The Women in Economics Network, part of the Economics Society of Australia, is hosting the 2024 Women in Economics Retreat as an in-person event, to be held from Wednesday 6 to Friday 8 November at The Hilton, Surfers Paradise, Queensland.
The Retreat will provide an opportunity for around 30 mid-career women economists to develop their networks, receive mentoring and strengthen their leadership and career decision making. Participants will be drawn from academia, government and the private sector.
Sessions will focus on leadership and career development and life/work balance (a link to the preliminary program is below). The Retreat provides an opportunity for attendees to discuss issues as a group as well as participate in small group mentoring sessions with senior women from the same sector. Participants are asked to come to the Retreat with a career objective or challenge that they can work through with their mentor.
Retreat Sponsorship covers accommodation, meals and training at the Retreat. Participants are asked to make their own flight arrangements to and from Coolangatta airport. A bus will be available from Coolangatta airport to the venue and will return at the conclusion of the Retreat. The Economic Society will assist in arranging carpooling for Brisbane-based participants.
The application process is now CLOSED.
Wednesday 6 November 2024
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1230 – 13:15 |
Welcome Lunch |
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13:15 – 14:00 |
Session 1 – Program overview and getting to know your mentors |
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14:00 – 15:15 |
Session 2 – Values Workshop |
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15:15 – 16:15 |
Afternoon tea and Session 3 – Small group discussions with mentors |
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16:15 – 17:15 |
Session 4 - Leadership |
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18:00 |
Dinner |
Thursday 7 November 2024
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7:00 – 8:00 |
Informal walk and talk with mentor (small groups) or peer mentor |
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9:00 – 10:45 |
Session 5 – Communication |
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10:45 – 11:15 |
Morning Tea |
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11:15 – 12:45 |
Session 6 – Navigating challenges and tools for resilience and wellbeing |
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12:45 – 13:30 |
Lunch |
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13:30 – 15:00 |
Session 7 – Econ Café – discussion of contemporary economic issues |
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15:00 – 15:45 |
Afternoon tea + Session 8 - Small group discussions with mentors |
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15:45 – 16:30 |
Session TBC |
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16:30 – 18:30 |
Free Time |
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1830 |
Dinner |
Friday 8 November 2024
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7:00 – 8:00 |
Informal walk and talk with mentor (small groups) or peer mentor |
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9:00 – 10:30 |
Session 9 – Panel Discussion - Career tips and tricks |
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10:30 – 11:30 |
Session 10 – Small group discussion with mentors over morning tea |
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11:30 – 12:00 |
Session 11 – Retreat Closing Session |
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12:00 – 12:45 |
Lunch |
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12:45 |
Group photo and depart for airport (arrive at airport by 13:30) |
Deloitte Access Economics
Department of Finance
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Health and Aged Care
Department of Industry, Science, and Resources
KPMG
Productivity Commission
Reserve Bank of Australia
Treasury
Queensland Treasury
Applications for the 2024 Women in Economics Retreat are now open and must be received by Friday 20 September. Successful applicants will be notified in early October.
