Paula Whitman Leadership in Gender Equity Prize
Fiona Gardiner
Fiona Gardiner is a pre-eminent role model for women who has demonstrated relevant, sustained and active leadership. She graduated in architecture from the University of Queensland in 1978 with only two other women, despite the obstacles in the construction industry at that time. She completed a master’s degree in conservation at York University and returned to Queensland at a time when the state’s historic buildings were under threat.
Gardiner navigated a challenging environment in the public service with grace, showing that women were valuable team members and great leaders.
She advocated for women and worked to develop non-discriminatory policies.
As the CEO and director of heritage at the Department of Environment and Science, Gardiner created a flexible work environment and was awarded the Public Service Medal. She has promoted the hidden heritage of women in Queensland architecture through exhibitions and heritage listings. She has helped to develop policies promoting heritage protection within government and the local community, and has further lifted the profile of heritage by forming partnerships across government, communities and universities. The Fryer Library at the University of Queensland, where Gardiner is an adjunct professor, has benefited enormously from her research.
In 1983, Gardiner was the inaugural president of Women in Architecture, formed to raise the profile of women architects. She was involved in the first women architects’ exhibition and arranged for female international conference speakers. These early years of promoting women architects provided the foundations of an attitude that has been fostered since then.