 We are so so thrilled that you are here tonight for the diversity at the frontier gender equality in space conference signature event. Now for those of you who haven't been part of our wonderful event and conference that we have had all day today as well as workshops that were held yesterday with the ACT government. I am so thrilled to tell you that this is the first event of its kind in Australia. An event where we can draw a line in the sand and mark a time for which diversity and inclusion, belonging, equity and equality are foregrounded as significant priorities in the space sector where we can embed them well on into the future. I'm Dr Elise Stevenson. I'm the Deputy Director of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership here at the ANU and one of the organisers of this conference together with my colleagues Dr Cassandra Stier and Professor Meredith Nash. The Global Institute for Women's Leadership is a research institute that was founded and is chaired by our former first and only female Prime Minister Julia Gillard. It exists to be a leading institute around gender equality and women's leadership across all kinds of different spheres and workplaces, not just here in Australia but also globally. We exist to create an evidence base, one that is intersectional that considers gender as a spectrum that looks at race and ethnicity, disability, LGBTIQ plus status and much more. We together with ANU Institute for Space have partnered and come together to create this conference to really meet a gap in our conversations and dialogue, our policy and our action here in Australia and also to be part of a leading conversation globally. We are so thrilled that we were able to put on this event with the wonderful support of the ACT Government as our major sponsor who have really demonstrated through their support their values aligned commitment to the space sector and I'm very thrilled that we'll also be hearing from the Chief Minister a little bit later this evening. We also have the support of the Australian Space Agency, thank you and as we heard from today the Australian Space Agency has committed to producing a diversity and inclusion statement for the space sector which we are very very thrilled to lead here. We also give our thanks to the US Embassy in Australia and the US Government for their ongoing support and commitment and partnership to bilateral strength around diversity and inclusion in space, to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who really act as a leading body internationally and who are well recognised as leaders in gender equality in all kinds of international affairs and to the Australian Academy of Sciences for their support in venue and in spaces today. Now on March 25, 2019 NASA announced it would launch its first all-female spacewalk of two women at the International Space Station. Days after the announcement was made the space walk, this historic spacewalk was cancelled because there weren't enough uniforms or spacesuits to fit the women. Now months later the historic walk did take place but the incident highlighted the gender gap that remains in space. Now given space 2.0 is bringing unprecedented opportunities for nations and building on humanity's first endeavours to reach space by increasing accessibility, increasing the actors improving technology and really rapidly building on growth in the space industry, we must be very intentional in ensuring that our technological progress does not outpace our social values. Right, we've got to get it right from the start. Whilst we know that women's inclusion in international affairs results in better decision making and higher levels of collaboration and consensus and the business case for diversity has well and truly been made, increased productivity, innovation, reducing group think, we've gone through it all in extensive detail today. Currently this business case whether on moral or strategic grounds is not guaranteed. Progress that we are seeing today is not guaranteed. So I'm very thrilled that we are able to hold this event and I'm deeply grateful to you all for turning up here tonight. To start off this evening it is really important that we acknowledge the space in which we gather and the deep history that has come with this land. I think that it is really imperative that we do not replete the mistakes of the past when it comes to the space sector. With that in mind it is my absolute pleasure to introduce Aunty Matilda House, Dr Aunty Matilda House, who will be joining us here today to give the welcome to country. Remember years and years ago when all you kids, you would remember Andrew Barr, when you was a kid you used to rush home to watch Lost in Space. Do you all remember that? It's the age group of Andrew Barr now. Come on, you've got to admit it. That's what we're all here tonight to learn from that robot. What did it say every time? Come on, do you know? God, and here we are. Here we are. But only this time it's diversity. To make sure everybody is going to be part of that whole uniformed what you are all doing. And I believe that you should go to everywhere around Australia to promote this wonderful, wonderful, wonderful thing what you are doing tonight. Lost in Space may have been great then as my kids were watching that all the time. But who would have thought and then come that other big show, you know? I don't know. But anyways, but here we are in Australia and leading, we're leading the nations because it was just said about the United States and others that are going to be joining and giving us help to maintain and always be there for us if needed. But having women standing side by side is what we always want to make sure that the diversity is there for all the agendas, male and female. Because this is what we need and we have been getting it but not as much as what we do in this subject of Lost in Space. How many people have ever been lost? I've been lost