Amboora

Amboo­ra worked for the Brad­shaw fam­i­ly at the Alice Springs Tele­graph Sta­tion as a housemaid.

Carla Maria ZAMPATTI

Born 19 May 1942

Car­la Zam­pat­ti is a promi­nent Aus­tralian fash­ion design­er who was the first woman appoint­ed as Chair­per­son of SBS tele­vi­sion in 1999.

1965 — Pro­duced her first collection.…

Carol DEHN

Car­ol is a cap­tain for Qan­tas Link based in Mel­bourne. She has won many Aus­tralian Women Pilots Asso­ci­a­tion tro­phies. One of her most sat­is­fy­ing jobs has been fly­ing for the Air…

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

Bessie TURNER

Born 1897, Died 14 December 1988

Also known as: née Ah Sam, previously Ning and Trindle, Nanna Bessie

With her hus­band, drove cat­tle from West­ern Aus­tralia and the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry along the Muran­ji Track and across the Bark­ly Table­lands to Mt Isa and Dajar­ra; revered by many on 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

Dorothy May HINDE

Born 1929, Died 31 July 2006

Also known as: née Delmore, Terri

Pio­neer of Dar­win, North­ern Territory.

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

Runge

Amboo­ra, Amelia (Kunoth) and Runge, who worked for the Brad­shaw fam­i­ly at the Tele­graph Sta­tion.… as well as Abo­rig­i­nal house­maids includ­ing Amboo­ra, Runge and Amelia, sup­port­ed Mrs…

Mary LEE

Born 14 February 1821, Died 18 September 1909

Also known as: née Walsh

1890 — Founder of the Work­ing Wom­en’s Trade Union.

In 1895 aged 74, she was nom­i­nat­ed to stand for par­lia­ment for the Unit­ed Labour Par­ty but declined.
2001 — Inducted…

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

Dianne DIANO

Also known as: née Gleeson

First police women attached to Alice Springs Police Station.

Marlene Jean BROWN

Born 1934

Also known as: nee Chaffer

In 1968, Mar­lene Brown became the first female alder­man elect­ed to the Town Man­age­ment Board of Alice Springs (pre­de­ces­sor of Town Coun­cil) and served a sec­ond term with the board…

Jane FRANKLIN

Born 4 December 1791, Died 18 July 1875

Also known as: née Griffin, Lady Franklin

Wife of Sir John FRANKLIN, Gov­er­nor of Tas­ma­nia between 1837 – 1843. She was a con­tro­ver­sial reformer for the wel­fare of con­victs and pub­lic education

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

Lynn ALLEN

Lynn worked for twelve years as the State Librar­i­an and CEO of the West­ern Aus­tralian state library (from 1989 – 2001). Over a peri­od of 107 years, Pro­fes­sor Allen was only the fourth…

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

Anna LICHTENBERG

Lec­tur­er in Infor­ma­tion Tech­nol­o­gy (IT) (now PhD and con­sul­tant at Curtin Uni­ver­si­ty. First woman involved in the IT depart­ment at the Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege in Alice Springs, Northern…

Eva BURROWS

Born 15 September 1929, Died 21 March 2015

Eva Bur­rows was the first Aus­tralian (and only sec­ond) woman world leader of the Sal­va­tion Army. Eva was also the youngest per­son ever elect­ed to the office of Gen­er­al. She served…

Gina SMITH

First deputy chair­woman of the Cen­tral Land Council.

She and Rayleen BROWN found­ed Kun­gas Can Cook, Alice Springs, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry, an indige­nous cater­ing com​pa​ny​.Ms SMITH…

Ruby TILMOUTH

Born 11/1915, Died 09/2005

Also known as: née Schaber

Pio­neer and Activist of Cen­tral Australia.1950s — Led and orga­nized a protest march against a racist cur­few in Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.

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

Louisa Margaret DUNKLEY

Born 28 May 1866, Died 10 March 1927

Also known as: née Dunkley, Louisa Margaret Kraegen

By the 1870s many women dou­bled as post­mistress and tele­graph oper­a­tor in coun­try areas but were paid less than men, a sit­u­a­tion Louisa Dunk­ley fought to change when she established…

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

Roslyn Marjory LAMBERT

Born 2/4/1943

Believed to be the first woman in the bank­ing indus­try to be grant­ed male pay rate.

