2023 Pamela Denoon Lecture: Marie Coleman AO PSM
Channel: ANU TV
Date: 2023-03-10

Marie Coleman has been integral to the women's movement in Australia for the past 60 years. She maintains her indignation at the gender pay gap, and has championed everything from universal access to childcare to paid maternity leave. Marie was the first woman in Australia to head a statutory authority when she chaired the Whitlam Government's Social Welfare Commission in 1973. She had a long and distinguished career in public service, being awarded a Public Service Medal in 1990, a Centenary Medal in 2011, and an AO for distinguished service to the advancement of women. She was a founding member in 1989 of the NFAW and chaired the Social Policy Committee until early 2020. The SPC plays a leadership role for women's organisations nationally in the research and analysis of the impacts of policies on woman. She is also a committee member for the Australian Woman's Archives Project. She has been inducted into the Victorian Parliament's Honour Roll of Women and the ACT Honour Roll of Women.

The Pamela Denoon Lecture was inaugurated in 1989 as a tribute to the memory of Pamela Denoon and as a reminder that the gains that have been made by women over the years have only been possible because of the enormous dedication of women like Pamela. Pamela Denoon worked tirelessly to promote equality for women and was the National Coordinator of Women's Electoral Lobby from 1982-84. She actively lobbied for women's rights in Canberra during the 1980s and her bequest helped establish the National Foundation for Australian Women and the Pamela Denoon Trust.

The Pamela Denoon Lecture is a regular event during International Women's Week in Canberra. The Lecture aims to inspire and motivate women to find out more about issues for women in Australia and encourage some of them to get involved in a local organisation that works to promote women's rights and other major women's issues.