Katherine Grace is one of the unsung heroes of Australia’s local games industry. Currently serving as PAX Australia’s Content Manager at RX Global, she helps guide the annual Melbourne show – which brings together all parts of the industry, from commercial to enthusiast – through her expertise, oversight and curation skills.
Grace serves as the bridge for all aspects of the show’s content, from programming and direction through to the invitation of local and international guests. She manages panels, the annual Storytime presentation, meet and greets, community rooms, and so much more.
As Grace tells ScreenHub, it’s been a dream role – and that’s why it was so hard to take a break in 2025 to realise her other long-held dream of being a mother.
Katherine Grace on PAX Australia – quick links
How PAX Aus is guided by Grace’s input
As Grace tells ScreenHub, it’s difficult to balance the dream of being a mother and being a career-driven woman. There are so many responsibilities to contend with, alongside the pressure of advancing and growing in a career, seeking out childcare and even reaching for home ownership.
After a few weeks back in her role following maternity leave, Grace admits that settling in again was ‘a lot more difficult than [she] anticipated’.
‘Juggling workload, to then go back to your full time job as a parent, there’s no downtime,’ Grace says. ‘You clock into work, you clock out of work, you clock into being a parent. That’s been the hardest part … I’m just so behind [on hobbies], because there’s no time.’
Work on PAX Aus is also ramping up. There’s post-show data from 2025 to analyse, and a timeline of dates for content execution. There are ‘tiny, tiny gears in a big, big project’ to turn, she says, and lots of plans to complete before execution of this year’s October event can begin.
Right now, Grace is ‘reaching out to so many people and talent for panels, for keynotes [and] guest speakers, and reviewing budgets.’
‘As content manager, I manage all the content at the show,’ Grace says. ‘If it’s not an exhibitor, it’s my responsibility … it’s a big responsibility, and sometimes it’s very intimidating. But I’m fortunate that I can lean on my event director for support. I have enforcers that I lean on, who help me execute the key areas.’
‘While it is an amazing job, and I love it, it can be very intimidating at times, because if I don’t do something, it doesn’t happen.’
Even despite the challenges of remaining on top of this workload while reckoning with the responsibilities of being a new parent, Grace loves her work, and the chance to create meaning and impact in the local games industry.
‘When you’re in the queue hall, and you see people smile and get really excited … that’s the best feeling in the world,’ Grace says. ‘That countdown, being like “we made it to the show, it’s opened” and seeing everyone smiling and happy, it really is the best feeling.’
Over the last four years, Grace has been especially proud of curating new iterations of PAX Aus that are more diverse than years before, with more opportunities for communities to connect.
‘Gaming is now such a big spectrum,’ Grace explains. ‘It’s not just digital. It gets really nitty gritty, and unique, with what what people are into.’
In her time in the Content Manager role, Grace has helped to launch the Cosplay Central Crown Championships, to provide a space for people to show off their creativity, modelling and art. She’s also helped to establish the Kirrip Wilam room, a space for Indigenous gamers to connect, alongside another of Australia’s local unsung gaming heroes, the developer and mentor Ben Armstrong.
‘I’m really proud of how [both of those initiatives have] organically grown,’ Grace says. ‘The people of Australia deserve to have amazing content, and amazing guest speakers on their shores.’
How motherhood has informed work on PAX Aus 2026
As Grace says, women who wish to advance their careers and become mothers face plenty of challenges. Since returning to the workforce, she’s had to contend with a variety of responsibilities at all hours, needing to start early or finish later. She’s also had to contend with what it means to be a career woman after having a child.
‘As someone who, before being a mother, was a career woman, really trying to push herself … really prove to myself and push myself to achieve new career highs, it’s been really hard to take a step back from that version of myself, to step into motherhood,’ Grace says. ‘That’s probably the hardest thing.’
As Grace tells ScreenHub, it’s a dilemma that all women face. It’s a switch they can choose to flip or not, and one that carries significant consequences for the workforce.
But she also makes clear that she would never change anything. Rather than setting her back, she believes the experience of becoming a mother has sharpened her skillset, improved her flexibility and given her perspective and knowledge that will shape PAX Aus showcases to come.
‘Having a child really puts into perspective what is urgent and what is not urgent,’ Grace says.
‘The amount of stuff that you’re willing to take on before motherhood, compared to after motherhood, is very different. As a mother coming back to work, I’m a lot firmer in my boundaries [and] what I can and can’t do, and that is to protect my own peace, as well as get shit done.’
‘[They say] if you want something done, give it to a mum. It’s so true, because we are so intentional with our time, and how much time we allocate to do things. We’re not going to fluff around. We’re going to get the job done.’
The experience of being a mother has also informed her approach to curation of content for this year’s show, bringing a desire to be more family-friendly and engage gamers of all ages.
‘As I’ve grown into motherhood, I’ve been able to bring a sense of perspective on what content we should bring to the show, and something that I’ve been working on for the past year is including more family-inclusive content,’ Grace says.
‘Parents want to share their hobbies with their children. And what’s more special than showing your child an ancient relic of a console?’
Highlighting the contributions of women in the games industry
Talking to Grace, the need to highlight the contributions of women to the local Australian games industry was made entirely clear. Because while Grace has a high-profile career, working on one of Australia’s largest shows, she tells ScreenHub she has faced criticism all along the way for being a woman in the industry.
‘Since discovering games as a child, into being a young adult, to being an adult, from being a consumer, to being in the industry, I have faced criticism along every step,’ Grace says. ‘I was being mocked as a kid for playing games. It wasn’t cool. I entered local tournaments and competitions, played games and got mocked. Then, into my career, [it was] not being taken seriously by other professionals at the time.’
‘When I got this job [at PAX Aus], I had four men reach out to me to say, “how did you get the job?”‘
While Grace believes it’s changing for the better, there is still a reluctance to accept the value of women in the workforce, and in the games industry. No matter how senior, or how tenured, there is disbelief about their position and their contributions.
Women are still expected to be polite in the face of this criticism and to deal with entitlement with grace.
But as Grace explains to ScreenHub, women and mothers have an essential place in the games industry, and bring much-needed perspectives that help to shape new developments and drive efficiency. All the criticism and doubt in the world doesn’t detract from her achievements, or the achievements of others.
The annual International Women’s Day on 8 March is a chance to reflect on this, but we should be shining a light on the contributions of women year-round.
In the months ahead, Grace’s experiences as both a woman and a mother will shape the curation of this year’s PAX Aus, as she continues to analyse successes of 2025 and forge ahead with plans for the next show, set to take place in Melbourne from 9 to 11 October.
‘The next few months are really make or break in creating strategy to execute at the show,’ Grace says. ‘I use this time to set up all the groundwork, to actually start executing things … I’m preparing to open panels, I’m working with probably 10+ community groups in executing other content at the show, and then I’m working with all the enforcer managers who help execute all the content areas in the show.’
‘There’s a lot going on honestly, and it’s hard to pinpoint what’s most important, because everything needs to run at the same time. So, it’s a really crazy few months coming up … Being in Australia, it can be really tough getting talent here because we’re just so far away from the rest of the world.’
‘But the community in Australia really deserve the opportunity to see talent and guests they love, so I’m working really, really hard to make sure it’s a strong lineup, and to get the people of Australia excited, and make their dreams come true.’
All of this while looking after a newborn baby, and learning the early ropes of motherhood. As one of the behind-the-scenes organisers of PAX Aus, Grace rarely gets the spotlight. In speaking to her, it quickly became clear that a spotlight is more than deserved.