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Catie Bradbear |
Catie is Assistant Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Reporting at the Productivity Commission, the Australian Government’s independent research and advisory agency. Catie has worked on a diverse range of inquiries in the 12 years she has been at the Commission, including reviews of Resources Sector Regulation, the Economic Regulation of Airports, the Migrant Intake and International Education Services. Catie started her career at the Treasury in Canberra, followed by a stint at the Australian National University, conducting research through the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health. Catie is a member of the ACT WEN Committee and is particularly interested in the role of mentoring in retaining women in economics. She has also recently started delving into the lives of women economists throughout history and will happily share stories of those who have gone before us. Catie lives in Canberra and has two small human children and one furry escape-artist dog. |
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Louisa is an applied economist with over 30 years of experience. Her research focus is on the measurement and assessment of economic and social values to inform decision-makers in the management of natural resources. Louisa is acknowledged for democratising economics education through disrupting the traditional economic dialogue to level one Business students (35 000 students to date), to aspiring female politicians through the QUT Pathway to Politics Program to helping fishers and fisheries managers to better understand the dark art of economics in balancing conflicting objectives in achieving sustainable fisheries. Louisa has received external commendations for her work in both the UK and most recently received Vice Chancellor’s Award for Mentorship and Sponsorship Excellence. |
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Dr Joanne Loundes
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Dr Joanne Loundes started her role as Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian High Commission in Papua New Guinea in February 2022. She returned from her assignment as Australia’s Ambassador to Iraq in 2021 to take up a position as Assistant Secretary, COVID-19 Coordination Unit. The position was responsible for overseeing the department’s input on a range of COVID-19 policy matters related to reopening Australia’s international borders. Prior to her appointment as Ambassador in 2018, she spent a year as DFAT’s inaugural Chief Economist (Trade and Investment). Her other Assistant Secretary roles have covered the G20 and economic advocacy and analysis. Prior to joining the Department, she worked at the University of Melbourne and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Dr Loundes obtained her PhD in economics from the University of Melbourne in 2003. Dr Loundes is married to Cameron Gill. Her hobbies include running and gardening. |
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Dr Alicia Mollaun |
Alicia has over 18 years of experience in domestic and international public policy making, including in the federal government and as a consultant. She has worked at Equity Economics and Development Partners, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (including as a diplomat in New Delhi), the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard MP, and at the Australian National University. Alicia has worked and studied in India, Pakistan, Kenya, France and the United States. Alicia holds a PhD in Public Policy from the ANU. Her research examined elite perceptions of US foreign aid to Pakistan. She also has a Master of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies from the ANU, a Master of International Economics and Finance from the University of Queensland. When not chasing after 3 young sons, Alicia loves to read and drink coffee in the sun (preferably all at the same time!), is a meditation teacher and is doing extra study in mindfulness mentoring. |
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Dr Aruna Sathanapally |
Dr Aruna Sathanapally joined Grattan Institute as CEO in February 2024. She heads a team of leading policy thinkers, researching and advocating policy to improve the lives of Australians. A former NSW barrister and senior public servant, Aruna has worked on the design of public institutions, economic policy, and evidence-based public policy and regulation for nearly 20 years. Before joining Grattan, Aruna worked in senior roles in the NSW Treasury. She led the 2021 NSW Intergenerational Report and led the economic analysis for the 2022 Women’s Economic Opportunities Review. On the non-work side – Aruna is a recent convert to the joys of team sport, having stepped off the sidelines of her son’s soccer games to playing for her local club, in an appropriate grade and division. |
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Sruthi Srikanthan
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Sruthi is a health economist by training and has a particular interest in the measurement of social impact using economic tools. In the last couple of years, Sruthi has led the development of two significant pieces of thought leadership on the criticality of changing our gender norms to realising the economic benefits associated with gender inequality across work and the community. In the most recent release – Remaking the Norm – the gender economics team consider practical actions which can be taken to change the gender norms in our workplaces, communities and households. She leads the health economics and social policy practice and co-leads of Deloitte’s gender economics practice area. Beyond gender, Sruthi’s work considers equity of access to health and human services as well as social inclusion and economic participation for persons with disability, First Nations persons and people from culturally diverse backgrounds. At home, Sruthi is a personal assistant to her vivacious three girls – Maya, Aaliya and Leela. She is at her happiest when staring out the window at the family farm in a precious moment of peace. |
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Dr Jenny Gordon |
Dr Jenny Gordon is a Honorary Professor at POLIS: the Centre for Social Policy Research at the Australian National University. She is also a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute, one of Australia’s leading think tanks on foreign policy. Jenny serves on the Asian Development Bank Institute’s (ADBI) Advisory Committee, and is a non-executive director for NCEconomics, part of the Alluvium Group. In 2024 Jenny was a visiting fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Kennedy School at Harvard University and at Blavatnik School of Government and Business at Oxford University. Jenny was a member of the Australian International Agricultural Research Centre’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Advisory Panel from 2020 to 2024, and in 2023 she served as a co-chair for the Taskforce on Peace, Stability and Governance for the T7, organised by the ADBI. Jenny was the Chief Economist at DFAT from 2019 to 2021, joining DFAT from Nous Group, where she was the Chief Economist. Jenny spent 10 years with the Australian Productivity Commission as Principal Adviser (Research) from 2008. From 1995 to 2008 worked at The Centre for International Economics (TheCIE), becoming a pattern in 2002. She has a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and started her professional career at the Reserve Bank of Australia |
Professor Louisa Coglan
