If you’ve ever wondered what the future of Australia’s tech workforce actually looks like — not in theory, not in glossy policy documents, but in real time — the answer will be walking through the doors of Camden Civic Centre this Thursday 11 December. Around 900 girls from Years 3 to 12, lacing up their school shoes, clutching permission slips, and stepping straight into the world that will define their generation more than any other: a world powered by artificial intelligence, automation, digital creativity and STEM.
It all lands just days after the federal government revealed its National AI Plan, a blueprint centred on workforce development and ensuring AI benefits everyone, not just the already-initiated. And in a neat and very timely coincidence, Amazon Girls’ Tech Day — the tech giant’s global flagship STEM event for young women — is touching down in Western Sydney for the first time. It’s more than a date on the calendar. It’s a tangible example of what “inclusive workforce development” looks like when it moves from policymaking to real-world action.
Camden Mayor Therese Fedeli calls the region a “growth corridor for STEM jobs”, and that feels like an understatement. Western Sydney is now home to some of the country’s fastest-evolving communities. And, its young people sit at the centre of Australia’s economic future. Giving these girls early access to hands-on technology, role models and career pathways isn’t just an educational perk — it’s a strategic investment in the kind of workforce we’ll need if Australia wants any hope of capitalising on the government’s forecasted $600-billion AI opportunity.
Amazon Girls’ Tech Day itself has all the energy of a festival, but grounded in serious purpose. Think robotics workshops where students build and test their own creations. Coding stations where beginners and budding engineers alike can experiment. Music-mixing and digital production sessions courtesy of Ableton. Autonomous race car demonstrations through AWS DeepRacer that not only make STEM feel fun, but tangible. And an entire exhibition hall filled with trailblazing female technologists ready to share their stories. These include Associate Professor Anupama Ginige, one of Western Sydney University’s most respected voices in computer sciences and health informatics.
Associate Professor Ginige doesn’t mince words. Girls don’t just belong in STEM, she says — their ideas, perspectives and leadership are urgently needed to solve real-world problems. Her message feels especially pointed when you stack it against the latest research. 75 per cent of Australian employers say they cannot find enough AI talent. Workers with AI skills earn 29 per cent more than those without. And yet girls remain heavily under-represented in STEM pathways, often before they’ve even made it to high school.
New Amazon research also shows that while 97 per cent of Australian high-school students study STEM, almost a third have no idea what careers those subjects can unlock. Just as concerning, only 33 per cent say they have STEM role models. Having one, however, makes a student 80 per cent more likely to keep studying it. It’s a striking reminder that interest alone isn’t enough — exposure, encouragement and representation matter just as much.
That’s why Amazon Girls’ Tech Day doubles down on visibility. Students won’t just see technology; they’ll see people — women who work in robotics, AI, software engineering, design, data science and digital creativity. Women didn’t arrive fully formed — they built their careers step by step, and they’re now paying that forward. For many students, that alone is transformative. Seeing someone who looks like you in a field you didn’t know was an option can rewire the trajectory of your life before you’ve even realised it.
The event is also bolstered by Western Sydney University’s new partnership with Amazon. And, marks the first time Amazon Girls’ Tech Day has been embedded this deeply with a university in Australia. Beyond inspiration, the two are co-developing a classroom teaching resource linked directly to the exhibitors and technologies showcased on the day. Led by Associate Professor Ginige, the resource will explore how AI systems can improve applications in health science — a field exploding with opportunity — and will be made available to both attendees and schools unable to participate. In other words, the impact stretches far beyond the event itself, trickling into classrooms, lesson plans and teacher confidence.
And that ecosystem is widening thanks to a diverse lineup of exhibitors. Adobe will demonstrate how creative technology powers design and storytelling. The Girls’ Programming Network will run mentor-led coding workshops designed specifically for girls and non-binary students. Amazon Music will set up podcasting stations where students can interview STEM professionals. Blackbird will highlight the entrepreneurial thinking behind some of Australia’s most exciting female-founded startups. And Amazon Robotics will show automation and AI in action — the practical, real-world kind that makes abstract concepts immediately click.
It’s easy to read those numbers. 900 students, more than 20,000 young women impacted globally since the program began, 4,500 participants across Sydney and Melbourne — and view Amazon Girls’ Tech Day as merely “big”. But the true power sits in the small moments: the Year 6 student realising she loves coding, the teenager who discovers she can mix music with software, the shy Year 9 girl who asks a roboticist what she studied at uni, the first-generation student who suddenly sees a pathway she didn’t know existed.
As Australia races to keep pace with global AI and digital transformation, these moments matter. A future AI-enabled workforce doesn’t magically appear. It is shaped — intentionally, consistently and with investment — from childhood. And Western Sydney, with its swelling population, diversity, creativity and hunger for opportunity, is exactly where this kind of work should be landing.
So next week, when 900 girls stream into the Camden Civic Centre, they won’t just be attending a tech event. They’ll be stepping into a future that desperately needs them. A future in which their ideas could power AI breakthroughs, drive innovation, lead research teams, build companies, transform health care or design solutions we haven’t yet imagined.
And if even a handful walk away thinking, Yes. This world is for me, then Australia’s AI ambitions suddenly look a whole lot more achievable.