VIC Public Sector Women in Leadership Summit 2025

Tailor your communication style to your situation

- Who are you talking to? Identify your key stakeholders

- Learn to adjust your style on the fly and deliver the correct message 

- Ask the right questions to get better results 

- When to act, and when to listen

Tackling conflict and promoting collaboration

- Develop your conflict resolution skills

- Define your objective and remain solution-focused

- Create an action plan for real world scenarios

Preparing for challenging conversations

- Identify the barriers that prevent people from having difficult conversations 

- How to build rapport and why it is important

- Strategies for effective communication

Pre-empting performance management conversations

- Spotting red flags before they become a problem

- Integrate performance conversations in your day-to-day

- Embedding purpose in performance management

Whether it’s shifting workloads, changing political environments, or overcoming new challenges, staying ahead of change and uncertainty demands resilience. But what are the ways you can build this as a leader? Join Nicole as she explores how to lead through ambiguity, and shares her experiences of overcoming obstacles throughout her career.

- Engage with key insights on overcoming adversity 

- Develop strategies for mental resilience and personal growth

- Setting personal boundaries

Dr Gallagher is a proud Gunditjmara woman who has led and advocated for First Nations communities in Victoria throughout her life. Join her in this session as she explores the unique leadership qualities that have shaped her advocacy journey and led to the incredible growth of VACCHO, the state's peak Aboriginal health body.

- Fostering stronger engagement 

- Prioritising community-centric leadership

- Grasping opportunities for change and reform

Mix and mingle with your fellow leaders over a cup of coffee and light refreshments.

Innovation allows the VPS to stay truly connected with the communities and people it represents. But in order to build that engagement, it's leaders need to be adaptable, accountable, digitally equipped, and problem solvers. Join Michelle as she explores how to drive innovation, harness new technologies, and support a diverse and sustainable future for the VPS.

- Adopting new technologies and digital skills

- Embracing mentorships, idea sharing and creativity 

- Upholding trust and collaboration 

Understanding and embracing neurodiversity in the workplace is crucial to develop inclusive and high-performing teams. But what knowledge, skills and strategies do leaders need to actually achieve this? In this session, Christina draws on her professional and lived perspective in understanding neuro-differences, and gives you the tools you need to better support diverse teams, harness everyone's strengths, and improve team dynamics.

- What is neurodiversity - Raising awareness and understanding

- Effective communication and collaboration to promote inclusivity, productivity and effective team dynamics 

- Creating inclusive and psychologically safe work environments

Enjoy a midday lunch break. A time to refresh, refuel, and prepare for a full afternoon of immersive learning and inspiration.

The advancement of women’s leadership in the VPS is a wide-ranging discussion that requires unpacking lessons from current initiatives and policies, and embracing diverse perspectives. Join this unmissable panel, as senior leaders explore ways to support the development of women leaders in the public sector, and address the unique challenges in achieving this.

- Examine strategies to attract and retain women and people from diverse backgrounds into leadership 

- Recognise the significance of role models and mentors 

- Empower and support existing and emerging leaders 

Building genuine relationships relies on leaders that are authentic, trustworthy and clear on their goals and purpose. In doing so, it allows leaders to strengthen their personal brand and scope of influence. In this session, Sam will share insights on her authentic leadership style and the importance of creating trust and purpose within your sphere of influence. 

- Develop your personal brand based on authenticity and integrity  

- Build genuine connections for self development and professional influence 

- Harness practical relationship-building skills

A quick break to refresh and continue building your network with fellow leaders. Enjoy a light refreshment before finishing your conference experience.

As a leader, you play a crucial role in shaping your oragnisation's culture and influencing team dynamics. By modeling desired behaviours, and making decisions that align with values, you set the tone for the organisation. Join Jacqui as she explores how she inspires positive organisational culture and performance, based on respect and trust.

- Develop strategies to embed integrity and trust 

- Apply value-driven leadership 

- Support high-quality leadership and high-performing teams

Join us for our end of day one networking. Enjoy canapés and drinks whilst getting to know your peers further, build ongoing relationships, and share your highlights of the day.

Imagine having all the skills you need, all the capability and opportunity at your fingertips, and yet still feeling stuck. What if the biggest obstacle in your path was yourself, and your own self-doubt? But how do you actually learn to trust yourself and build the confidence to step outside your comfort zone? Lauren shares how she has navigated self-confidence throughout her career and how to be a more effective and confident decision maker.

- Engaging with different stakeholders and embracing different perspectives

- Communicating with impact

- Developing strategies to build self-confidence 

Being able to thrive both professionally and personally often requires navigating unique career journeys and being a bold decision maker. Join Dr Vincent as she explores key leadership lessons that have shaped her career and her contributions as Victoria’s first Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner.