Isobel BENNETT

Born 1909, Died 2008

Iso­bel Ben­nett was a renowned marine biol­o­gist, best known for her pio­neer­ing work on the Great Bar­ri­er Reef. Her ear­li­est work, how­ev­er, con­cerned plank­ton and she was involved in…

Joanna BARKER

Also known as: Jo

Jo Bark­er was the first Aus­tralian Pres­i­dent of World Fed­er­a­tion of Occu­pa­tion­al Ther­a­pists (1986−1990); the first occu­pa­tion­al ther­a­pist in Aus­tralia to be award­ed a Ph.D. (1988); 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

Merle THORNTON

Born 2/10/1930

Also known as: née Wilson

Known for, with Ros­alie BOGN­ER, chain­ing them­selves to a bar rail in protest of the exclu­sion of women in bars in Queens­land. Wom­en’s Rights Activist. Author. Moth­er of actress…

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

Lynette Moira KELLOW

Born 1919

Also known as: nee Salathiel

1939 — Flew with Eddie Conel­lan and hus­band John Kel­low to Alice Springs. Donat­ed a ​“First Day Cov­er” air let­ter to her par­ents which was part of the first mail run by…

Martha Patricia PROUDLOVE

Died 13/10/1997

Also known as: Patti, Pattie

1930s — First woman to hold a bus dri­ver’s licence in West­ern Australia.

Ran a pub­lic and tourist bus ser­vice with hus­band and fam­i­ly from Den­mark to Albany, Western…

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

Patricker Catherine Bridgett HOLDEN

Born 5 April 1913, Died 19 February 1997

Also known as: née Callahan, Pat

Estab­lished Pat Hold­en Fash­ions, a ladies dress shop in Alice Springs. Worked for Mona MINA­HAN in her dress shop originally.

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

Mary Hynes SWANTON

Born 22/06/1861, Died 25/11/1940

Also known as: Mamie

1907 — First woman pres­i­dent of Tai­lors and Tai­loress’ Union of West­ern Australia.
First woman award­ed hon­orary life mem­ber­ship of Aus­tralian Natives’ Asso­ci­a­tion in Western…

Jane Stocks GREIG

Born 12 June 1872, Died 16 September 1939

Also known as: Jean

1896 – 1910 — One of founders of Vic­to­ri­an Med­ical Wom­en’s Society.
16 April 1910 — Received the Diplo­ma of Pub­lic Health at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mel­bourne, the first woman to do so.…

Elizabeth Ellen HUDSON

Died 29 August 1986

Also known as: née Nicol

Writ­ten on the back of the draw­ing: Long-stand­ing mem­ber, devot­ed worker.
​“Eliz­a­beth was known as ​‘The Queen of the Bark­ly’ … They sold the Rankin store and moved to Alice Springs…

Julia Eileen GILLARD

Born 29 September 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,…

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

Gwen WALL

Louisa MacDONALD

Born 10/12/1858, Died 28/11/1949

The first female prin­ci­pal of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Syd­ney’s Wom­en’s Col­lege from 1892 – 1919 (cho­sen from 65 appli­cants.), she was also the first woman to stand for this…

Elinor Catherine HAMLIN

Born 24 January 1924, Died 18 March 2020

Also known as: née Nicholson, Catherine

“Ham­lin has been recog­nised by the Unit­ed Nations agency UNF­PA as a pio­neer in fis­tu­la surgery for her devel­op­ment of tech­niques and pro­ce­dures for obstet­ric fistula…

Ann MARSHALL

Born 27/12/1909, Died 7/3/2001

Also known as: née Nichols

1940 – 50 — Instru­men­tal in estab­lish­ing Geog­ra­phy Depart­ment at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Adelaide.
1940 — Part-time lec­tur­er in Geog­ra­phy Department.
1951 — Full-time appointment.
1958 — The…

Diana Lynn WILLIAMS

Also known as: Dr Lynn Williams, Dr Diana Williams, Lynn

One of two first women (with Denise Allen) to be award­ed the Antarc­tic Medal for out­stand­ing ser­vice in the Antarc­tic (1989), where she was med­ical offi­cer dur­ing two win­ters (1981 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

Elizabeth MILNES

Born 18 July 1911, Died April 1999

Also known as: née Hayes, Lizzie

1911 & 1932 — First white woman to be both born and mar­ried in Alice Springs.
1972 — First woman to own a North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry cat­tle sta­tion, which she owned for 35 years.
1999 -…

Hephzibah MENUHIN

Born 20/05/1920, Died 1/01/1981

She made her pub­lic debut at age 8 in San Fran­cis­co. She was her broth­er Yehudi’s accom­pa­nist as her par­ents reject­ed a career in music for her.
1933 — Their record­ing of Mozart’s…

