UN Women Australia is excited to announce that internationally acclaimed Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson will headline UN Women Australia’s International Women’s Day (IWD) events on 4 March 2026, appearing on stage in Sydney and livestreamed to audiences across Australia and online.
Under the theme ‘Balance the Scales’, the 2026 events arrive at a critical moment. In NSW alone, conviction rates for sexual assault cases sit at just 7 per cent, and across Australia, the justice system routinely fails to protect the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, globally, 3.9 billion women and girls live in countries with at least one law restricting their economic opportunities and access to justice.
Robinson is best known for her decades-long work as legal counsel to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, a case that culminated in her securing Assange’s release in June 2024 and was recognised as one of the most significant free speech cases of the 21st century. Robinson also represented Amber Heard in the UK defamation proceedings brought by Johnny Depp against The Sun newspaper, a case they won, with a judge finding that Depp had been violent towards Heard on 12 occasions. The toxic public response Heard faced in that case – and her work on many other cases involving the silencing of women and journalists for speaking out and reporting on violence against women – drove Robinson and co-author Dr Keina Yoshida to write How Many More Women?, a book examining how legal systems around the world silence survivors of gender-based violence through defamation suits, non-disclosure agreements, and systemic failures. Published in 2022, How Many More Women? the book is both a searing indictment of how law is weaponised against women, and a blueprint for change. Screen Australia is funding a documentary based on her book, which is due for release in 2026.
A Rhodes Scholar who graduated with distinction from Oxford, Robinson grew up in regional NSW and attended public school in Berry and Bomaderry before studying at the Australian National University. She founded the Bertha Justice Initiative, a global programme training hundreds of young lawyers in social justice and human rights across 17 countries and established the Acacia Award to support children from public schools—a reflection of her deeply held belief that access to justice and opportunity shouldn’t be determined by postcode or privilege.
Robinson key note address will be complemented by an in-depth panel discussion featuring three trailblazing advocates for justice and equality: Grace Tame, 2021 Australian of the Year and founder of The Grace Tame Foundation, whose fight for survivors of child sexual abuse has sparked national reform; Jess Hill, Stella Prize-winning investigative journalist and author of See What You Made Me Do, the definitive Australian work on domestic abuse; and Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, the inaugural Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, a Bundjalung woman, Fulbright Scholar, human rights lawyer and author of Long Yarn Short: We Are Still Here, who survived the Out of Home Care system and now reshapes child protection policy in Australia.
Simone Clarke, CEO of UN Women Australia, said: “At a time when justice remains out of reach for too many women and girls, we’re proud to bring together an extraordinary line-up of leaders who are transforming the systems that have failed us. Her work defending free speech, holding power to account, and fighting for the rights of the most marginalised is exactly the kind of courage we need right now.”
“Joining her on stage, Grace Tame, Jess Hill and Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts represent the frontline of Australia’s fight for justice – whether it’s survivors of child sexual abuse, women facing domestic violence, or First Nations children caught in a broken child protection system. Together, these women are dismantling the barriers that silence, marginalise, and harm. They’re not just calling for change, they’re making it happen.”
“This year’s events are a rallying cry for justice for all women and girls. When legal systems fail women, when survivors are sued for speaking out, when conviction rates remain shamefully low, we have to ask ourselves: how many more women? How many more until we act? It’s time to Balance the Scales.”
UN Women Australia’s IWD events are among the largest in Australia and provide a vital opportunity to raise funds to support and empower women and girls. The national IWD speaker line-up joins the ranks of previous speakers including Dr Jane Goodall, Mellody Hobson and Celeste Barber, among others.
Tickets for the 4 March 2026 events are now available at iwd.net.au.
Media enquiries:
Jessica Lewington
External Engagement Manager
UN Women Australia
[email protected]
+61 2 5112 2060
About UN Women Australia
UN Women Australia is a non-profit organisation committed to achieving gender equality for all women, empowering them to contribute their unique knowledge and skills to help create a better world for themselves, their families and their communities. Working in over 100 countries across the globe, UN Women runs vital programs that provide women and girls access to technology, training programs and safe spaces, empowering women and girls to obtain an education, become leaders in their community and build a brighter, more equal future for us all.
About Balance the Scales
Balance the Scales is a promise that every woman and girl – regardless of background or identity – should be safe, heard, and free to shape her own future. Yet in 2026, millions of women and girls across Australia and the world are still denied that fair go. Discriminatory laws, harmful practices, and gender-based violence remain widespread, while structural barriers continue to block access to justice. These barriers are not inevitable. They are built – and they can be dismantled. When women and girls stand equal, families are stronger, workplaces are fairer, communities thrive, and society becomes safer for everyone.
