Women’s safety leader and advocate Ms Padma Raman will deliver the 2024 Susan Ryan Oration at The Australian National University (ANU) on 25 March.

The Susan Ryan Oration is the flagship International Women’s Day celebration at ANU and pays tribute to one of the University’s greatest advocates for age and gender equality.

Inaugural Director of the Office for Women Ms Padma Raman. Photo: supplied

Ms Ryan was one of the University’s greatest pioneers for equality and worked as the first female Senator for the ACT in 1975. She was also the first female to hold a Cabinet role in the Hawke Government.

Ms Ryan pioneered extensive anti-discrimination and equal opportunity legislation and was Australia’s first Age Discrimination Commissioner from 2011 until 2016.

Through the Susan Ryan Oration, ANU aims to foster critical dialogues on gender equity and discrimination, issues that Ms Ryan championed throughout her extensive career, and which continue to be pressing national debates today.

A member of ANU Council, Ms Raman was appointed Australia’s inaugural Executive Director of the Australian Government’s Office for Women in 2023.

Before her appointment to the role, Ms Raman was CEO of Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety.

Speaking at the time of her appointment to the Office for Women, ANU Chancellor the Hon Julie Bishop described Ms Raman as a “champion for women and children”.

“Padma has worked tirelessly to make significant and long-lasting change,” Ms Bishop said. “She has helped to shape Australia’s national efforts to end violence against women and their children, and raise public awareness and conversations on how we can strive to achieve this goal.”

Ms Raman’s 2024 Susan Ryan Oration will focus on ensuring greater gender equity in Australia and other key issues women in Australia face today.  

Registrations for the 2024 Susan Ryan Oration are still open at can be made online at this link:
https://events.humanitix.com/susan-ryan-oration-2024

You may also like

Article Card Image

Is the Coalition’s nuclear power plan cheaper than renewable energy?

The Coalition has released the costing of its nuclear energy plan – how does it compare with Labor’s renewables-only energy plan?

Article Card Image

What are tariffs? And what does Trump’s plan mean for Australia?

As Trump returns to the Oval Office, we’re going to see headlines on tariffs. Here’s what it means for the US, Australia and the global economy.

Article Card Image

Democracy Sausage: Hungry for hope in the new year

Historian Frank Bongiorno and political scientist Marija Taflaga join Democracy Sausage to look back on 2024 and ahead to upcoming election year.

Subscribe to ANU Reporter