in space. I've been running around all bloody day with a seven-year-old. And I am my great-granddaughter. And oh my God, I'm so tired. And I want to apologize that as soon as I'm finished I'm out the door. Oh, sorry. I really am sorry. But she'll be waiting up for me to come home. And that's what we do as parents, grandfathers, grandmothers, great-grandheirs, which I am. And that's what I'll be doing. I'm sorry but I'm going to leave you to Andrew Barr and all the things that he knows about Lost in Space because, you know, we have the most wonderful, wonderful station that we have here in Australia. And that's on our land, on the land of my land, the Nambry people, out there tippin' billa. Is it still there, Andrew? It is. Well, could have went off Lost in Space. Who knows. And then out at that other place out there because when I was on the Heritage Council we used to visit that as well. So yes, the Australian Capital Territory has been involved and will always be involved. And that makes me a very proud canberran. It makes me a very proud canberran to know that we are part and parcel of everything that's happening here tonight and other spaceships that are flying around as well. Have a great evening, enjoy yourselves and get Lost in Space. Amazing. I think that that is probably the best welcome to country I've ever heard. So I think get Lost in Space, everyone. It is my greatest honour to be able to introduce our next speaker. Ms Andrew Barr has led a positive agenda for Canberra since being elected ACT Chief Minister in 2014. He has improved the lives of Canberrans through major changes to the ACT's tax system, leading the nation on climate action, reaching 100% renewable electricity and making Canberra the most LGBTIQ plus friendly city in Australia. Andrew has outlined his economic priorities in Canberra Switched On which builds on Canberra's status as a progressive and sustainable city that values people and ideas. The innovative and diverse business ecosystem that is developed under his leadership provides a strong foundation for the ACT to achieve and drive these priorities forwards. We're so honoured to have you over to you, Chief Minister. Thank you very much, Elise, for that very generous introduction. I know there's no one applauded tax reform, but the the treasury in me is used to that. Can I thank Adam Attilda too for the welcome to country? Although she perhaps might have slightly aged me a little. I think Lost in Space was on its 10th repeat by the time I was coming home to watch more of a Doctor Who and Star Trek guide myself. But can I thank the Global Institute for Women's Leadership, the ANU, the various Australian government and US government agencies for their support of this event and we're delighted as a territory government to be a major sponsor. The origins of this in some regard stem back to an Australian Space Awards event that had amongst the worst gender balance of any event I've attended this century. And in talking with Kate Lundy and others that night, I said we need to do something about this and this is a magnificent opportunity for the ACT to again show national leadership. So that's why I am here. That's why we as a government are sponsoring this event and that's what I want to talk to you about tonight. This is a wonderful opportunity, not just this evening's event but the number of days associated with the conference to bring together the local industry, academia, peak bodies and the wider community to engage and to find some solutions to a pretty stark gender imbalance in the space industry and it is stark. I'm advised that of the 566 people who have travelled into space, not even 12% of them have been women. Currently only one in five of the jobs in the space sector are held by women. There is still a very persistent gendered use of language when talking about matters of space from one giant leap for mankind to unmanned aircraft. The language that we use is important and it does reflect the challenges but I think also the opportunities that we now have. We know there's a lot of work to be done but I'm confident that Canberra's space industry provides a strong base for which to lead that work across our country. Now this city has had a long and direct involvement with some of the biggest events in international space exploration from providing critical support to the Apollo 11 missions to the Phoenix landing on Mars. 1973 I think the ABC have been reporting on this today was when one of the deep space dishes at Tidbinbilla that Aunty Matilda referred to was opened by then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. As to whether it is looking better than this 1973 deep dish is another matter but we're both in need of some midlife repairs but I think it demonstrates a long run commitment and history for this city and this reflects now in what we see in 2023 that our space industry is uniting players across government across industry our education institutions and our research community. We have deep connections at all levels of government academia research institutions and out into the business community small and large with an aligned agenda common goals for where we want to take and develop our local space industry. Our city is home to two of Australia's leading space research institutions. They've been consistently developing spin-off companies that have been producing commercially viable products that are at the cutting edge of technology and research. Our space facilities in Canberra are key enablers of future space missions. They're able to meet and provide professional mission assurance standards and principles unlike anywhere else in our nation. So this is an ecosystem that can provide end-to-end capability for design, manufacture, operation, test verification and delivery of a full range of space products and services. And because of all of this alignment and capability, our industry capability is internationally