For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Daria Nina LOVE

Born 4/9/1946, Died 9/6/2001

Also known as: née Hair

1969 — She was the first woman to be award­ed the Uni­ver­si­ty of Syd­ney Medal for Vet­eri­nary Science.
1973 – The first woman in the Fac­ul­ty of Vet­eri­nary Sci­ence to be award­ed a Doctor…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Susan RIDE

Also known as: née Higgins

1966 — Leader of Aus­trali­a’s first all Abo­rig­i­nal Brown­ie pack.
Cen­tralian of the Year with Sis­ter Eileen HEATH.
1986 — Pre­sent­ed with Banksia Award for ser­vice to Guid­ing in…

Cathy SALVAIR

Born 17/10/1963

Cathy has flown tour groups around Aus­tralia. She has endorse­ments in aer­o­bat­ics, for­ma­tion fly­ing, and float planes.
1987 — Won the Lady Casey Scholarship.

1979 — Her first…

Julia Eileen GILLARD

Born 29/9/1961

Also known as: Dr Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard was Australia’s first female Prime Min­is­ter, sworn in as the 27^th Prime Min­is­ter of Aus­tralia on 24 June 2010 and serv­ing in that office until June 2013. Previously,…

Dorothy Mabel Vernon SMITH

Born 13/02/1909, Died 26/11/1994

1950 — The first woman in Aus­tralia to grad­u­ate as a radio oper­a­tor from Amal­ga­mat­ed Wire­less of Aus­trala­sia Ltd’s train­ing school in Mel­bourne and in 1951 was appoint­ed marine…

Ruth Winifred CRACKNELL

Born 6 July 1925, Died 13 May 2002

Renowned actress of film, stage and tele­vi­sion. Author of ​‘A Biased Mem­oir’ and ​‘Jour­ney From Venice’. Ruth was the first woman to be induct­ed into the Australian…

Dale McIVER

2005 — First woman to become Cap­tain of a ​“bat­tle­ship” (HMAS Defend­er) at the Hen­ley-on-Todd regat­ta in Alice Springs.

Beryl Edith BEAUREPAIRE

Born 24/9/1923

Also known as: Dame Beryl Beaurepaire née Bedggood

A pio­neer­ing Aus­tralian fem­i­nist, Beryl knew how to push boundaries.

Beryl’s first attempts to force accep­tance of equal­i­ty was dur­ing World War Two when she joined the Women’s…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Katrina LEE

1978 — Kat­ri­na Lee was the first on com­mer­cial television.

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Anne KOLBE

2003 — First female Pres­i­dent of the Roy­al Aus­tralasian Col­lege of Surgeons.

Anne is a pae­di­atric sur­geon from Auck­land, New Zealand.

2011 – 2016 — Served by Min­is­te­r­i­al appointment…

Dorothy Helena HERBERT

Born 24 September 1922, Died 27 August 2014

Dorothy Her­bert start­ed with the Roy­al Fly­ing Doc­tor Ser­vice in 1961, locat­ed at Charleville, Queens­land. She worked 20 years for them, flew all over the out­back, and attend­ed outback…

Mary Jane WARNES

Born 18/07/1878, Died 19/06/1959

Also known as: née Fairbrother

1936 — Award­ed Mem­ber of the Most Excel­lent Order of the British Empire (MBE).
1947 — First Hon­orary Life Mem­ber of Coun­try Wom­en’s Asso­ci­a­tion (CWA).

1929 — Assisted…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Moyia O'BRIEN

Born 29/11/1923, Died 4/05/2017

Twin sis­ter of Dorothy O’BRIEN who, togeth­er, were pio­neer Occu­pa­tion­al Ther­a­pists in Queens­land. Their lega­cy to Queens­land ​“The Sun­shine Wel­fare and Remedial…

Rachel PERKINS

Born 1970

Cir­ca 1991 she became the youngest female Exec­u­tive Pro­duc­er at SBS Television.
In 1995, Rachel won the first Indige­nous Pro­gram Schol­ar­ship to the Aus­tralian Film Tele­vi­sion and…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Eileen McRAE

Born 13/07/1932

Also known as: née Bird

Grand­daugh­ter of Fred and Iso­belle PRICE. (Fred PRICE was Tele­graph Mas­ter at Old Tele­graph Sta­tion, Alice Springs, 1916 – 24.)Daughter of Pearl POWELL.Author of By Pack­horse and Buggie…

Lesley PARKER

Emer­i­tus Pro­fes­sor Les­ley Park­er AM

The first woman appoint­ed to a sig­nif­i­cant senior exec­u­tive role at Curtin Uni­ver­si­ty, Les­ley Park­er was named Senior Deputy Vice-Chan­cel­lor in…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Ethel Rosina WHITE

Died 1926

Also known as: née Toms

1913 — Accom­pa­nied her hus­band on a camel expe­di­tion from Ood­na­dat­ta to Cen­tral Aus­tralia. Into The Dead Heart by Capt. S. A. White details this sci­en­tif­ic expedition.

