“I would say to any young woman, the world is their oyster,” Ms Giddings said.

“There is no reason because of  your gender not to be able to pursue your dream.”

It is a message Ms Giddings and other successful women will emphasise at a forum aimed at exposing young women from grade 10 and upwards to female success stories and encouraging them to complete higher education.

As well as Ms Giddings, guests will include TasFoods Limited chief executive Jane Bennett,  Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management deputy secretary Donna Adams, legal expert and state Governor Kate Warner and more.

Several of the guests will speak, and they will also host tables and talk face to face with the young women who attend.

The forum is being organised by the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and  will be at Country Club Tasmania, Launceston, on August 24, from 6-10pm.

It is free to community members, while schools and businesses will be charged for booking tables.

Bookings are required.

They must be made by the close of business on August 4 and can be made by calling 0362287099 or 0408773900.

Ms Giddings said the important thing for young people was to understand what they were passionate about and pursue that.

”You’ve got to be realistic about earning enough money to pay your rent and put food on the table, but don’t let people tell you you can’t do something,” she said.

She said if she had listened to some people, she would not have believed she could be elected for the first time (which she was, aged just 23), and would not have tried so hard in that campaign.

Ms Giddings  said she would encourage young women to consider expanding their horizons through higher education if they could.

She said she had never used her own arts-law degree to become a lawyer, but “not one bit of me regrets the fact I  have higher education behind me”.

Ms Giddings will not contest the next election.