renowned. Our research and education institutions, our innovative local businesses, our global exporters are making a significant contribution to the Australian and to the international industry. So there is a real sense of momentum at this point in time and excitement around the range of projects and opportunities that are being undertaken in Canberra. But one thing is holding us back and it is clear that to continue this growth, we need to diversify and expand the space workforce. We know that increasing diversity will bring new ideas and voices into this ecosystem and will lead to better outcomes for our community, for our economy and for our environment. We know that the space industry is experiencing the same sorts of skill shortages and challenges that so many parts of the Australian economy are currently experiencing. The unemployment data that came out today showed this little territory has the lowest unemployment rate in Australia and we have nearly twice as many job vacancies as there are unemployed people in Canberra at the moment. So we have what economists would call an acute skill shortage and full employment. Now, there's always something wrong in the economy. That is a fact, it's a pretty dismal science economics. But this is perhaps the sort of problem you want to have. There's a lot of demand for skills and some amazing opportunities for our education institutions and many of the partners within this space ecosystem if we get this right to be a real powerhouse in our nation. Greater diversity and a quality of access have to be at the centre of our collective effort to build and maintain a skilled workforce into the future. So we're keenly aware of the benefits and the need to diversify and that's why we bring this values based approach to space industry development in Canberra. We think this approach is responsible, it's sustainable but most importantly it is equitable. We seek to promote a culture that provides equitable access that encourages women, young people and First Nations people into long-term rewarding careers in the space industry. So we want space to be a viable and obvious career pathway. We want people to be challenged, to be interested. We want them to be involved and we want voices heard and contributions valued. Now for many people the journey to space starts at school so that's why the ACT government has established an Academy of Future Skills which is providing our teachers and our schools with additional support in STEM education. We're providing grants to schools to support more young women and girls to get involved in subjects that they are underrepresented in and where we know the jobs of tomorrow are going to require those skills. But I think the commitment needs to extend beyond schools and into the workforce and the broader economy. So we're committed to inclusive innovation and knowledge based economic growth and to achieve those goals diversity is at the heart of delivery. Now innovation flourishes in our city because we're connected. It's relatively easy to build networks in this city and our diversity and our progressive values mean more and more that Canberra is a focal point and a place that people are drawn to as a centre of inclusive innovation and these are the priorities and the values that underpin our switched on economic development strategy. This sets out some short-term priorities for when I released it in several years ago for the first half of this decade but sets a platform for where we want to take the space industry as part of Canberra's knowledge economy. We're going to further this work through the release of a specific space industry strategy this year and so the ideas and input that comes from this conference will be important in shaping that document but we want the strategy to focus on promoting a culture that offers fair access that encourages people of diverse backgrounds into space careers but also understands and seeks to focus on some specific groups to address gender imbalance to support a pathway for younger people and to particularly focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and economic participation. So we seek to support and encourage this through education and training pathways as I've touched on at schools but also in higher education settings and I think we need to measure and track our progress. If you can't measure and demonstrate improvement we're not pursuing the right policy agenda and so I look to the Australian STEM Equity Monitor to give us a sense of the current state of gender equity in this area. It's a pretty reliable measure of changes and trends and what it's showing pre-pandemic anyway was that women made up less than a quarter of students studying STEM subjects in 2019. So I go back to the point about one in five jobs in space and now at only one in four of the students studying quite relevant subjects for a career in this industry only one in four were women in 2019. Five years after graduating men with a STEM qualification were nearly two times more likely to be working in an occupation that required those STEM skills compared to their female counterparts and there was this will surprise none in the room a significant gender pay gap between qualified men and women working in STEM areas that in 2020 was nearly $30,000 per annum. So that's a pretty stark set of figures data and provides us with a challenge but also a pretty clear pathway to how we can address these imbalances clearly starts at school higher education provides a wonderful opportunity to quickly bridge a gap and then there is a real onus on employers in this area to address the gender pay gap so attracting women and girls to STEM providing an environment for them to thrive is a shared responsibility it's one that we take on as a major provider of education and training in our city but we will need partners we will need businesses to sign up to this so there's a lot of work to do in short but it's