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Jane DAVIS

Died 1800

Also known as: née Reid

Con­vict who arrived on ​“Lady Juliana” on 30 July 1790. Mar­ried and went to live on Nor­folk Island.

Gail OWEN

1991 — Appoint­ed Pres­i­dent of the Law Insti­tute of Vic­to­ria — the first woman to head this over 100 year old, tra­di­tion­al­ly male-run institution.

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Elizabeth WELLS

Born 1862, Died 1950

Also known as: née Saunders

Pio­neer of Hobart, Zee­han, and St Mary in Tas­ma­nia. Her hus­band was Sta­tion Mas­ter with the Tas­man­ian Railways.

Emily MacARTHUR

Born 26/2/1806, Died 27/11/1880

Also known as: née Stone, E. M. Fecit, Amelia MacArthur, Amelia Stone, Emily Stone

Wife of James MacArthur (son of Eliz­a­beth and John Macarthur). Con­tin­ued work on ​“Cam­den Park” with husband.
Taught farm chil­dren (free and con­vict) at school estab­lished by…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Agnes McWHINNEY

Born 25 September 1891, Died 4 August 1987

Also known as: Agnes Osborne

1915 — Agnes McWhin­ney was the first woman to be admit­ted as an attor­ney and to prac­tice law in Queensland.

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Patricia WALKER

1986 — First woman to be Pres­i­dent of Albany (West­ern Aus­tralia) Aero Club.

July 1988 — Mem­ber of ​‘Fly­ing Grannies’ flight around Australia.

Elsie May JENKINS

Born 1889, Died 9/9/1974

Also known as: née Goodrich, Ma

Pio­neer opal min­er (with hus­band) at Light­ning Ridge (NSW) and Coober Pedy (SA). Known as the ​“Opal Queen.”
1915 — ​“A won­der­ful horse­woman and the Best Hack and Hunter…

Ruby Claudia Emily DAVY

Born 22 November 1883, Died 12 July 1949

Also known as: Dr Ruby Davy

1918 — Aus­trali­a’s first female Doc­tor of Music, she received her doc­tor­ate from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ade­laide in 1918 but was nev­er offered a per­ma­nent senior post at the University…

Janet TEMPLETON

Born 1785, Died 1857

Pio­neer in the wool industry.

Sis­ter-in-law to Eliza FORLONGE.
After her husband’s death in 1829, ​“Janet Janet decid­ed to emi­grate to Aus­tralia. … She char­tered the Czar…

Patricia Elizabeth LASCELLES

Born 24/11/1926, Died 4/05/2018

Also known as: née Tuckwell, Bambi Shmith, Bambi Smith, Lady Harewood, Countess of Harewood, Dowager Countess of Harewood

Pos­si­bly first Aus­tralian to mar­ry into British royalty.

Aus­tralian musi­cian (vio­lin) and mod­el (known as Bam­bi Smith).

Robyn SHARP

Also known as: Dr Robyn Sharp

First female Vet­eri­nar­i­an in River­land, South Australia.

Beth MILDRED

2000-08 — First woman elect­ed pres­i­dent of Rotary in Cen­tral Australia.

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Sandra Faye HUMPHREY

Born 27 January 1945

First female prin­ci­pal Syd­ney Tech­ni­cal Col­lege, largest edu­ca­tion insti­tute in Australia.
First female direc­tor in tech­ni­cal and fur­ther edu­ca­tion (TAFE) in Australia.
First female…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Emma BOYD

Born 1858, Died 1936

Also known as: Minnie Boyd

High­ly regard­ed land­scape painter. One of the most pro­lif­ic in Mel­bourne of her gen­er­a­tion. Exhib­it­ed in Lon­don at the Roy­al Acad­e­my in 1891 and at the Grafton Gal­leries in 1898.…

Heather McDonald SUTHERLAND

Born 25 May 1903, Died 1953

Also known as: née Moir

1940s — Prob­a­bly Aus­tralian Cap­i­tal Ter­ri­to­ry’s first female architect.

Half-sis­ter of the opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland.

