Quentin Bryce will be in conversation with Virgina Haussegger on Dear Quentin, Letters of a Governor General, a rich collection of the letters the Governor-General wrote and received during her six-year term to prime ministers Rudd and Gillard, VC Mark Donaldson, pals Anne Summers and Wendy McCarthy, Indigenous elders, war vets, Girl Guides, grandchildren, as well as the proud owner of a calf called Quentin.

As Australia's first female Governor-General, Quentin Bryce handwrote more than fifty letters each week. She wrote to those she had met and connected with as her role took her from palaces to outback schools, from war zones to memorials, from intimate audiences to lavish ceremonies. Generous, witty and always heartfelt, her letter-writing skills were honed at boarding school, from where she would write to her parents every Sunday.

The Honourable Quentin Bryce AD CVO has enjoyed a rich and distinguished career as an academic, lawyer, community and human rights advocate, senior public officer, university college principal, and vice-regal representative in Queensland, and Australia. Quentin served as Australia's twenty-fifth Governor-General. She remains a pioneer in contemporary Australian society, and yet one who brings more than forty years of experience in reform, community building and leadership. In 2016 she was chair of the Queensland Premier's Domestic and Family Violence Implementation Council.

Virginia Haussegger AM, is Director of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation at the University of Canberra. Virginia is a well-known women’s rights and gender equity advocate, journalist and ABC News presenter. From 2001 to 2016 she presented the flagship nightly 7pm ABC TV News in Canberra.

Pre-dinner book signings and a cash bar will be available in the Common Room from 6.15pm. Book signings will also take place after the dinner. Royalties from the book are being donated by Quentin to the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI), an Australian paediatric medical research institute affiliated with the Royal Children's Hospital and the University of Melbourne. MCRI is the largest child health research institute in Australia and one of the top five worldwide. Its team of more than 1900 talented researchers are dedicated to making discoveries to prevent and treat childhood conditions.

Dinner starts at 7pm. Tickets are $69 per person and includes a two-course meal and a glass of house wine. Please purchase your tickets here.

If you would like to be seated with other guests, please specify this during the check-out process. We will do our best to accommodate your request.