Annual Jessie Street Lunch Fundraiser: Julia Gillard

The Jessie Street Trust is proud to announce the 2015 speaker.

Hon Julia Gillard Prime Minister of Australia, 2010-2013

Julia Gillard was the 27th Prime Minister of Australia and first woman to serve in that role. From 2007, when Labor was elected, she served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion.

Ms Gillard delivered nation-changing policies including reforming Australian education at every level from early childhood to university, creating an emissions trading scheme, improving the provision and sustainability of health care, aged care and dental care, commencing the nation’s first ever national scheme to care for people with disabilities and restructuring the telecommunications sector as well as building a national broadband network.

In foreign policy, Ms Gillard strengthened Australia’s alliance with the United States, secured stronger architecture for the relationship with China, upgraded Australia’s ties with India, and deepened ties with Japan, Indonesia and South Korea. Under her leadership, Australia was elected to the United Nations Security Council.

In October 2012, Ms Gillard received worldwide attention for her speech in Parliament on the treatment of women in professional and public life.

In October 2013, Ms Gillard was appointed a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, working with the Center for Universal Education. In February 2014, she was appointed Chair of the Board of the Global Partnership for Education, the only multilateral partnership devoted to getting all children into school for a quality education. She is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Adelaide.

Ms Gillard was born in Wales in 1961, the daughter of a nurse and an aged care worker. Her family migrated to Australia in 1966 and she grew up in Adelaide.

Please book early as this event will sell out. RSVP by Friday Thursday 2 April 2015

The Annual Lunch has been held since 1989. It takes place in Parliament House Sydney, as near as possible to April 18, the date of Jessie’s birthday.

Over the years the lunch has attracted a dedicated group of supporters who come away well fed by the Parliament House chefs and inspired by the speakers and the emotionally powerful stories behind the past and current annual grant winners. The Trust is proud that this event in Jessie’s name has become a Sydney institution.

For more information, visit the website of the Jessie Street Trust.