important that we're talking about it we know the gaps we need to close we know the areas we need to focus on and with support from our level of government from the Commonwealth Government from all of the institutional partners within our space ecosystem and with some really amazing role models already thriving in the space sector I'm confident we can get there and hopefully get there really soon so I'm asking you all to join us in this endeavour it will only happen through collective effort and action and goodwill let's make it happen thank you for being part of tonight well there's the call to action thank you so much Chief Minister and now it is my utmost pleasure to be able to introduce to you our wonderful speakers for tonight I will introduce our speakers and I would encourage them to walk up to the stage and I will join them and we'll have a bit of a moderated discussion covering a little bit about what we discussed here today but also what are the critical messages that are needed going forwards so firstly I'm very honoured to be able to introduce the ambasta Australia's ambassador for gender equality Stephanie Copas Campbell as one of our honoured guests tonight thank you so much Stephanie for joining us we we are also very very honoured to be joined by an amazing First Nations PhD candidate who's working on the space sector and space sector's relationship and engagement with First Nations communities particularly around launch and launch sites Carolyn Craven all the way from the United States we are also very very honoured here to have tonight the very first gender advisor for women peace and security to the United States a space force Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Clark so so today I'm assuming people can hear me great today we learned all kinds of things we learned that progress is not guaranteed we learned and Chief Minister has repeated now that women still only represent one in five in the industry or the wider space sector and also that that has been the case for over 30 years we know that space is everywhere we know that the technologies that we use on a day-to-day basis from GPS to memory foam to artificial limbs and all other things are all around us we're not just talking about space as something that is up in the sky it is down here and our sector and technologies are deeply earth based and we also learned that there are a lot of new institutions from United States space force Australian space command as well as our Australian space agency which means that we have an obligation and an opportunity to get things right from the start what I want to know though is that we are at this moment in time and we have not achieved gender equality still or other forms of diversity and inclusion we're currently seeing a perpetuation of some of our more earth based and historic inequalities in the national space sector and globally why are we still fighting this battle and what are some of the ramifications for the future Stephanie can I throw to you first yes can you hear me it's wonderful to be here good evening I first want to remark the chief minister noted that he went to a space conference and it was heavily dominated by men so I look around this room and I have to say it's heavily dominated by women and that's wonderful I spent a good deal of my career working in the resource sector trying to give their money to communities and it was heavily male dominant I'll talk more about that in a moment because there's a lot of parallels but I would go to conferences and I'd be the only woman on stage it'd be one of the few women in the audiences and I would sit there and say we need more women we need more women we need more women I'm in this role and I go to a lot of conferences about women and I sit and I say we need more men we need more men we need more men so it seems to be when we're talking about women we're often talking to other women and whilst that's important we can't in this space achieve gender equality without men and we can't achieve it without everyone and so I think the first thing is how do we start to look at this in a very inclusive way in a way that when we start to exclude people when we talk about it that's where we're also starting to get some of that pushback and we can talk about that a bit more so thank you to all the men that are here today it's very important to have you in the room you know across the board I often say that with gender equality it's it's not just the right thing to do and of course it is women and girls rights and women in all the diversity and the rights it's human right it's a universal human right but it's absolutely the smart thing to do and I do believe that we need to ensure in all of our conversations we understand fundamentally why that is the case we cannot tackle let's just take climate change we cannot tackle the sticky wicked problem of climate change if we are ignoring the contribution that the brain power of half of our planet can make to that we just can't do it we are not going to tackle the sticky problem of climate change if we are not looking at the diversity of thinking and innovation of ideas that women and girls bring in addition to the different ideas that men and boys bring to that we're not going to tackle it if we don't look at the impact and the barriers that tend to be greater on women and girls than men and boys in many areas so we just can't have any sort of economic social human development we can't tackle the greatest threats that that are facing us as humanity without looking and addressing and being serious about gender equality it underpins everything so I think having those dialogues in an inclusive way and in doing it in a way that we are talking about it strategically as well as a human right but but strategically is really really important thanks so much Stephanie I mean I completely agree you know this isn't just a space sector issue but I think the ramifications