Image: Kirsten at VWT HQ. Photo by Bree Dunbar

 

As we approach International Women’s Day, a day often filled with reflections on progress, I find myself looking forward, not just to the year ahead, but to the digital structures currently being built around us.

 

For forty years, the Victorian Women’s Trust has been a proud “engine room” for gender equality. Our work has always been grounded in evidence; we have collaborated with brilliant academics, community leaders, and interns to produce research that challenges the status quo.

 

Today, we are taking a significant step in the evolution of that work. We are officially launching the inaugural Feminist Researcher in Residence program.

 

Codifying a legacy of inquiry

This program isn’t a departure from our history; it is a distillation of it. By establishing a structured residency that will be grounded in co-design principles, we are codifying our long-standing research practice and sharpening it into a spearhead for national advocacy.

 

As a small but ambitious organisation, we know that for research to create tangible change, it needs authority, rigour, and a direct path to policy. The Feminist Researcher in Residence program provides that platform.

 

The 2026 mission: Gender and AI

 

We have chosen a defining gender equality challenge for our inaugural residency: Artificial Intelligence.

 

AI is a fast-growing industry with significant implications for women’s safety, agency, and economic security. From algorithmic bias in hiring to the rise of technology-facilitated abuse, the risks are substantial. Yet, too often, these systems are designed in rooms where the needs of women, girls, and gender-diverse people are absent.

 

Without a seat at the table, our community risks being left out of the equation entirely.

 

As a harm prevention initiative under the Dugdale Trust for Women & Girls, this residency will provide a rigorous intersectional lens on the AI landscape. We aren’t just looking to “analyse” the problem; we are looking for circuit-breakers, practical solutions that point to a brighter future. We don’t want to get stuck on the barriers; what women and girls need now are practical actions that industry and government must take to protect our rights.

 

Investing in the next generation

 

We are specifically seeking an Early Career Researcher for this role. We believe that some of the most vital insights come from those who are currently at the coalface of research, ready to apply their expertise to real-world outcomes.

 

We want to invest in their capacity, offer them space at our Clifton Hill HQ, and provide the professional scaffolding required to turn their findings into high-impact advocacy.

 

How you can join us

 

 

The work begins today. While applications officially open on Tuesday, 10 March, we are releasing the full Expression of Interest (EOI) brief now. We want to give our community the time to sit with these questions, to collaborate, and to prepare.

 

This International Women’s Day, we aren’t just celebrating the future, we are actively researching how to make it fairer, safer, and more inclusive for everyone.

 

Are you (or is someone in your network) the researcher we’re looking for?

• Download the EOI Brief
• Learn more: vwt.org.au/feminist-researcher-in-residence-2026/