Why aren’t there more women speakers in Australia?

confidence mc paid speaking

Walk into most conferences in Australia and you’ll notice it immediately.

Same faces. Same voices. Same men on stage.

And when women are included, they are often placed on the diversity panel, the unpaid International Women’s Day event, or asked to just share their story for exposure.

So why, in a country full of brilliant, experienced, articulate women, do we still see such a gap on stages?

It is not a confidence issue. It is not a talent issue. And it is definitely not a pipeline problem.

It is a system problem.

The Numbers Tell the Story

According to Australian industry snapshots and advocacy reports, only around 30 percent of speakers at conferences and events in Australia are women, meaning roughly 70 percent of speaking slots are still held by men.

This is despite women making up more than half of university graduates, a significant proportion of senior professionals, and an increasing share of business owners and leaders.

The talent is there. The visibility is not.

1. Women Are Overqualified and Still Waiting to Be Asked

Australian women often believe they need one more credential before stepping onto a stage.

Another course. Another title. Another decade of experience.

Men, on the other hand, are more likely to put their hand up when they are not fully ready and work it out as they go.

Women are taught to wait for permission. Men are taught to assume it.

And stages tend to reward who speaks first, not who is most qualified.

2. The Confidence Myth Is a Convenient Excuse

There is a persistent narrative that there are not enough confident women speakers.

This is simply untrue.

Women are often socialised to be thoughtful, measured, and collaborative. Men are socialised to be assertive, opinionated, and comfortable taking up space.

Confidence is not missing. It is just expressed differently.

And too often, event organisers mistake that difference for a lack of authority.

3. Unpaid Speaking Keeps Women Invisible

Women in Australia are still disproportionately asked to speak for free.

Great exposure. Amazing networking. It will lead to something bigger.

Meanwhile, men are negotiating fees, retainers, and repeat bookings.

Unpaid speaking devalues women’s expertise and keeps them out of rooms where influence, income, and opportunity actually sit.

You cannot build a sustainable speaking career on exposure.

4. Caring Responsibilities Are Still a Barrier

Women still carry the majority of unpaid labour in Australia.

Childcare. Elder care. Household management. Emotional labour.

Speaking opportunities often require travel, last minute availability, or after hours commitments.

When events are not designed with real lives in mind, women quietly opt out. Not because they lack ambition, but because the system makes participation harder.

5. Event Organisers Default to Who They Know

Speaker lineups are often filled through existing networks and past bookings.

Those networks are still overwhelmingly male.

This is not always intentional. It is habitual.

Without actively seeking out women speakers, the same voices are recycled again and again, reinforcing the myth that there are not many women available.

There are. They are just not being asked.

6. Representation Creates Permission

When women do not see people like themselves on stage, they internalise the belief that they do not belong there.

Representation is not symbolic. It is permission.

Every woman who is visible on a stage makes it easier for another woman to imagine herself there too.

So What Needs to Change?

If Australia wants more women speakers, we need to stop telling women to be more confident and start fixing the system around them.

That means paying women properly for their expertise, designing events that work with real lives, actively seeking diverse voices, and teaching women how to pitch, price, and position themselves with authority.

The talent is already here.

The real question is whether the industry is ready to value it.

Because when women are visible, paid, and heard, the conversation does not just change.