of getting it wrong and also the opportunity of getting it right are really quite critical and major um Caroline I'm going to go to you you know we talked a lot today about the voices that are being heard and the voices that aren't being heard in the space sector you work particularly with First Nations communities in the space sector around launch and launch sites how can we make sure that a diversity of people and perspectives are represented are heard are listened to are part of the decision-making tables what are your perspectives it's a big question to answer obviously First Nations Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples have been trying to do this for some time outside of launching I guess I have the power to be able to do that within launching and hence this is my focus I would argue that that needs to be broadened in many areas across Australia and lives that you know in our society and where it affects Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander lives and it does the best in terms of answering the question I think to start off with we've got to listen I mean that's what we're screaming out for we're screaming out for a voice whether you agree with the voice to parliament that's a separate issue it can't be argued though I think it's not disputed that we would like to be counted equally in with equality we want to be heard we it affects us profoundly it launching in particular if I look at that because that's obviously my PhD topic that will profoundly affect Aboriginal lives and Torres Strait Islanders it will inevitably it can have a positive outcome if we do it correctly or it can have a negative one if we don't what I fear is that there is no real governance for that at the moment and there we have a we will have the gap and the gap will become bigger as time passes so we need to capture that now and I've heard that in the speeches so thanks so much and and I completely agree I guess we've got a we've got a benchmark to go off in terms of the mining sector has has been there done that colonization has done absolutely dreadful things to Australia there's this kind of moment in which we have to be quite reflective and really yeah put our ear to the ground you know listen to communities and understand their perspectives and also look at the critical failures because that that is ultimately what they have been and there's a lot of similarities in the space sector that I fear that maybe we're not quite good enough yet at being able to deal with Kristen your position in Space Force is quite historic it is it is quite an you know a remarkable position that we are able to be at this point in time where we have a new institution and this has been prioritized at the highest levels right from the start now you are gender advisor for women peace and security in particular and for those of you who may not be so familiar the United Nations in 2000 issued kind of a women peace and security security council resolution which was really a landmark you know international agreement which basically for the first time ever was made the direct link between gender equality and women's representation and inclusion and peace and and basically recovery post-conflict and the prevention of violence now for you Kristen how do you think that things like the women peace and security agenda pave the way for gender equality in the space sector yeah so first I'll thank you for the invite this evening yeah I came here from you know from DC to sit on the panel and have a you know be in the workshops this week so I really do appreciate that so yeah the space forces is new very new we're three so you know we're the youngest of the services we're the smallest of the services by by far so we're trying to do it right we're trying to make sure we get into the ground floor and have the you know someday hopefully the 5050 split of men women in in our service so that's something that you know our leadership is striving for but to do that we also have to get the word out for the different services so in response to the 2000 the UN my congress has then tasked all the services to to implement WPS indoor indoor our service every service is looking at it differently the army at so much larger than the space force has a different way but so for us it's it's training our senior leaders it's it's ensuring that we are most senior leadership and men and women in senior leadership are there and support WPS which we've been doing past couple months really heavy in the space force as far as briefing but then it's also training our folks training the guardians of the space force to understand what WPS is and getting into that ground level to ensure that these ideas of gender equity getting met you know women to the table with a voice not just at the table but with a voice and ensuring that our our male counterparts listen to us and also provide our junior officers our junior listed and our in our young civilians that that training and that equity at the table so that's how we're trying to do it in the space force yeah I mean and I think it's fantastic I think that one of the things that always blows my mind about the wind pieces security agendas yeah it's 20 years old and actually really and and my colleague Dr Cassandra steer and I have been working on kind of how would we translate this agenda to space security and and there's there is literally no literature in terms of academic research out there that we can find about how we would apply this to space security so we are really at the frontier of actually we don't need to reinvent the wheel but what the women peace and security agenda does allow is for agencies and countries to look internally at their defense workforces their foreign affairs you know you know lots of their elements of their workforces to see what are they representative and when we are negotiating for peace or for conflict or for anything in between that women are in