Elsie Regina LAMB

Born 1/2/1887, Died 1993

Dis­trict mid­wife in Wing­ham, New South Wales.During World War I pro­vid­ed vol­un­tary aid at Bullin­mim­bah Station.During World War II worked in the Depart­ment of the Air after declaring…

Magdalene JOHNSON

Born 1/7/1905, Died 26/1/2010

Also known as: Maggie

Worked as drover, cook, teacher, car­er. Dur­ing World War II ​“she worked as a cook for hun­dreds of peo­ple” at the mis­sion at Arltunga.

At time of death, 2010, Alice…

Katherine Mary CLUTTERBUCK

Born 1861, Died 31 July 1946

Also known as: Sister Kate

1 Jan­u­ary 1934 — Appoint­ed Order of the British Empire (Mem­ber of the Civ­il Divi­sion), for her ser­vices to dis­ad­van­taged children.

Pio­neer Angli­can nun who com­menced a cottage…

Adelaide Laetitia MIETHKE

Born 8/06/1881, Died 4/02/1962

Also known as: Addie

1916 — She was the first woman vice-pres­i­dent of the South Aus­tralian Pub­lic School Teacher’s Union.
1924 — Became the first female inspec­tor of high schools.
1937 — Miethke was…

Gwen PETERSON

Gwen became C.E.O. of Peter­son Indus­tries Pty. Ltd. after her hus­band Max passed away in 2002.
The Com­pa­ny had its begin­nings in 1948, when it was set up in an old stone barn in a…

Mavis Laurel FULLER

Born 16 October 1911, Died 1 August 1971

Also known as: née Baker

Pas­toral pioneer.

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Anna Wilhelmine Charlotte Dorothea SCHWARZ

Also known as: née Schultz (Schultz, Schultze), Wilhelmine

The first white women to set­tle in Cen­tral Aus­tralia were Dorothea Queck­en­st­edt and Wil­helmine Schulze from Ger­many, the wives of mis­sion­ar­ies Kempe and Schwarz. They arrived at…

Patricia June O'SHANE

Born 19/6/1941

Also known as: Pat

Pat O’Shane has many firsts to her name. She was the first Abo­rig­i­nal woman to become a school teacher in Queens­land, the first Abo­rig­i­nal woman to grad­u­ate in Law at an…

Susan Maree RYAN

Born 10 October 1942

1975 – 1988 — First first Labor Sen­a­tor for the Aus­tralian Cap­i­tal Territory.
1990 — Appoint­ed Offi­cer of the Order of Aus­tralia for her con­tri­bu­tion to parliament.

In the Hawke…

Louise ALLARD

2006 — First Aus­tralian woman to ski to the North Pole

Patricia WALTER

Born 1926, Died 23 November 2017

Also known as: Pattie

Cam­er­a­woman for ABC news 1964 – 1986. Pos­si­bly the first woman cin­e­matog­ra­ph­er in Australia.1993 — first woman to be giv­en Life Mem­ber­ship of the Aus­tralian Cin­e­matog­ra­phers Soci​ety​.In…

Lillian Rose SAVAGE

Died 17/10/2012

1965 — Arrived with hus­band Bob and six chil­dren at Suple­jack Downs (in Tana­mi Desert) in vir­gin coun­try and made a work­ing sta­tion (15,000 sq. miles).

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Faith BANDLER

Born 27 September 1920, Died 13 February 2015

Also known as: Ida Lessing Faith Mussing

1976 appoint­ed Mem­ber of the Order of the British Empire but declined1984 appoint­ed Mem­ber of the Order of Aus­tralia in recog­ni­tion of ser­vice to Abo­rig­i­nal welfare1994 award­ed an…

Pam HOLLAND

Born 01 October 1946

Pro­pri­etor of Hol­landaise Cater­ing, Alice Springs, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry. She began at the Hotel Alice Springs. A cater­er for 34 years, serv­ing guests such as the Arch­bish­op of…

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Eliza JENKINS

Also known as: née Sharp

… Eliza and Thomas Jenk­ins, worked on Lake Nash Sta­tion in the ear­ly 1890s.Mother of Esther Jenk­ins BOHNING.