Marie HENDERSON

Born 1891, Died 1955

Suf­fer­ing from an hered­i­tary form of deaf­ness which dete­ri­o­rat­ed over the years, in 1945 the for­mer Mel­bourne house­wife was the first Nation­al Sec­re­tary and key fig­ure in the…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

May Victoria BROWN

Born 24 May 1875, Died 23 July 1939

Also known as: née Weedon (aka Wheedon), "The Wolfram Queen"

Pio­neer of North­ern Territory.1921 – 1926 — The first pub­li­can to win the lease on The Vic­to­ria Hotel in Darwin.1928 – 1930 — Bought and man­aged the Pine Creek Hotel, Pine Creek, Northern…

Louisa Ann BAILES

Born 10/09/1859, Died 23/01/1922

Also known as: née Wellington, Louise

“Pri­or to com­ing to town, Hazel [GOLD­ER] had worked for Mrs Bailes at Bloods Creek, serv­ing meals to trav­ellers up the track.”

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Marie Therese KILGARIFF

Born 6/9/1954, Died 30/12/2004

Along with Car­ole Frost, Marie Kil­gar­iff was one of two women who were the first female mem­bers of Rotary Clubs in North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry and South Australia.

Ida Lois BIRCHALL

Born 6 September 1906, Died 20 April 1994

After grad­u­at­ing from Syd­ney’s med­ical school in 1933 and becom­ing one of Tas­ma­ni­a’s first female doc­tors, she went on to become one of the first Aus­tralian women and the…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Dolly

Min­nie GILLEN ran the house­hold with the help of two Arrente Abo­rig­i­nal women, Dol­ly (Aritcheuka) …, who also looked after her two boys.

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Maxine MacDONALD

Also known as: née Darrow, Mrs Mac

The dri­ving force behind the Kim­ber­ley’s Fos­sil Downs Sta­tion. When her hus­band Bill died in 1963, she car­ried on sin­gle­hand­ed­ly man­ag­ing the station.

Before marriage,…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Candice Elizabeth REED

Born 22/06/1980

22 June 1980 — Aus­trali­a’s first test tube baby — Roy­al Wom­en’s Hos­pi­tal, Mel­bourne, Victoria.

Kate VANDERLAAN

1980 — First police woman motor­cy­clist in Australia.
First police woman to be a Super­in­ten­dent in the North­ern Territory.

1978 — Joined NT police as a constable.Bachelor of…

Erica WILLIAMS

One of the insti­ga­tors of endurance horse rid­ing in Aus­tralia and the first Tom Quilty 100-mile ride in 1966.

She was the first woman to win the Aus­tralian Nation­al Championship…

Izan aka Haji Izan IZAN

Also known as: nee Yaakob

First woman pro­fes­sor in Aus­tralia in account­ing and finance discipline

Bach­e­lor of Eco­nom­ics with first class hon­ours, Monash University
MBA and PhD Grad­u­ate School of…

Jill TABART

Born 18 April 1941

1994 – 1997 — First woman pres­i­dent of Unit­ing Church in Aus­tralia (or any oth­er church in Australia).

1964 — Bach­e­lor of Med­i­cine, Bach­e­lor of Surgery, Mel­bourne University.

Emma Constance STONE

Born 4 December 1856, Died 29 December 1902

Also known as: Constance

Born in Hobart, Tas­ma­nia, she was Aus­trali­a’s first woman doc­tor reg­is­ter­ing with the Med­ical Board of Vic­to­ria in 1890, after train­ing over­seas. She prac­tised one day a week at…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Marlene THALHEIMER

Also known as: Polly

1974 — The first woman ordained for min­istry in the Pres­by­ter­ian Church was Mar­lene (Pol­ly) Thalheimer.

Moira Therese KELLY

Born 31/1/1964

Award­ed ​‘Sir ​‘Weary’ Dun­lop Memo­r­i­al Award
1988 — Named Aus­tralian Bicen­ten­ni­al Young Woman of the Year

Aid Work­er — dubbed ​‘Aus­trali­a’s Mother…

For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

Ailsa Merle TRUNDLE

Born 9/08/1916, Died 26/04/2002

1940s — One of first female part­ners appoint­ed in archi­tec­ture in West­ern Australia.

Lillian Georgina FRANK

Born 16 January 1930

Also known as: née Jacob

First woman hair­dress­er to be trained at Eliz­a­beth Arden.
11 June 1977 — Appoint­ed a Mem­ber of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), for involve­ment with char­i­ties, includ­ing the…

Cathy GREEN

Born 27 April 1972

Eques­tri­an — Australian/​Asian Record Jump­ing Champion.
1990 — World Wom­en’s High Jump Record — 7 feet 11 ¹⁄₂ inch­es at Cairns Show (for­mer­ly held by Guy CREIGHTON).
1982 -…