the room but secondly that we apply a gender lens to when things go wrong you know climate change obviously is a threat melt multiplier multiplier for gender inequality making things much much worse but we also see that you know when things like satellites are targeted in in war that can knock them out it can have ramifications for civilians and militaries but we know because of the entrenched gender inequalities in the world that that is likely to have a greater effect on women and girls particularly when we come to telecommunications to education a whole lot of different ramifications so it's I think it's really remarkable and I think it's a it's phenomenal that we do have this commitment from the Space Force if I can jump to you Stephanie because you you do work a lot in kind of this ambassadorial role and really I suppose you know Australia has been seen in many ways as a leader in this space but what do you think that Australia's role could be when it comes to leading on gender equality diversity you know inclusion and equity in the space sector internationally and what would you like to see from our international counterparts around this area so we and we are a leader we we start at harm and I love the fact that our prime minister very strategically put our minister for finance and our minister for women in the same position and have started on the front for addressing gender pay gaps looking at issues like STEM on domestic violence etc and that's carried right over into the international setting with our foreign policy which pursues the empowerment of women and girls as a top priority so within that we also of course have signed all five of the core space treaties I think all in a handful of nations have done that so we are in a powerful position to combine the two priorities and we're doing so we can play a really important role in multilateral settings and working with like-minded countries which we do need to bring on board particularly given in what we're seeing in multilateral settings is a significant and concerning gender pushback in in language and international treaties and in building consensus and so we need to work with like-minded and we can have a real voice including in the in the space in multilateral and regional forms but importantly through our foreign policy through our trade policy through our development cooperation through some of the different ways we're looking at financing investment into women's businesses and women's activities we really can drive women's empowerment which is the basis for everything we're doing across every space including this particular space space and in doing so we are working through our development cooperation program for example to improve access to STEM for for boys and girls but with with a particular focus on getting more girls into STEM and more generally looking at at women's equality we're working across the business sector including the tech sector to look at ways to live barriers so that more women can participate etc so I think just starting with championing women's empowerment in everything that we do which is the basis for everything else is really important and of course we're absolute leaders in the women peace and security space as well so really we need we need more than ever our like-minded partners to work with us to fight hard I mean you mentioned in in your um your introductory remarks that we can't assume that progress is linear and we absolutely cannot rest on our morals progress is not linear and that pushback is real and it's frightening and so in everything we do we need to work with like-minded and encourage them to step out and to fight for this in every space including space space yeah thank you for mentioning that too I think that backlash is a it's a really important conversation that we perhaps aren't having enough of but that is it's having real um you know impacts on on all kinds of bodies that have been traditionally marginalised in all kinds of sectors but I think you know in sectors that have high visibility like the space sector there are there are kind of unique um challenges that come with that high visibility um Caroline if I can go to you so my question comes in two parts here firstly um thinking about policy is there any big messages that you would have for for government or for industry when it comes to First Nations engagement in space sector and secondly any advice for young people um young First Nations people in particular in in joining the space sector so to start off with the first question uh I think that governments have been consulted a lot I think uh Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples have been talking to governments for a long time and felt like it doesn't get listened to now I understand that hopefully that'll change soon um but we don't know yet and I guess uh governments probably I mean I've worked for governments I've worked for different tiers of governments in Australia and um my experience is if we look at one person that's experience and gone through the system um there hasn't been a lot of support to get you there uh and so I mean I've got a science background I've got a hydrogeology background um I'm not in it um I'm I'm a lawyer but I don't have practicing certificate there's a reason for that what we've got to do and these these were all in government agencies so um we've got to really support women because women Indigenous women lead other Indigenous girls slash women through the system and we have more of their presence which means you know as we learn today if we don't have the cohort there we can't use that as an understanding for anything so governments really need to lead the way I always say that governments have to set the example because they're the gatekeepers of the country I mean they're ultimately the you know ultimate administrator so it's really their responsibility and they need to do that with honesty and with