Victorian Congress 2025 - Report and recordings
Highlights of the Victorian Congress 2025
Relive the energy and creativeness of the congress with this video by Supriya Perera.
Visual storytelling by Josephine Ford, Studio RAA
Thank you to Josephine Ford, lead scribe at studio RAA, for capturing the stories of the Saturday sessions so beautifully. Visual storytelling is a powerful way to rapid capture content into a rich visual narrative.
The themes of empowering women and challenging the status quo to create new human and Earth-centred futures shone through!
Some participant feedback
“There seems to be growing momentum in this space which is so exciting and a real testament to the tireless work of WCC and others. I think it is important that the different groups keep collaborating and working together so that we can really build up the movement from the grass roots.”
“What a thoroughly inspiring and energizing event run by extraordinary women. Thank you!”
“Thoroughly inspiring. Thank you for all the great sessions, inviting such fabulous speakers, and for all the detail: artworks, the live music, the story board (WELA). The arts program and the delicious carrot cake deserves a special mention.”
Friday 28 March - Coming together
Lunch and afternoon activities in Castlemaine
Dinner at The Railway Hotel
Women challenging the status quo in local communities
With guest speakers:
Professor Kate Auty (barrister, historian, environmentalist, author and active community member in regional Victoria) spoke about communities challenging the status quo in country Victoria.
Melissa Abel (Executive Officer, Bendigo Sustainability Group) spoke about the Bendigo Sustainability Group and Festival.
Watch Kate Auty speaking at the Bendigo Sustainability Festival TEDX Countdown event the following day.
Saturday 29 March - Challenging the status quo
Castlemaine Town Hall
A day for gathering and getting to know each other, hearing stories of great grandmothers and women today who are challenging the status quo. We explored the WCC Charter for Change and the potential of women’s leadership for local, national and international transformative action on climate change.
Introduction and Welcome to Country
With Margaret de Kam, Victorian Congress Hosting Team and Djaara Elder, Aunty Sandra Barber.
Aunty Sandra offered a powerful message about women’s innate capacity to influence future generations with wisdom, presence, and compassion. Her storytelling resonated deeply with the audience and encapsulated many of the Congress’s core themes: empowerment, cultural respect, intergenerational learning, and personal transformation. Read more …
Keynote address: The Great Grandmother’s Story
Dr Janet Salisbury, Founder Women’s Climate Congress, was joined by members of Canberra’s A Chorus of Women to talk about the stories that inspired the formation of the Women’s Climate Congress. In particular the remarkable but little known her-story of the women’s peace movment in the First World War.
Watch the recording
See the Powerpoint presentation
Read some notes about this story and it’s relevance to climate change, and get links to some further reading: Background and resources
‘Not Just Henry’s Mother’
Continuing the theme of great grandmother ancestors, Sue Gee performed her original song about Louisa Lawson (1848 – 1920), an Australian poet, writer, publisher, suffragist and feminist, and the mother of the poet and author Henry Lawson.
Getting to know each other
Stephanie Rosestone (futures thinking researcher and facilitator) led an incebreaker activity to get us talking about our perceptions of the future, our potential for influence, and what we might want to pack or unpack from our suitcases to take there.
Stories of Change – a collective timeline
Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, CEO, Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia, spoke about WELA’s 7 metre ‘Stories of Change’ banner displayed at theTown Hall.
She said ”It is a powerful thing to know our history, and so often we forget it. And we've heard that when we talk about the truth of our First Nation's history in this country, there are so many threads that are missing. So in our programs, we would do this history collectively together. And then last year someone went, ‘hang on a minute, this is kind of amazing’ … Watch the recording for more about this initiative.
Panel: Women challenging the status quo now
This panel brought together influential women leaders in the environmental movement to discuss how women are currently reshaping approaches to climate action, leadership, and systemic change. The session, moderated by Bec Blurton (Managing Director, First Nations Affairs), featured insights from:
Victoria McKenzie-McHarg – CEO, Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia.
Sharan Burrow – Global advocate for human rights, climate action and Just Transition; Australian convenor, Women Leading on Climate.
Ashleigh Streeter-Jones – Founder, Raising Our Voice Australia.
Professor Susan Harris-Rimmer (online) – champion of human rights, climate justice, intergenerational justice and gender equality; Director of the Griffith University Policy Innovation Hub.
Participant presentations: ‘So many different voices’
The moderator for this sesssion, Dr Mary Picard, knows well the vital importance of ‘So many different vocies’ through her international work as a gender and disaster risk expert. The power in collaboration and bringing together diverse voices is a central theme of the WCC and this session gave voice to some of the ‘many different voices’ that form the women’s moevment around climate change, with:
Ellie Venning – National Union of Students' Women's Officer.
Keli McDonald – CEO, National Rural Women’s Coalition.
Chloe Wegener - Project Officer, Wiyi Yani U Thangani First Nations Gender Justice Institute, ANU.
Beverly Baker – CEO, Older Women’s Network.
Clare Gibellini – Policy Officer, Women With Disabilities Australia (online).
Participant presentations: ‘Reimagining the Motherworld’
The title of this session was derived from a chapter in Jenny Cameron’s book Ancient ways for current days.
Moderated by Shelley Anderson, Environmental practitioner anbd member of the WCC Steering Circle, this theme was explored in a video presentation by Mamta Borgoryary – Executive Director, She Changes Climate and short ‘soapbox’ talks from:
Jenny Cameron – Historian, writer and social activist, particularly for women’s rights and the rights of Nature.
Dr Radha Wagle – Biodiversity and Climate Adaptation Specialist, Glen Eira City Council, Victoria; formerly Director General, Department of Plant Resources, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Nepal.
Sophie Hardefeldt – Policy and Research Manager, ActionAid Australia.
