RA Brisbane IWD Industry lunch with Dr Torill Pape | 12 Mar 2026

As part of our International Women’s Day series, we invite you to join us in Brisbane as we come together to celebrate leadership, inclusion, and the future of Australia’s transport workforce. Hear from Dr Torill Pape, Deputy Chief Engineer at Department of Transport and Main Roads and recipient of Roads Australia’s 2025 Ray Fisher Award for Technical Excellence in recognition of her outstanding technical contribution to the transport sector.

As we evolve into Transport Australia, our focus is broadening to road, rail, and active transport, and the whole-of-network thinking applies to inclusion. If we want a transport system that’s more productive, resilient and community-focused, we need a workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

This event will bring together industry leaders from the public and private sectors to explore how we can build a more inclusive, future‑ready sector, where every perspective strengthens the network.

The pathway to a more representative industry is a shared one. Our IWD lunches are open for all genders and careers. Collectively, we can make a difference and we hope to see a diverse audience at all our lunches, committing to a culture of inclusion.

Our speakers:

Dr Torill Pape: Deputy Chief Engineer | Department of Transport and Main Roads

Dr. Pape brings more than 25 years of experience as a civil, structural and bridge engineer, spanning consulting, construction, public service and academia. Her depth of expertise and leadership have made her a pivotal figure in shaping how Queensland manages, designs and invests in its transport structures.

A defining feature of Torill’s career is her commitment to whole of life asset performance. Her technical work is strongly informed by her research into the behaviour of in service older structures, which has supported the development of risk informed management and investment strategies that are now embedded across TMR’s asset stewardship approach.

Her work on managing existing structures has been recognised with awards such as the 2013 ICE Structures & Buildings Palmer Prize and best paper by PIARC as part of the 2023 World Roads Congress.

Torill is active in several engineering and technical committees, including the Austroads Bridge Task Force and PIARC’s Technical Committee 4.2 Bridges and 2.3 Sustainable Freight. She regularly shares knowledge and insights via journals, conference and seminars, and is a co-author of the Austroads publication “Engineering Guideline to Bridge Asset Management”.

She has a keen interest in value for money when it comes to bridges, challenging the status quo and translating technical aspects into practical applications and outcomes.

In 2025, her exceptional contribution to the sector was recognised nationally when she received Roads Australia’s Ray Fisher Award for Technical Excellence. This award celebrates her outstanding technical leadership, her influence on improving structural engineering practice across Queensland, and her dedication to elevating evidence based decision making in transport infrastructure.

Panel

Event partner:

Dress code: Business attire

Dietaries: Please inform of any dietary requirements 2 weeks prior to the event

Seating: Please submit all seating requests 2 weeks prior to the event

Please ensure you make your booking using the appropriate rate. Bookings from non-member companies that book at a member rate will be contacted and asked to rebook at the correct price. If you are unsure of your organisation’s membership status with RA, please contact events@roads.org.au

The Event Organiser reserves the right to use any recordings whether audio or video and/or any photographs taken at any stage during the event for promotional, advertising or reporting of the meeting and/or its content at their sole discretion. If you have any concerns, please contact the team via events@roads.org.au