Health, Wealth & Wellbeing for Women

Conference Day 1

SESSION 1: Opening Keynote
9:30 AM: The Health System Was Not Built for Women

Heart disease is the number one killer of Australian women, yet most women don't know it because medicine has treated it as a male condition for decades. This session opens the day with the research that every woman in the room deserves to know.

• Why women are 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed during a heart attack

• Which conditions take longest to diagnose in women, and why

• The 3.3% research funding gap and what it means for your health decisions

• How to advocate for yourself in a system not designed for you

14% of Australian women have left the workforce due to menopause symptoms alone. This session cuts through the confusion and gives delegates the clinical clarity, workplace strategies and practical tools they need at every stage.

• What to actually expect from perimenopause, and when

• The current evidence on hormone therapy, without the fear

• How to have the conversation with your GP and get the care you're entitled to

• What organisations can do to retain experienced women through this stage

Autoimmune conditions affect 6.4% of Australian women compared to 2.7% of men. Endometriosis alone affects one in nine women, with an average diagnostic delay of seven years. New research has finally explained why. This session covers what that means for your health.

• The science behind women's heightened immune reactivity

• The most common autoimmune conditions affecting working-age women

• Recognising symptoms earlier and pushing for faster diagnosis

• Lifestyle factors that reduce inflammatory load

12:50 PM Lunch

1:50 PM Insights to Action: A short guided reflection on the morning sessions.

SESSION 4
:10 PM: What Your Body Actually Needs: Muscle, Movement and Bone

SESSION 5
3:20 PM: Fuelling the Female Body: Nutrition, Gut Health and Hormones

Most dietary advice was not designed with a female endocrine system in mind. Research now shows the gut microbiome directly regulates oestrogen metabolism and mood. This session replaces diet culture with evidence.

• How food interacts with your hormones at each life stage

• The gut-hormone connection and why it matters

• The nutritional deficiencies most commonly missed in women

• A practical framework that doesn't require tracking or restriction

4:10 PM: CLOSING KEYNOTE
Burnout, Sleep and the Nervous System

Women experience burnout at 51% compared to 30% in men. This is not a time management problem. This closing session is practical neuroscience: what is happening in the female body under chronic stress, and what to do about it.

• Why women's burnout rates are 70% higher and the biology behind it

• Breathwork that measurably reduces cortisol, backed by clinical research

• What specifically disrupts women's sleep and how to restore it

• What organisations need to change, not just what individuals can do
  

5:00 PM Closing Reflections and Insights to Action

5:10 PM: Close of Day One and Networking Drinks

Conference Day 2

SESSION 1
9:15 AM: Opening Keynote: The Wealth Gap: Why Women Retire Poorer

Australian women's net wealth is 40% lower than men's, and single women over 80 remain the household group most at risk of poverty. Drawing on more than two decades as one of Australia's leading personal finance voices, Effie Zahos explains why the wealth gap persists and shares practical strategies to help women build long-term financial security.

• Why the gender wealth gap continues to grow, and how caregiving and career breaks have lasting financial impacts.

• What the 2025 parental leave superannuation changes mean for women planning their financial future.

• Practical steps to build wealth, strengthen financial confidence, and improve long-term retirement outcomes.

Women at age 60 to 64 hold an average of $85,000 less in superannuation than men. That gap is closable. This session covers the strategies that make a real difference at every career stage.

• How superannuation actually works and the choices most people never make

• Salary sacrifice and voluntary contributions: the maths over time

• Catch-up contributions for women returning from career breaks

• How to choose the right fund and protect your balance during leave

1.6 million Australian women have experienced economic abuse from a partner. It is one of the primary reasons women cannot leave unsafe situations, and it affects women in professional roles as much as any other. This session brings a critical conversation into the corporate space.

• What economic abuse is and how it is defined under Australian law

• The patterns and tactics used to establish financial control

• How to recognise the signs in yourself or a colleague

• What organisations can do to support financially vulnerable employees

12:35 PM: LUNCH

1:35 PM: Insights to Action: A structured reflection on the morning sessions.

SESSION 4
1:55 PM: Investing for Women: Start Where You Are

SESSION 5:
3:05 PM: Building Wealth That Works for Women's Lives

A wealth strategy designed for a man's career will not work for a woman's. This session covers property, debt and estate planning in a way that accounts for the reality of women's financial lives, not an idealised version of them.

• Property investment for women: barriers, pathways and where to start

• Good debt versus bad debt and how to use borrowing strategically

• Estate planning essentials every woman needs before she thinks she needs them

• An integrated wealth strategy that accounts for career interruptions

3:55 PM CLOSING KEYNOTE

Your Money, Your Future: Financial Independence as a Non-Negotiable

Financial independence is not a luxury aspiration. For many women, it is a safety net. This closing session gives every delegate a practical framework to take home and a clear starting point for building lasting financial security.

• Why financial independence matters beyond wealth

• The insurance gap: what most working women are underprotected against

• A personal money framework to begin completing before you leave the room

• How to find the right financial advice and what to watch out for

4:45 PM Closing Reflections and Bringing It All Together

5:00 PM Conference Close and Networking Drinks

Post-Conference Workshop

09:00AM-12:30PM Nervous System Reset: Breathwork & Recovery for Chronic Stress

You're not imagining it. Women experience burnout at nearly double the rate of men, and most of us have been taught to push through it rather than understand what's actually happening in our bodies. This half-day workshop is not another talk about self-care. It's a practical, hands-on session in nervous system regulation — the real, physiological tools that shift you out of chronic stress and back into control.
You'll learn breathwork techniques backed by clinical research to measurably lower cortisol, understand what's disrupting your sleep and how to fix it, and leave with a personal recovery protocol you can use the same day. No vague advice to "relax more" — just tools that work, taught by someone who understands the science of the female stress response.

What you'll walk away with:

• Clinically-backed breathwork techniques to reduce cortisol and calm your nervous system on demand

• A clear understanding of what chronic stress is actually doing to your body, and why

• Practical sleep-restoration strategies tailored to the disruptions women experience most

• A personalised recovery protocol you can start using immediately

• Time and space to practise the techniques in the room, not just hear about them

1:30 - 5:30PM Build Your Money Plan: A Hands-On Budgeting & Super Workshop

Financial advice is everywhere. A finished plan with your name on it is not. This workshop skips the theory and gets straight to the work — bring your super statement and your bank app, and leave four hours later with an actual budget and a superannuation strategy built for your life, not a generic template.

Guided step by step, you'll work through where your money is really going, what your super balance should look like at every stage, and the practical moves — salary sacrifice, catch-up contributions, fund comparisons — that make the biggest difference over time. This is the session every woman wishes she'd been given a decade ago.

• A completed personal budget you build in the room, not a worksheet to finish later
• Clarity on your superannuation position and the specific moves that will close the gap
• Step-by-step guidance on salary sacrifice, catch-up contributions and fund selection
• A practical framework for planning around career breaks and income changes
• The confidence to make financial decisions without waiting for someone else's approval