Robyn James – Global Director of Gender Equity, The Nature Conservancy will introduce a video presentation of ‘Nature’s Leading Women’.
In her book, Jenny says: “Reimagining the Motherworld is about remembering how it was in ancient times when we did not live under a patriarchy. We lived in cultures where the needs of women and children were central and a lead woman, a matriarch, was the custodian of the health and wealth of the clan. This was not by ‘dominance over’, but by being in a balance with men, and with nature too”. Read on … for more from Jenny’s research and responses from the other speakers.
Watch the full recording
Watch Mamta Borgoyary’s message
See the Powerpoint slides
Workshop: Women challenging the status quo for local, national and global climate action
Building agency together: choosing the futures we carry and use
A workshop designed for building capacity and planning for women changing the climate locally, nationally and internationally.
Workshop design and lead facilitator:
Stephanie Rosestone – Futures thinking researcher, facilitator who designs programs and experiences that provoke deep thinking and active learning.
Read on … for a summary of the workshop and some of our imagined futures. (to come)
We are the women
A Chorus of Women rounded out the afternonon with some singing including ‘We are the women’ with spoken verses based on the words of the WCC Charter for Change.
Dinner at Castlemaine Town Hall
On Saturday night we kicked back over dinner at the Town Hall with information and entertainment: by some of the congress particiapnts :
Singer-songwriter Sue Gee sang some songs from her CD Planet Hot.
Rat Child (Amy Jones) presented some of her powerful, soulful vocals exploring personal storytelling about our shared humanity.
Wildaliz De Jesús led ‘Everbody Salsa’ – a Salsa routine which she described as ‘an engine of social connectivity’.
Mardi Chapman spoke about the WCC Zoom online bookclub, we tested our knowleedge of the WCC Charter for Change in a game of ‘Serious’ pursuits , there was a raffle and Pauline Galvin closed out the evening with sacred circle dancing.
See Photos of this dinner by Pamela Schubert and Supriya Perera
Sunday 30 March - Changing the status quo: working towards outcomes
Castlemaine Town Hall
A day to explore working towards the outcomes, with discussion groups on activism principles, learning about speaking your messages of climate concerns to your communities, to your MPs etc. Find out how to take the experience of this weekend to your own community and maintain the efforts.
Acknowledgement and reflections on Saturday
After a sung acknowledgement of country with words by Canberra poet Hazel Hall and sung by A Chorus of Women, Chloe Wegener, Project Officer, Wiyi Yani U Thangani First Nations Gender Justice Institute, ANU gave some reflections from her expereince of the Saturday sessions. Read on …
Watch the recording
See Chloe’s visual artworks for both the Saturday and Sunday sessions.
Women leading policy change: collaboration for a climate secure future
A multiparty panel conversation with women parliamentarians
This session featured a landmark panel discussion showcasing cross-party women politicians who spoke candidly about collaboration, climate action, and systemic barriers for women within Australian politics. The panel, moderated by WCC Founder, Dr Janet Salisbury, included:
Senator Steph Hodgins-May - Federal Senator for Victoria ( Australian Greens) (online)
Hon Maree Edwards MP – Victorian State Member for Bendigo West (ALP), representing Minister Hon Lily D’Dambrosio, Victorian State Minister for Climate Action
Jade Benham MP – Victorian State Member for Mildura (National Party) (online
It is a central principle of the WCC that climate change cannot be addressed through adversarial politics. True progress requires genuine dialogue, compromise, and visionary leadership—qualities often associated with women’s styles of leadership. Could collaborative women’s political leadership play a transformative role in building a climate-secure future? Read more …
Participant short talk
Hannah Vardy, a passionate student and climate campaigner from Canberra, shared her story and the journey that led her to become a leading voice in the fight for climate justice. At just 21, she's been involved in activism for years and has been leading the “Duty of Care” campaign with three other young women. The campaign’s goal is simple but powerful: to push the government to legally consider the health and future of children when making decisions that affect the climate. For Hannah, this isn’t just a political issue—it’s deeply personal.
Read more …
Action workshop: Story-telling - Important messages around climate change
Led by Liz Courtney (Award-winning film director and science communicator, WCC Steering Circle) and Shelley Anderson (Environmental consultant, WCC Steering Circle), this session sought to amplify our collective women’s voices grounded in wisdom, kindness, gratitude, purpose, and the power of storytelling. With video input from Professor Tim Lenton on ‘positive tipping points’, and building on the insights and energy of the weekend, participants were guided to weave these threads into shared narratives and create short video pieces for posting on social media. Read more …
Watch the recording
WCC Steering Circle presentation: Time for action
A panel conversation about the aims of the Congress with members of the WCC Steering Circle:
Janet Salisbury
Shelley Anderson
Liz Courtney
Mary Picard
Watch the recording
See our proposed actions in this Powerpoint presentation
Women’s circle: Action workshop feedback and farewell discussions
The final session of the Congress closed on a heartfelt note with the whole group gathering in a circle to collectively reflect on an intense and inspiring weekend. Participants shared what had stirred them over the weekend and how they would bring that energy into their own communities. Read more …
Artistic expression
The WCC Charter for Change Action 7 “Supports artistic imagination and creative thinking at the centre of society’ and we try to walk the talk at our events. Artistic expression was included through the program in song (see above), several participants brought examples of their art works to display, so that the Town Hall became a vibrant expression of women challenging the status quo.
See more Photos by Supriya Perera
Follow up and submissions
Submissions to Victorian Government
In the Sunday morning session with politicians, The Hon Maree Edwards MP mentioned that the Victorian Government was accepting submissions for a public consultation on a draft of Victoria's 2026-30 Climate Change Strategy. WCC has made the following submissions: