This year marks three decades since the the world committed to a bold vision for gender equality through the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
UN Women Australia plan to mark the day - March 7 - with multiple events across capital cities.
In Sydney, Governor-General Sam Mostyn will give a keynote speech as well as comedian Celeste Barber.
The International Women's Day theme for 2025 is March Forward, for all women and girls, and aims to celebrate the enormous strides towards gender equality in the past 30 years while also acknowledging the work still ahead.
For Paralympian Madison de Rozario, who will attend the UN Women's Brisbane event, March Forward is about momentum, not just reflection.
"For me, this theme really resonates with sport. Sport teaches you resilience, teamwork, and the value of setting ambitious goals," she told AAP.
"But it also teaches you how to exist in your own body, how to respect it, how to take up space and yet, so many women - especially women with disabilities - are still excluded from these spaces.
"March Forward is about ensuring progress continues - not just in sport, but in every space."
The 31-year-old won her first medal aged just 14 at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.
She has since competed in four more Paralympics, representing Australia in middle and long-distance wheelchair racing events.
While steps have been taken towards inclusivity, de Rozario said more needed to be done to improve visibility of people living with disabilities.
"We've heard it a million times: if you can't see it, you can't be it," she said.
"We need more women - especially women with disabilities - in leadership, in sport, in media, in business.
"We need young girls to walk past a magazine stand or turn on the TV and see themselves represented."
Advocate, author and former Miss Universe Australia Maria Thattil said representation should be a priority if governments wanted to improve gender equality in Australia.
"That starts with ensuring advocacy is intersectional, so policies address the specific challenges faced by women of different races, abilities, sexualities, and economic backgrounds," she told AAP.
"When young girls grow up seeing women who look like them in leadership, in politics, in media, they understand that they, too, belong in those spaces."
For Ms Thattil, International Women's Day is deeply personal.
"As a woman of colour and the child of immigrants, I know what it feels like to navigate spaces where you are overlooked, to face barriers that others may not even realise exist," she said.
"That's why this day is so important. It's not just about celebration, but about reflection, accountability, and action."
International Women's Day will be celebrated on Friday, March 7. Tickets to UN Women events are available on their website.
