex environments
- Understanding why the most underutilised leadership capability is the ability to connect
- Reframing how you communicate as a leader: From reporting facts to building narratives that mobilise people
- Using storytelling to cut through complexity, build trust and influence decisions across stakeholders
Afternoon tea
The advice you wish you'd been given
What’s one thing you know now that you wish someone had told you earlier in your career? Share it with your table as if you’re speaking to your past self.
Leading through uncertainty: How to maintain performance when everything keeps changing
- What behaviours sustain culture and performance when disruption is constant?
- How can leaders rebuild engagement and momentum in teams experiencing fatigue and fragmentation?
- How do you make confident decisions when certainty is limited?
The skills that survive the AI transition
- The leadership capabilities AI can’t replace, and how to build them
- Why systems thinkers are uniquely positioned to lead in an AI-enabled world
- Making continuous learning the default, not the exception
Closing remarks & networking drinks
Acknowledgement of Country & Opening remarks
Backing your judgement: Making confident decisions in high-stakes environments
- Using evidence and expertise to build the confidence to back your own judgement
- Navigating the transition from technical expert to leader of people and teams
- Overcoming imposter syndrome and showing up with authority in every room
The room you almost didn't walk into
Share a moment you almost talked yourself out of an opportunity. What made you go for it anyway. What would you say to someone facing that same hesitation right now?
Australia's next decade: What leaders need to know
What will the next ten years mean for your organisation, your workforce, and your leadership? Demographic shifts, economic transitions, AI transformation and cultural change are already reshaping the landscape. In this high-energy keynote, futurist Simon Kuestenmacher brings the data to life and decodes the trends set to define Australia’s future.
Morning tea
The sponsor seat
Think of someone in your network who is ready for their next opportunity but hasn’t been given the room. With the person next to you, and without naming them, describe what makes them exceptional. Then discuss what’s actually stopping you from actively opening a door for them next week?
Cultivating the courage & resilience to speak truth to power
- Leading differently when the system was never designed with you in mind
- Why courage is not the absence of fear, it’s continuing to show up when the cost is high
- Lessons from the frontlines of Australia’s most contested and consequential debates
- What it means to lead for the collective, not just the moment
Strength swap
Name one leadership strength you have and one you’re actively working on. Discuss it with the person next to you, and what other strength would best compliment it.
Lunch
Session to be announced
Why inclusive teams outperform diverse environments
- Understanding why a diverse team without inclusion fails to deliver — and what the difference looks like in practice
- Applying a practical seven-point framework for building genuinely inclusive cultures that retain talent and unlock performance
- Using your own intersectional experience as a leadership superpower, not something to manage or minimise
Afternoon tea
The human advantage: Leading at the intersection of AI, tech, trust, & talent
- As AI automates administration, how do you redesign roles and close capability gaps to keep people focused on what matters?
- When algorithms drive more decisions, how do you protect the culture of trust and human connection that makes teams perform?
- What does it actually take for corporate Australia to ensure technology advancement brings the workforce with it?
AI: Challenge, opportunity or both?
Love it or hate it, AI is here to stay. Take ten minutes to discuss how you have used it or seen it used well, when it’s not gone so well, and what leaders need to do to ensure more of the former and less of the latter.
Leading change when the stakes are real: Courage, accountability & the work that actually matters
- Making courageous decisions in high-visibility, high-stakes environments where every option carries consequences
- Building the relationships and trust that make genuine organisational change possible – even when you’re starting from behind
- Embedding lessons that last: how to drive cultural and systemic change that outlives your tenure
From empty stadiums to 74,000: What building a movement for women's sport teaches us about leadership
- Reframing how you build an audience, a community and a movement
- Understanding what it takes to translate genuine passion into commercial results, sustained engagement and lasting legacy
- Applying the lessons of women’s sport’s most powerful growth era to how you lead, inspire and grow the people around you
Closing remarks & close of summit
Leading in times of uncertainty: How to stay grounded & lead with impact
Overview
The pace and complexity of today’s work environment demands a new kind of leadership steadiness. This practical seminar draws on VUCA leadership principles, the concept of the Impact Player, and the critical distinction between distractions and genuine disturbance to help leaders cut through the noise, protect their focus, and show up with clarity and purpose – without burning out in the process.
