WATCH NOW: Equal: Carrie Gracie in conversation with Julia Gillard

In a BBC career spanning more than three decades, Carrie Gracie has served as China correspondent and Beijing bureau chief as well as a presenter on the BBC News Channel and host of the weekly BBC World Service programme The Interview. In January 2018, Gracie left her post as BBC China editor in protest at unequal pay. In June 2018 she won an apology and pay parity from the BBC. She donated all her back pay to the Fawcett Society to help low paid women facing pay discrimination. She continues to serve as a BBC News presenter and, as a member of the ‘BBC Women’ group.

Julia Gillard is the only woman to have served as Prime Minister of Australia, a position she held from 2010 to 2013. Gillard was central to the successful management of Australia’s economy, the 12th biggest in the world, during the global financial crisis, and delivered nation-changing policies including reforming Australian education at every level and establishing the nation’s first ever national scheme to care for people with disabilities. In October 2012, Gillard received worldwide attention for her speech in parliament on the treatment of women in professional and public life. In April 2018, Gillard was appointed Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London.