- Unpack key examples of gender equality leadership and career development

- Lead with impact and purpose 

- Understand how to balance personal and professional priorities 

Mix and mingle with your fellow leaders over a cup of coffee and light refreshments.

Jo de Morton was appointed Secretary of the Department of Government Services when it was established in 2023. In this session, Secretary de Morton explores her leadership journey and the ways she has led government service reform, including in her prior roles as the founding CEO of Service Victoria and as the CEO responsible for establishing the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).

- Unpack the challenges and leadership journey to Secretary

- Develop strategies to embed integrity into organisational culture

- Uncover key career lessons and advice

The first step in navigating challenging conversations is identifying and overcoming barriers such as doubt or disconnect. You can achieve this by building rapport and developing clear and impactful communication styles. In this session, Jo will share how to ensure the conversation, feedback or team discussion stays productive by clearing defining your objectives and adjusting your communication approaches.

- Identifying barriers that impact difficult conversations 

- Effectively integrating constructive feedback 

- Building rapport and understanding its importance 

Effective collaboration and stakeholder engagement is critical for producing meaningful processes and outcomes within the public sector. In order to do this, leaders must promote inclusive decision-making and foster open discussions. Join Shen as she draws on her leadership experiences in the human rights space, highlighting the importance of working strategically with communities at the centre of decision making processes.

- Effectively engaging with a range of different perspectives 

- Leading with empathy and active listening 

- Building team capability and competency in working with First Peoples communities and leaders

Enjoy a midday lunch break. A time to refresh, refuel, and prepare for a full afternoon of immersive learning and inspiration.

The future of work in the VPS presents both opportunities and challenges that leaders must embrace to drive progress. In this panel, senior leaders from across the VPS will explore key trends shaping the future workforce and share strategies for leading and empowering themselves and others.

- Navigating shifts with new digital technologies

- Understanding the opportunities and considerations of flexible work

- Embracing new skills and approaches to enhance workforce capability and strategic thinking

Tricia Malowney is Chief Accessibility Advocate from the Department of Transport and Planning and was awarded the the Order of Australia for her systemic advocacy for the rights of women with disabilities. In this session Tricia draws on her life experiences and leadership journey, unpacking the importance of amplifying the voices and experiences of people with disabilities.

- Ensure equitable employment and leadership 

- Unpack intersectional challenges 

- Embrace the value of a range of perspectives 

A quick break to refresh and continue building your network with fellow leaders. Enjoy a light refreshment before finishing your conference experience.

As key decision-makers, prioritising your own wellbeing and supporting those around you is crucial for driving both personal and organisational success. This becomes even more critical when leading under pressure. In this session, Emma shares unique leadership insights on how she has fostered her own career progression, while also building positive and empowered teams.

- Integrating new leadership responsibilities

- Exploring the importance of wellbeing in productivity and performance

- Maximizing your sense of connection and cohesion

We wrap up our inspirational and jam packed two days with this interactive action planning session. This is your chance to table any topic or trend for a final group discussion. Reflecting on the inspiring stories that have been shared, discussing your key learnings with your peers, and creating your action plan for moving forward.

- Reflect on your key learnings from the Summit

- Identify opportunities for career progression and growth

- Create an action plan for your leadership journey

Develop self-awareness and authenticity

- Lead authentically through values-based leadership

- Identify personal strengths and potential de-railers as a leader

- Optimise your leadership style within the context of your organisation

High level communication, influence, and negotiation skills

- Manage emotions for effective, assertive communication

- Develop your “conversational intelligence”

- Prepare for and successfully navigate difficult conversations 

Develop self and others with reflective leadership

- Recognise the benefits of reflection

- Develop skills for effective reflective practice

- Apply reflection to enhance organisational culture

Strategic career progression

- Create a personal leadership plan

- Maximise and build relationships for professional opportunities

- Manage personal branding and visibility effectively

Strategies to accelerate team performance

- Leverage team dynamics to optimise performance

- Challenge, support, and empower others to excel 

- Develop strategies to manage uncooperative team members

Drive change and innovation

- Recognise and overcome obstacles to change

- Trust your intuition, take risks, and step outside your comfort zone

- Create a culture of positive change 

Remain productive in a crisis

- Build resilience to thrive under pressure

- Support your team and engage others to deliver

- Provide and accept feedback after crisis

Action planning for leadership

- Plan approaches for short and long-term goals

- Identify and understand personal and organisational challenges

- Share approaches to move your career forward