integrity so they have to mean it um and understand the benefits that Indigenous people bring to the to two governments to space to science to to any area really but understand what they can bring not just um you know I guess the tokenism that we are so used to I would like to see not our people not pigeonholed yeah um and actually be in positions of true leadership based on merit so we get to the top and we there's very few of us in leadership positions which is concerning obviously we don't get to make the decisions for our own people but also we can help our non-Indigenous Australia as well we've got lots to contribute there um to answer the second question will it kind of feeds into the first question because if you've got lots of say women and kids uh that I know I've worked in youth justice um and I've seen once they get in the system and unfortunately we're overrepresented in that system even from I mean in in in South Australia the responsible criminal age of responsibility is from 10 it's way too young I notice that the Northern Territory have actually made a change on that we need to look at that but we need to look at all the institutionalized laws and policies in place that stop that and get out of that thinking because those kids once they are in the system and they might be in the system not at no fault of their own based on this you know intergenerational trauma they can't get out and what do we do about that in terms of if they get a record young even if they get a record young under the age of 18 and they've been handled with say like in South Australia they didn't go through the youth youth court system they get diverted into the family conferencing unit they still have a record with police police can still access that record their their career is now over if they want to ever go on the police when they're older they cannot do that so there's always that level of discrimination on top of already fundamental discrimination that's already got us there in the first place those things need to be changed we really need to have a long hard thing and think outside the square because if we don't we're going to constantly keep people and as you said today I winded up but as you said today you know those things we need to get security clearances right how are those kids ever got you're always going to have the lucky few the privileged few of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander kids that didn't which is not the common that's not the norm the norm is the flip side unfortunately so how do we get those kids out of that system and once they're in it how do we get them out of it I've got some ideas um and I think but it it will absolutely take governments to be thinking outside of the square and not in this punitive mind that we've got and I think if anyone's interested in hearing those ideas I think follow up with Callan because this is a real opportunity and I think we do have to be quite networked in our approach and make sure we are building on each other as we take an approach forwards around these issues Kristen um as last question any general advice for women or people from historically marginalized groups looking to have a career in space what should they do what shouldn't they do yeah okay that's quite a question yeah um so so first off I just want to the ambassador's point um Australia really is a leader in WPS um I learned WPS when I went to Afghanistan and I saw it operationalized um from from the Australian forces and the New Zealand forces there uh then when the call came out uh at the Pentagon to have a WPS representative I raised my hand because I saw the good it really could do so I just want to say you know thank you for that so what to do so I'm I'm an aerospace engineer I'm a rock propulsion engineer uh don't don't let them tell you no I mean that's that's all in the short of it um yeah to get into the the space community um it's it's not an easy path always um you know just um you know you have to put your nose to the grindstone and study and and um you know try and try and get into the room I think sometimes getting into the room is the first step and then kind of like inching your way up to the table and then getting a seat at the table is the next step um and so that's kind of how I've always I've always done things um you know trying to to get your voice heard whether it's doing that extra a little bit of volunteer time or raising your hand for extra things and then getting there or you know studying a little extra hard or you know doing you know for the military giving a little extra PT to get noticed um you know it's it's all those different things and um you know in the engineering community there there aren't a lot of women I have gotten the question of why would a woman even want to do that um you know and and it's you know it's a hard because I want to because I want to make you know I want to make uh the rocket propulsion community better I want to launch rockets I want to provide defense and work with my partners in the nation so and and make the world a better place okay so so um hopefully that that answers it uh yeah don't take no for an answer um go out there and do good things I love that I've interviewed a lot of ambassadors and commanders and all kinds of amazing people across international affairs and that kind of resilience um approach you know it can be hard to hear because we don't want to always just put up with it but it it certainly is a message that comes across a lot and the last message I would probably leave you on is that you know in thinking about these issues whether that be from gender or disability or for ethnicity or anything else um we really have to make sure that we are focusing on fixing systems um as much as possible and not individuals we don't want to just fix women we don't want to fix disabled people we don't want to fix you know we really want to be there from institutional backgrounds and