Tickets are now available for the Australian Women in Wine (AWIW) 2024 National Symposium, a one-day event for women across the wine industry to come together for a day of learning, connection and empowerment, which will take place on 22 November at Hobart’s Franklin Wharf.
Building on the success of the inaugural 2023 symposium, the theme is ‘Investing in Women for the Betterment of Australian Wine’, inspired by the 2024 International Women’s Day theme of Count Her In: Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress.
On the day, experts from the wine industry and from other industries will share their insights into what investing in women really means and how it will affect the Australian wine industry.
Wine Australia’s recent 2024 statistics show that 16.7 per cent of winemakers are women and 21.5 per cent of viticulturalists are women. This is a marked improvement on figures from a decade ago, with numbers nearly doubling.
AWIW Founder and Chair, Jane Thomson, said that while the increase is promising, there is still progress to be made in order to reach gender parity in the industry.
“Australian Women in Wine has been a strong voice pushing for action on gender equality for almost a decade now, so seeing an improvement in the numbers is definitely encouraging.
“However, the dial is moving far too slowly. And unless we see a deliberate investment in women at all levels, they are going to keep abandoning this industry right at the very time we need the best talent to help us meet the unparalleled challenges we’re currently facing,” she said.
The AWIW 2024 National Symposium invites women at all stages of their wine industry careers to attend the event, from business owners, growers and winemakers to sales and marketing professionals and cellar door staff.
Registrations are now open on the AWIW website. It was a sold out event in 2023, so AWIW encourages those interested to register early. In addition to the symposium, there is an optional Welcome Dinner for all delegates on the 21 November.