International Women's Day 2026
In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) on Sunday 8 March 2026, the College and the Gender Equity Sub-Committee (GESC) encourage you to reflect on the collated resource pack that showcases our women in medicine to help prompt personal reflections and discussions with colleagues.
Watch a video, read an article or revisit the museum’s online exhibition – the idea is to take a moment to reflect on the inspirational women who have driven (and continue to drive) change to help balance the scales.
International Women's Day 2025
In the spirit of celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) for 2025 the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) joined forces to host a one-hour webinar on Friday 7 March 2025 – as a collective initiative to “March forward – Together”. Hosted by ANZCA’s Gender Equity Sub-Committee (GESC) Chair,
Dr Claire Stewart the webinar includes presentations from each college including:
- Associate Professor Kerin Fielding – RACS President
- Dr Jacob Koshy – ANZCA, Director of Anaesthesia, Alice Springs Hospital
- Professor Rebecca Grainger – FRACP, Associate Dean Medical Education, University of Otago Te Whare Wananga o Otakou
International Women's Day 2024
ANZCA celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD) 2024 with the release of a guided discussion pack! Download now, share with your colleagues and get involved in discussing all things gender equity.
The discussion pack is accompanied by an audio introduction from the Dr Claire Stewart, Chair GESC. It encourages members to discuss the broad range of topics to keep the conversation going around gender equity, what it looks like, what the barriers in your local setting might be, and bring focus to areas such as mentoring, leadership, intersectionality, unconscious bias and the gender pay gap.
All with a view to raise further awareness of the challenges in achieving gender equity in the anaesthesia and pain medicine setting and in support of the United Nations IWD theme “Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress”.
We encourage you to share the discussion pack with your friends and colleagues, learn a little more about the barriers to achieving gender equity in your workplace, and look to future solutions you can implement locally to enact change.
International Women's Day 2023
For International Women's Day 2023, we spoke to four fellows who shared their experiences in medicine. View their submissions in the IWD 2023 booklet.
International Women's Day 2022
In celebration of International Women's Day (IWD) on Monday 8 March 2022, ANZCA and the Gender Equity Sub-Committee (GESC) have spoken with fellows involved in gender equity research dating from 1993 to present day. Research participants include members of ANZCA and Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA).
In the following five short videos, researchers touch on gender biases observed in survey outcomes and also share their reflections on some of the gender challenges anaesthetists face today – focusing on work composition, job satisfaction, and primary caretaking. Dr Jane Carter and Dr Claire Stewart also address a new version of the survey being distributed this year on behalf of ANZCA and what they expect to find from the outcomes.
Dr Bridget Effeney interviews Dr Di Khursandi on her gender research study (1993)
Read Dr Khursandi's article here.
Dr Catherine Ashes talks about part time work and primary care takers in anaesthesia (2010)
Read Gender Differences in Academia.
Dr Jane Carter and Dr Claire Stewart speak about their gender equity survey (2022)
Dr Jane Carter discusses the purpose of the gender equity survey she will be conducting with Dr Claire Stewart.
Dr Claire Stewart on how jurisdictional hospital systems might influence gender bias.
Learn more
Gender equity has ethical, social, and economic benefits to our fellows, trainees, specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs), and the broader community. Find out what we're doing.
We strongly endorse gender equity because of its ethical, social, and economic benefits. The GESC reports its activities and initiatives to the Professional Affairs Executive Committee (PAEC).
Find the answers to frequently asked questions about gender equity.
Learn about ANZCA's commitment to ensuring that a diversity of voices can be heard at its events.