Keynote Speaker

A bestselling author of 14 books and award-winning disability and human rights advocate, Tara Moss has over 20 years of experience in the public eye, speaking at hundreds of universities, schools, writers’ festivals, town halls, community and corporate events and more. She has given an address at the National Press Club, spoken in Australian Parliament on multiple occasions, and has interviewed the iconic Gloria Steinem, Naomi Klein, Mona Eltahawy, Alison Bechdel, Amanda Palmer, Lynda La Plante, Val McDermid, and Michael Connelly among others. She has also shared the stage as a panelist with fellow speakers Roxane Gay, Germaine Greer, Kathy Lette and more.

Tara is an outspoken advocate for the rights of women, children, people with disabilities and those living with chronic pain. She has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2007 and as of 2013 is UNICEF Australia’s National Ambassador for Child Survival, and has visited Australian hospitals, maternity wards and schools as well as Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon in her UNICEF role. She briefed parliamentarians in Australia on the humanitarian crisis in Syria in 2015 as part of her work with UNICEF, on ending gender-based violence and domestic violence in 2016 as part of her role with Our Watch, and on lived experience with pain and making medicinal cannabis available as an option for pain patients in 2021 as part of her role as a Pain Champion with Pain Australia. 

In 2015 she received an Edna Ryan Award for her significant contribution to feminist debate, speaking out for women and children and inspiring others to challenge the status quo, and in 2017 was named a one of the Global Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life. As a disabled woman and ambulatory wheelchair user and walking stick user diagnosed with CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) after an injury in 2016, she works to dismantle stigmas around disability and mobility aid use through her writing and at her page Tara and Wolfie. In 2021 she was named as a ‘Global Change Maker’ in Disability and Chronic Pain by Conscious Being Magazine, UK, and in 2022 was recognized for her contributions to the Arts and Accessibility with the Honorary Citizen of Victoria Award, her hometown of Victoria’s highest honor. (For more accolades and awards, see below.)

Recent Awards and Accolades:

2012 Australia’s 20 Most Influential Female Voices

2013 Australia’s Most inspiring Women ‘who push boundaries, create change and motivate’

2014 Outstanding Advocacy Award for Manus Island: An insider’s report

2014 Cosmo’s The Women Who Made 2014 Better for The Fictional Woman

2014 Influential Women of 2014, alongside Malala, Laura Bates, Angelina Jolie and more

2014 The Hoopla‘s The Female Eunuch Award for The Fictional Woman

2015 Best Designed Non-Fiction Book Award, for The Fictional Woman designed by Tara Moss and Matt Stanton

2015 Part of the University of Sydney’s Leadership for Good

2015 Edna Ryan Award – ‘Grand Stirrer Award’ for making a feminist difference by speaking out for women and children, for a significant contribution to feminist debate and inciting others to challenge the status quo

2016 Champion of the West award for community service

2017 Order of Lambrick Park

2017 Recognised as one of the Global Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life, for using her position in public life to make a positive impact in diversity, alongside Malala Yousufzai, Angelina Jolie, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet and more.

2020 Long-listed for the Davitt Award for Dead Man Switch /The War Widow 

2020 Short-listed for the Danger Prize for Dead Man Switch /The War Widow 

2021 Global Change Maker for disability and chronic pain advocacy, Conscious Being Magazine

2022 Honorary Citizen of Victoria, for advocacy work in accessibility rights

 

Keynote subjects include:

Labels, Leadership and Why We Need More Women’s Voices: on women’s representation in media, fiction, politics and public life.

It isn’t Diversity without Disability : on the importance of accessibility, and inclusivity, and how to be a better ally for the 1/5 people in your community with disabilities

Activating Your Advocacy Skills : an ideal talk for fellow disabled and chronically ill people, their allies and carers: on using self-advocacy skills in public and in health care settings, and for activism online and in your community

Speaking Out – A 21st Century Handbook for Women and Girls: on how to speak out and why it matters. (Find out more on the book, here.)

The Tara Moss story: on Tara’s own journey. (Read her full bio here.)