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For the past five years, hospo lifers Rachel Curnow and Tracy Addis-Hoskin have organised a panel discussion event for International Women’s Day, bringing together key voices in the industry to discuss where we are, where we should be, and what we can do to get there. With a collective 50 years’ experience in the industry, Rachel and Tracy have seen that women haven’t always been given the space to share knowledge and networks, and so was born the idea to use International Women’s Day as a moment to create that space.
The theme for the 2026 panel is "Balancing the Scales” and will be held at Arlechin on Tuesday, 10 March. Tickets include a drink on arrival and light snacks by Kay Lene-Tan, executive pastry chef at Omnia bistro, with $5 from every ticket donated to the Victorian Women's Trust. (Get yours here.)
Hosted by Melbourne food journalist and former hospo frontliner Hilary McNevin, the panel features an impressive group of industry heavyweights: Ingrid Dable who has held senior FOH roles at Chez Olivier, Maha, Reine & La Rue and now Florentino; Besha Rodell, author and chief restaurant critic for The Age; Laura Boulton, head chef at Heide Kitchen; Jess Clayfield, bartender and VM at Black Kite Commune; and Ben Hehir, head of training and Development at Australian Venue Co., whose role focuses on building scalable training, leadership, and DEI frameworks for complex hospitality businesses.
Host Hilary McNevin spent more than 15 years in hospitality as a restaurant manager and sommelier before moving into food journalism, and founding her own content and strategy business, Turnip Media. I called Hilary last week to chat about the event and what she hopes attendees might get out of it. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity, and is just a small part of the things Hilary and I discussed in a long conversation about family and grief and writing and hospo and how much of a bad-ass my wife is. My point being that Hilary is a wonderful communicator and conversationalist, and having been to these panels before, it’s both an illuminating and enjoyable experience. So for any blokes reading, especially those in positions of authority, I strongly suggest you get yourself a ticket to come along.
FRED SIGGINS: What does the theme of ‘Balancing the Scales’ mean to you?
HILARY MCNEVIN: This International Women’s Day, we’re talking about how networking is a powerful tool for sharing knowledge and experience, and how we can use that to create better gender balance in hospitality. Networking is critical to visibility and amplifying new voices, introducing emerging talent to operators, and making sure those folks get the opportunities they deserve. This industry is all about relationships, and while we all might ring someone because you need an extra pair of hands for a shift, or you’ve run out of napkins, we need to talk about how you raise that social currency to a place where it’s more professional and more about advocacy and visibility where it’s needed.
FRED SIGGINS: Since you were working frontline hospo 20-odd years ago, how do you think things have improved for women and gender-diverse folks, and where is there still work to be done?
HILARY MCNEVIN: I worked in hospo for 15 years as a young woman, and it was constant lewd jokes, inappropriate touching, all that, and I know that’s being slowly weeded out. It’s also good that we’re having these conversations, and that women and more diverse cultures are starting to be celebrated more in food media. But we still need more people being supported and amplified into leadership roles regardless of gender or cultural background.
In my own experience, it would’ve been nice to have more options. Hospo isn’t just front of house and kitchens, there are so many other elements like administration, events, marketing. There needs to be more room for different lifestyles within the industry. I gave up when my daughter was born because I didn’t really see an option to carry on. I ended up going to study because I thought, “I can’t work these hours, I’m married to a chef who also works nights, so what can I do?” And I know I was lucky to have the opportunity to go back to study. So we need more awareness around what options there are; marketing, events, daytime shifts, how do we fit around people with kids and keep their skills up, rather than losing all that talent?
FRED SIGGINS: It’s a really good point, but even beyond that, what if you’re a woman who wants to have kids but you just really love cooking and you’re good at it? Or waiting tables, or bartending? Shouldn’t you be able to stay in that role, too?
HILARY MCNEVIN: I adore the idea of women who love the industry and just want to stay in their role. It should be as viable for them as for anyone. So we need advocacy to make that happen. I want to ask everyone who comes to the event on Sunday, who here has actively advocated for another woman in a room she wasn’t in? Do we do that enough? If not, why not, and how can we do it more?
FRED SIGGINS: Why do you think these kinds of events are important?
HILARY MCNEVIN: To open a conversation and address the unconscious bias that gets all of us. Everyone is susceptible to getting a bit too comfortable with the status quo, so we need to challenge that. What are the topics we’re nervous about bringing up, what aren’t we talking about enough?
The way that [Prime Minister Anthony] Albanese came out so easily with the comment about Grace Tame being “difficult” just goes to show how ingrained all those stereotypes still are. And I was angry, and it shows you why women are angry, we’ve all been put in the “difficult” basket our whole careers, so I really understand that anger. We need Grace, and women like that, and women and men of all ages who aren’t afraid to stand up for their values, because values are where passion and commitment come from.
FRED SIGGINS: Well said. And what are some of the insights you’re hoping to get out of the event?
HILARY MCNEVIN: I hope people who attend get to walk away with some concrete actions they can take. Even just thinking about, “have I stood up for a woman? Have I put her forward?”
Hospitality is, at its core, about nurturing. So I’d also love to see that spoken about more in hospitality stories, to highlight the intangible stuff. It’s not just about a good wine list or a great dish, it’s how you make people feel. I hate the term “soft skills” because they’re hard, and a lot of people don’t get the magic of it.
Around the bars
Women Winning at Wine. Wednesday 4 March (tomorrow), 67 Pall Mall member’s club presents a special International Women’s Day wine tasting at DAME. Featuring 14 women winemakers pouring more than 60 wines from Australia, New Zealand and France, guests will have the opportunity to meet the craftswomen behind these drops, hear their stories, and taste how skill and site come together in the glass. Get tickets here.
Femme Flambe. Shisanyama African street food and events is throwing a flame-grilled Afro-BBQ fest for IWD they call Queens of Flames. From 4pm to midnight on Saturday 7 March, they’re turning Cavalier Brewing and Taproom in Derrimut into a fusion of fire, flavour, fashion and fierce feminine energy, including a fashion showcase, afrobeats, afrohouse, dancehall and R&B sounds all night and an authentic Afro-BBQ feast. Early bird tickets are still available here.
Turn the Tables. The Restless Records Crew will be pumping up the volume on Sunday, March 8th for a special International Women’s Day event featuring mix masters Mizhap, B2B, Lil Lil, and Black Barbie. The first 25 ticket holders will get access to a two-hour turntableism workshop hosted by Mizhap, then the evening continues with solo showcases, a live scratch cypher (just rock up and sign up to jump in!) and free after party with beats late into the night. Get tickets here, or just show up for free entry to the afterparty from 9:30pm.
One last thing: the next issue of the quarterly Boothby magazine lands soon — to get your copy of the next issue, and to support independent booze and bar journalism like ours, visit boothby.com.au/subscribe.
