Organisers of next month’s United in Compassion conference have defended the program amid criticism the line-up of speakers contains too few women.
Dr Teresa Nicoletti, chair of the Australian Medicinal Cannabis Association (AMCA), said the organising committee – who are all female – approached a number of women to be keynote speakers only to be told they had other commitments.
She added responses to the call for extracts – the method by which conference content is curated – came overwhelmingly from men.
Nicoletti’s remarks follow criticism directed at the line-up by patient advocate and chief executive of Viz Medicinal, Natalie D’Alessandro.
Writing on LinkedIn, she said the lack of diversity does not reflect a lack of expertise in the sector but “appears to be a choice”.
“Women are deeply embedded across research, clinical practice, regulation, cultivation, manufacturing, advocacy, and patient care,” she wrote. “Many are internationally respected leaders. Their exclusion is not structural inevitability; it appears to be a choice.”
She said the opening day “appears to feature an all-male speaker line-up” while a recent promotional image showed a panel composition that is 75% male.
“At some point in the planning process, someone should have paused and said ‘this doesn’t look right’. This line-up does not reflect the industry as it exists, the patient base it serves, or the values the sector frequently articulates,” D’Alessandro wrote.
“As a seasoned event organiser, the process is straightforward. You review the program. You notice the imbalance. You invite women. That’s it.
“There is still time for the conference organisers to address this imbalance. Doing so would not only improve the program; it would demonstrate how to uphold the very values the sector often claims.”
Nicoletti told Cannabiz that the make-up of the sector “remains male dominated” with the organising committee’s call for abstracts receiving an overwhelming response from men.
Efforts were also made to bring more international female experts to Brisbane but were ultimately unsuccessful due to the unavailability of potential speakers, including psychedelics specialist Sue Sisley.
“The fair and equitable process was to publish a call for abstracts and unfortunately not many women submitted abstracts,” Nicoletti said. “It’s very difficult for us to say, well, we’ve got all these abstracts, now let’s go out and find some women.
“If there is a suggestion that we have excluded women, it’s just plain wrong.
“We want women to step forward and be part of the conference. You’ll get no argument from me. There are other strong women in the sector who will support them if they want that.”
Nicoletti said it shouldn’t be overlooked that several moderators are women, including Fiona Patten, Sharon Bentley and potentially Clare Barker, while the nurses workshop is female-led.
Women are also represented in the pharmacist’s workshop and politicians panel, she said.
Writing on LinkedIn in response to D’Alessandro’s comments, Bentley, the CEO of MCA and who sits on the organising committee, said: “Other female international speakers were invited but were unfortunately unable to attend. The [percentage] of male/female speakers currently in the program is a clear reflection of the responses received to the ‘call for abstracts’ for which we had an overwhelming response of mostly men.
“It would be great to have more women putting their hand up to be a part of these events. I am pleased to say there are a large representation of women on the AMCA Board and UIC organising committee.”