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Polly

Min­nie GILLEN ran the house­hold with the help of two Arrente Abo­rig­i­nal women, … and Pol­ly, who also looked after her two boys.

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…

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Essie STUART

Born 1904

Also known as: née Simpson

With camel dri­ver hus­band, brought goods from Maree and Ood­na­dat­ta to Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.

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Joice Mary LOCH

Born 24/1/1887, Died 8/10/1982

Also known as: née NanKivell

Aus­trali­a’s most dec­o­rat­ed woman. 1920s — Helped 150,000 refugees escape Turk­ish per­se­cu­tion. Saved the vil­lage of Oura­noupo­lis from star­va­tion by revi­tal­is­ing its rug industry.…

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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…

Margaret Anne FEILMAN

Born 22 June 1921, Died 24 September 2013

First chair­woman of the West­ern Aus­tralia Plan­ning Board. First female to under­take an archi­tec­tur­al cadet­ship in West­ern Aus­trali­a’s Pub­lic Works Depart­ment. First female Town…

Heather SWAN

Also known as: née Wilson, Heather SINGLEMAN

2001 — First woman to climb ​‘Tran­go Tow­er’ in the Pak­istan Himalayas.

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Nell Margaret LANG

Born 22/4/1913, Died 31/3/2002

Also known as: née Barrow

One of the first nurs­es to be admit­ted to the Navy, dur­ing World War II.

1944 – 1945 — Navy nurse — Served in Milne Bay, New Guinea.

Georgina Dagmar BERNE

Born 16 November 1866, Died 22 August 1900

Also known as: Dagmar

Australia’s first female med­ical stu­dent, was admit­ted to the Uni­ver­si­ty of Syd­ney in 1885, how­ev­er, hos­til­i­ty towards her caused her to com­plete her degree in Lon­don, return­ing to set…

Lilian Violet COOPER

Born 11 August 1861, Died 18 August 1947

Also known as: Dr Lilian Cooper

Eng­lish born and Lon­don-trained, she emi­grat­ed in 1891 and set up prac­tice in Bris­bane, becom­ing Queens­land’s first woman doc­tor. She used a horse and sulky by day and a bicycle…

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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…

Debbie KILROY

Born 1961

Also known as: née Harding

Deb­bie is a prison reformer and founder and Chief Exec­u­tive Offi­cer of Sis­ters Inside Inc.

In 2007, Deb­bie was the first per­son in Aus­tralian with seri­ous con­vic­tions to be admitted…

Judith McKAY

Born 12 June 1949

The first female cura­tor at the Aus­tralian War Memo­r­i­al, Canberra.

1988 — Began work­ing at Queens­land Museum.1994 — Co-author, with Don­ald Wat­son, of the major reference…

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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…

Elizabeth NICKER

Born 16 February 1871, Died 1 October 1951

Also known as: née Elliott, Lizzie

In 1904 Eliz­a­beth (Lizzie) Nick­er arrived at Arl­tun­ga with her sec­ond hus­band Sam, 10 year old daugh­ter Jane Doolan and baby Claude, born en route at Quorn, SA. They had travelled…

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…

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Dorothy Ada VINES

Matron Vines and mem­bers of the Aus­tralian Army Nurs­ing Ser­vice off to work in a truck nick-named ​‘Leap­ing Lena’.

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Susan Elizabeth Anne WIJFFELS

Born 3/08/1965

First woman sci­en­tist on staff in the Com­mon­wealth Sci­en­tif­ic and Indus­tri­al Research Organ­i­sa­tion (CSIRO) Divi­sion of Oceanog­ra­phy in Hobart, Tasmania.
1986 — Cal­tex Scholarship…

Katie Louisa ARDILL

Born 3 August 1886, Died 3 January 1955

Katie Ardill Brice was an Aus­tralian doc­tor. She was the first woman to be appoint­ed as a divi­sion­al sur­geon in New South Wales, and a year lat­er was among the first female doctors…

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Stephanie Louise GILMORE

Born 29 January 1988

Also known as: Steph

Pro­fes­sion­al surfer. Sev­en-time world cham­pi­on on the Wom­en’s World Surf­ing Cham­pi­on (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018).

