North Bellarine International Women's Day Celebration 2026 (SOLD OUT)
About
Join us at Scotchmans Hill Winery at 2.00pm on Thursday 5 March 2026 for a celebration of International Women's Day, with the presentation of the 2026 Monica Hayes Award for Women.This year the 2026 Monica Hayes Award for Women is sponsored by Ebejer & Associates Lawyers.
The focus of the award is celebrating women in sport on the Northern Bellarine.
Enjoy afternoon tea and a glass of complimentary bubbles on arrival.
Ticket price $45.00 per person.
When booking please notify us:
- of any dietary allergies
- the full names of your guests
- the table you would like to be seated on.
Please note that tables seat 10, 8 or 4 people. We will endeavour to seat you at the table of your choice, however larger groups will be split across 2 tables.
Our guest speaker is Mary Crooks AO.
After an extensive public policy career, Mary served as the Executive Director of the Victorian Women’s Trust from November 1996 to July 2025.
In this role, she designed and led ground-breaking community engagement initiatives, such as the Purple Sage Project and Our Watermark Australia, the first examples of the Trust’s Kitchen Table Conversation model. This nationally lauded approach to democratic engagement helped secure the election of Independent Cathy McGowan to the seat of Indi in 2013; and the model was adapted as Together Yes, to help achieve a successful outcome vote in the Voice referendum of 2023.
Mary led other major Trust initiatives including:
- Business Matrix, the first Australian business incubator for women
- The exhibition, Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives
- A unique register of women, Here She Is!
- Breakthrough for Gender Equality Conference in November 2016, the largest feminist gathering on record
- About Bloody Time: The menstrual revolution we have to have
- Rosie website for girls
- Club Respect, a harm-prevention initiative for community sports clubs
- Madam Speaker, a register of women’s speeches over generations of Australian life.
Mary also secured sustainable feminist grant-making by creating a unique series of Sub-Funds which enable women across Victoria to act on their issues and concerns. As of 2025, there are 17 such Sub-Funds held in perpetuity.
In 2012, Mary authored A Switch in Time – Restoring Respect to Australian Politics which was distributed widely across Australia. She also authored the Trust’s publication of a one-page advertisement in four national newspapers called Credit Where Credit is Due, which
paid tribute to the leadership and capacity of Julia Gillard as the nation’s first female prime minister.
In June 2012, Mary was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, for her distinguished services to public policy and advocacy for the advancement of women. In 2016, Mary won the Public Policy category as part of the AFR/Westpac’s 100 Women of Influence for her
years of work in shaping public policy in Australia.
Date
Thursday 5 March 2026 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (UTC+11)Location
Scotchmans Hill Winery
190 Scotchmans Rd, Drysdale Victoria 3222
Contact Form
North Bellarine International Women's Day Celebration 2026 (SOLD OUT)
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