intervention points that we can make a tangible tangible difference on a wide scale um I'm going to hand over to our wonderful director professor Michelle Ryan to lead us in some kind of closing remarks um and comments before we wrap up this phenomenal panel Michelle over to you thank you so much Elise and I know I am not the person that was advertised on the tin so I don't have a Nobel Prize I'm not the vice chancellor of the university but I hope I'll do thank you so much can everyone just join me in thanking this fantastic panel I mean such a fascinating discussion and for me I think what I was particularly impressed by was the sort of breadth and depth of the expertise on our panel so we've got a First Nations and an academic research perspective we've got an engineering and US space force perspective we've got an ambassadorial and international relations perspective and I just I was just reflecting on the fact that this panel is sort of truly emblematic of the sort of expertise that is needed if we are going to truly diversify the space sector so I think this event tonight and the diversity at the frontier conference more generally I think it comes at a really crucial time we are really well positioned to shape this sort of growing industry in a way that aligns with the values that are important to us in a in a way that sort of welcomes and seeks out diversity both in the recognition of the diverse the benefits that diversity brings so a sort of business case for diversity but also really and I think almost import more importantly the moral imperative that we have for diversity and inclusion as well so I think here at the ANU and I'm channeling Brian Schmidt here at the moment so here at ANU we're really uniquely placed to support government and to support industry in delivering on these goals of diversity and inclusion I'm really proud to be the inaugural director of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership we call ourselves dual we call ourselves jewelers as well but just supporting a team that's working really closely together to bring about world leading research to bring about a translation of that research into practice and to collaborate with industry and government in in those sorts of ways and the sort of advocacy we do in events like this one to just make sure that the national conversation is on track and we do all of this work across a range of sectors including the space sector as well the ANU is also home to a really world leading group of space researchers we've got more than 130 million dollars worth of world-class space infrastructure as well ANU in spaces is really unique internationally really but it's a cross-disciplinary organization that connects the ANU space research with society's biggest challenges to really deliver positive impact as well so it's so exciting for me to see our two institutes working together to lead the way on how we can improve diversity in space we can connect governments we can bring industry together we can bring multiple multidisciplinary researchers to the table as well and really look at how we can bring about change and develop effective solutions and I think we've heard about some really concrete solutions here on the panel today and I think we've had some very strong calls to action as well so I just want to congratulate the fantastic organizers of this event Dr Elise Stevenson who's up here but we've also got other people that are a little bit more behind the scenes tonight's event so Dr Cassandra Stier and Professor Meredith Nash and all of the fabulous folks in the dual team that are wearing pink and gray t-shirts and are running around behind the scenes to get stuff done as well so I think I'm really excited to see where this event takes us I think this is not the end it feels like the end of this event but it's really the beginning of a much broader conversation so maybe one more thanks for this amazing panel and I'll get you back up really well thank you so much everyone I think Michelle really really said it and our wonderful panelists I mean I really I always wish that I had about two more hours that I could just drill down into their their brilliance and their expertise and their lived experience because this is really what it's what it's all about so just as some final final notes we are very very excited that a little bit later this month we'll be launching our podcast with Julia Gillard she has a podcast our podcast with one's own a room of one's own which is discussing all on diversity in space and you'll get to hear a bit more from myself as well as from Julia Gillard as we dive into these issues into a little bit more detail we also have a major study that is being undertaken currently so a big survey that you can participate in all around diversity and inclusion and accessibility and belonging in the space sector and we will be sending out details for that after this event and I really encourage you to please take part and please share it with everyone that you know because as I mentioned before we're really doing benchmarking here this is a really important initial mapping exercise finally we are going to have a little bit of merch available at the canapes and drinks if you want cool fluoro pink jewel mugs you know signed by Julia Gillard not quite but you know they look cool do check it out and also I encourage you to exit through the rear doors because we're heading up to ambush gallery for our canapes and drinks and we really hope that you can stick around there'll be a few jewel people directing you but essentially go through the doors at the back and through the corridor thank you so much thank you to the ACT government thank you to the Australian Space Agency Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the US Embassy in Australia to the Australian Academy of Sciences to our amazing partners here our speakers and to all of you here tonight for joining us and good night