Denise ALLEN

1983 — First observ­er woman post­ed to Queens­land 1984 — First woman post­ed to Willis Island 1986 — First woman to win­ter on the Antarc­tic Con­ti­nent for the Bureau of Mete­o­rol­o­gy 1988 -…

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Fidelia Savage Thornton HILL

Born 14 August 1794, Died 1854

Also known as: née Munkhouse, Fidelia S. T. Hill

First woman to have a book of poet­ry pub­lished in Aus­tralia (1840 ​‘Poems and Rec­ol­lec­tions of the Past’).

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Pauline

Born 16 March 1935, Died 03 March 1989

Also known as: Hon. Pauline Therese Toner

1982 — First woman State Cab­i­net Min­is­ter in Victoria
(Hon.)

1969 — Joined the Aus­tralian Labor Party 
1973 – 1979 — Coun­cil­lor for the Shire of Dia­mond Valley.
1977 – 1988 -…

Clare Majaella MARTIN

Born 15 June 1952

In 2001, Clare Mar­tin became the first female chief min­is­ter of the North­ern Territory. 

Clare Mar­tin was the leader of the first labor Gov­ern­ment in the North­ern Territory.

Joy BALUCH

Born 10 October 1932, Died 14 May 2013

Also known as: Nancy Joy Copley, Nancy Joy Baluch

Joy Baluch was the first woman may­or of Port Augus­ta, South Aus­tralia. She presided as may­or for 29 years over 3 terms; 15 years on the Local Gov­ern­ment Asso­ci­a­tion exec­u­tive and…

Ruth Isabel HODGES

Died 18 June 1974

Set the first record, under inter­na­tion­al rules, by a woman pilot in Aus­tralia — a dis­tance of 1,360.69 km in a Cess­na 210 air­craft at a speed of 312.18 km/​hr in 4 hours 26 min­utes 30…

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Frances Emma BENNETT

Born 1871, Died 1965

Also known as: née Lord

One of first land­hold­ers in West­ern New South Wales.

Pio­neer of West­ern New South Wales.1930s — Moved from New South Wales to Ade­laide, South Aus­tralia. Bought Cob­ham, an 88…

Jeannie GUNN

Born 5 June 1870, Died 9 June 1961

Also known as: née Taylor

Author of The Lit­tle Black Princess of the Nev­er-Nev­er (1905), We of the Nev­er-Nev­er (1908) and My Boys: A Book of Remem­brance (Mon­bulk RSL 2000) — pub­lished after 50 years.
1939 -…

Maureen PLAVSIC

First female Man­ag­ing Direc­tor of Sev­en Tele­vi­sion Network.

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Gladys Ruth GIBSON

Born 29 December 1901, Died 23 August 1972

Also known as: Ruth

Edu­ca­tor, Com­mu­ni­ty Leader.
1919 — Began as a stu­dent-teacher, Goodwood.1921 — Appoint­ed to West­bourne Park Pub­lic School.1937 — Obtained Bach­e­lor of Arts, Uni­ver­si­ty of Adelaide.1940…

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…

Mary Ann Elliot RANDELL

Born 1799, Died 1874

Also known as: née Beare

Pio­neer of Gumer­acha in Ade­laide Hills, South Australia.Steamship ​‘Mary Ann’ on Mur­ray Riv­er was named after her.

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Mary Paulena BLOOMFIELD

Born 20 July 1917, Died 9 May 1994

Also known as: née Hayes

Daugh­ter of Ann Jane ​“Jane” Hayes.

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Alma Jean POOLE

Born 1920

Also known as: née Kuhn, Jean

Gabrielle Beryl HOLLOWS

Born 21/05/1953

Also known as: Gabi, née O'Sullivan

With her first hus­band (deceased) Dr Fred Hol­lows, they treat­ed Abo­rig­i­nal Aus­tralians with a range of eye con­di­tions. Over a peri­od of three years, they vis­it­ed over 465 remote…