Attend & learn
- Apply VUCA leadership principles to navigate volatility & complexity with confidence
- Distinguish between distractions & genuine disturbances that deserve your attention
- Identify what it means to be an Impact Player & how to lead beyond your formal role
- Build practical self-care habits that sustain your performance & judgement under pressure
- Develop your personal approach to staying grounded when conditions keep changing
How to make better decisions, prioritise your time & lead with confidence
Overview
The most significant leadership development happens when we confront the thinking, habits and assumptions that have quietly shaped our careers. This practical seminar helps leaders identify what’s holding them back, cut through competing priorities and define what success genuinely looks like at this stage of their journey – then leave with the tools to act on it immediately.
Attend & learn
- Identify & let go of the thinking patterns that quietly limit your leadership potential
- Prioritise what matters most when everything feels urgent & the list never gets shorter
- Reduce low-impact work to create space for the leadership that actually moves things forward
- Make faster, more confident decisions without second-guessing yourself at every turn
- Set clearer boundaries with stakeholders & teams without damaging trust or relationships
- Manage competing priorities & define success on your own terms, using a practical framework
Why bring your team
Strengthen your team
Develop and retain talent
Enhance your visibility
Collectively learn and implement
Get discounted table bookings
Who should attend?
Download our Business Case for Attendance template to easily share the value of this event with your organisation and secure approval to participate.
The use of the term “women” across the event is inclusive of both cisgender and transgender women. We acknowledge the under-representation of non-binary people in leadership, which is also a result of gender inequality.
Melbourne Corporate 2026 | Pricing
Can’t attend in-person? Join the online interactive Melbourne Summit and save $200 off the current rate
Groups of 3-4 save 5%
Groups of 5-9 save 10%
Groups of 10-19 save 15%
Groups of 20-29 save 25%
Groups of 30-49 save 30%
Groups of 50+POA
All prices shown in AUD
Save on the 'Standard Summit Experience' for non-government community services providers.
Call 1300 918 334 or email [email protected] for special rates.
FAQs
Do all the speakers present live in person?
All speakers at The Hatchery present live and in person unless specifically noted on the event program or circumstances prevent the speaker from appearing live.
Are there opportunities to network with other delegates?
The Hatchery provides a number of networking opportunities for all event attendees. Clearly printed name badges are provided to all attendees at registration. Attendees are encouraged to wear these for the entirety of the event to ease networking processes during all session breaks. Attendees are also encouraged to bring plenty of business cards.
Online attendees are encouraged to network and collaborate during break out sessions or via chat forum on the online platform.
How do I access the slides and resources?
Once the event has finished you will be given the opportunity to provide feedback which will provide access to the session resources which we have permission to share.
Are meals included in my registration?
The program will include morning tea, lunch & afternoon tea for all participants. Please refer to the agenda tab above for more details.
Do you cater for dietary requirements and any additional needs?
Dietary requirements and any additional needs are to be communicated to event organisers minimum one week prior to the event commencing. Please identify yourself to The Hatchery staff upon arrival to ensure all your needs are met.
What if I cannot attend all sessions?
Some sessions are being recorded and will be made available after the event ends online (subject to speaker consent).
What happens if I am no longer able to attend?
All cancellations must be raised at least 2 weeks before the event. For cancellations received in writing more than 2 weeks before the event date, a credit voucher will be issued and valid for 12 months from the registration date to use for another The Hatchery event.
Cancellations must be made in writing to [email protected]. The company regrets that no cancellations will be refunded. Course documentation will however be sent to the attendee.
A substitute attendee is always welcome at no extra charge, you must notify us in writing at least 48 hours in advance if you wish to send a substitute participant. Please email [email protected] and quote your invoice number to arrange this. Delegates may not "share" a pass between multiple attendees without prior authorisation.
For an event cancelled by The Hatchery registration fees are fully refundable.
