Marching Forward for IWD in 2025: MPA at NAWIC’s Great Debate in NSW and Women In Property’s Luncheon in VIC

As an industry, we all have a responsibility to step up, challenge the status quo, and create an environment where women don’t just survive—they thrive. 

This International Women’s Day we partnered with NAWIC and Women In Property to raise awareness and celebrate the achievements of women in our industry. The events brought together inspiring leaders, advocates, and allies to discuss the progress we’ve made and the work still ahead in fostering gender equity.

Here’s to marching forward—together..

NAWIC’s IWD Great Debate in NSW

MPA was a proud supporting partner of The National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC) NSW International Women's Day (IWD) Great Debate Luncheon for 2025. It was an insightful afternoon celebrating women in property and construction. This year, the event grew significantly and solidified its place as the 2nd largest NAWIC event of the year. 

A game-changing $30,000 scholarship was presented by Infrastructure NSW to recognise a woman who has made a significant impact on the construction and property industry and demonstrated potential as a future leader. The prestigious scholarship was awarded to engineer Nicole Waterman, Project Leader at Laing O’Rourke, enabling her to enrol in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Global Executive Academy in the United States.  

Minister for Women, Jodie Harrison, commented on this incredible opportunity: “Empowering women leaders plays an essential role in creating long-lasting impact by setting a positive example and inspiring the next generation of women to join the sector.” 

NAWIC NSW Co-President, Atika Anwar, introduced this year’s IWD theme, "March Forward: For ALL Women and Girls" as a call to action for equality, opportunity and empowerment for all, reinforcing NAWIC’s commitment to an inclusive construction industry. NAWIC CEO Cathryn Greville also took the stage, asking the powerful question: "If you aren’t leading inclusively, are you leading at all?" Cathryn shared statistics such as 88% of women experiencing microaggressions in the workplace and 63% seeing no action after reporting them, demonstrating the need for culture change.  

A highlight of the day was of course this year’s Great Debate, tackling the topic: "Bridging the generational gap is crucial to accelerating gender equality progress in the construction sector.” We were incredibly proud to see MPA’s Shameem Bhatti take the stage as a debater, contributing to the important conversations shaping our industry’s future.   

Representing the opposition, Shameem offered that “it is the systemic barriers to gender equality in our industry that are hampering its progress, not the generational differences”, specifying these barriers throughout his argument, backed by plenty of research. He went as far as to argue that the generational stereotypes that were implied in the proposition’s arguments were detrimental and unhelpful in accelerating gender equality in our industry. In the end, Shameem’s Team, the opposition, claimed victory!  

Women In Property’s IWD Luncheon in VIC

This year we were also Gold Sponsors for the Women in Property IWD Annual Luncheon in 2025. Having started our partnership with Women in Property two years ago, MPA has seen firsthand the powerful impact that this network has in providing opportunities, support, and recognition for women across the industry. What began with attending their IWD event has evolved into a meaningful collaboration, working closely with the founding board members to grow their reach and impact.

This year 160 women in property came together at the newly opened Melbourne Place to hear the powerful and moving story of tennis champion Jelena Dokic - a story of vulnerability, self-belief, worthiness and strength.

Our Relationship Director, Sophie Walsh, sits on the national board and helped coordinate the event. She reflected on the afternoon “As women, we are always ‘Marching Forward’, but we don’t always have the space or time to celebrate our strength, courage and resilience. But this day… we did!”