Gillian May ARMSTRONG

Born 18/12/1950

Gillian Arm­strong is an award-win­ning Aus­tralian fea­ture film and doc­u­men­tary direc­tor, whose films often fea­ture female per­spec­tives and pro­tag­o­nists. Gillian became the first woman…

Joan Mary DEANS

Born 10 February 1920, Died 29 December 2006

Also known as: née Learoyd

Joan was an Eng­lish nurse ​“in the Queen Alexan­dria Army Nurs­ing Ser­vice on loan from the Roy­al Navy, and worked in mil­i­tary hos­pi­tals at Bonegilla and oth­er mil­i­tary hos­pi­tals in” New…

Kerry McGINNIS

Born 1945

Drover of North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry, then pas­toral­ist with her fam­i­ly on 900 square miles — Bowthorn Sta­tion in Queensland.Author of Pieces of Blue — her autobiography.

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

Illma BALDOCK

Born 30/11/1919

Also known as: Illma Gregory

Ill­ma was a foun­da­tion mem­ber and worked hard to raise funds for the pro­mo­tion of wom­en’s and com­mu­ni­ty sports.

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…

Mary Harriet GRIFFITH

Born 4 November 1849, Died 27 July 1930

Ear­ly pio­neer in Unit­ing Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church in Queensland.Harriett Grif­fith Memo­r­i­al Door — YWCA Head­quar­ters, Bris­bane, Queens­land and cred­it­ed for ​“revi­tal­is­ing and over­see­ing its…

Maria DUN

Born 1798, Died 27 June 1878

Also known as: née Burdett

Pio­neer of the Hunter region of New South Wales.

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

Annie Doreen MUNE

Born 6 February 1901, Died 1989

Also known as: née Hensley

In 1924 she was appoint­ed Mel­bourne City Coun­cil’s coor­di­na­tor to com­bat dypthe­ria. Dur­ing this cam­paign she test­ed and immu­nised 11,230 children.

Pio­neer doc­tor in Fiji…

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

Pat FLEMING

Born 2/03/1915, Died 9/07/1995

Also known as: née Wallace, Nungala, Daisy Alma was her birth name

Life Mem­ber of Nation­al Trust of Australia.

Pat came to the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry with her hus­band Bap­tist min­is­ter and mis­sion­ary, Tom Flem­ing in 1950. Their son Adri­an was two…

Ella Lillian May PINK

Born 1890, Died 1986

“The first Aus­tralian woman optometrist to hold over­seas qual­i­fi­ca­tions in optom­e­try was Ella Lil­lian May Pink who earned the Fel­low­ship of the Wor­ship­ful Com­pa­ny of Spectacle…

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

Betty HOLLAND

Also known as: née Lane, Betty Lane

1976 — First woman to be grant­ed a Num­ber 1 train­er’s licence from the Aus­tralian Jock­ey Club.

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

Dorothy GILL

Born 18 November 1925

Also known as: née Adamson, Doff

First female bank clerk in Alice Springs, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry. Also worked in Com­mon­wealth Bank in 1942.

Daugh­ter of the first post­mas­ter in Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.

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

Freda BRIGGS

Born 1 December 1930, Died 6 April 2016

Also known as: née Akeroyd

Edu­ca­tor, author, scholar.
Her appeal against manda­to­ry retire­ment paved the way for old­er Aus­tralians to retain work­ing posi­tions after retire­ment age.
Received ANZAC Fellowship…

Charlotte Morrison ANDERSON

Born 12/3/1915, Died 15/4/2002

Char­lotte Ander­son was an Aus­tralian pio­neer of pae­di­atric gas­troen­terol­o­gy. She devel­oped a clin­i­cal research pro­gram at the Roy­al Chil­dren’s Hos­pi­tal in Mel­bourne, where she…

Enid Esther MATHER

Died 10/1998

Also known as: née L'Estrange, Esther L'Estrange, Esther Mather

1938 — First woman cap­tain of Queens­land Aer­o­bat­ic Team.
1968 — Award­ed the Paul Dis­sandi­er Diplo­ma by the Fédéra­tion Aéro­nau­tique Internationale.
1971 — Award­ed the Nan­cy Bird…

Vivian BULLWINKEL

Born 18 December 1915, Died 3 July 2000

First female Trustee of Aus­tralian War Memorial.

1947 — She received the Flo­rence Nightin­gale Medal.
1973 — Ms Bull­winkel received the Mem­ber of the Order of the British Empire…