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

Lauren MITCHELL

Born 23 July 1991

First Aus­tralian female gym­nast to win a World Cup Final. This was in Madrid, Spain, on the bal­ance beam.

2009 World Cham­pi­onships sil­ver medal­ist on bal­ance beam and floor and 2010…

Elina Emily MOTTRAM

Born 1903, Died 1996

Queens­land’s longest prac­tic­ing female archi­tect was also the first to estab­lish her own busi­ness in this State. She opened an office in Bris­bane in 1924, and two years later…

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

Sylvia WILSON

Born 30 December 1918, Died 6 February 2012

Also known as: née Roach

1942 — Lieutenant/​Nurse Sylvia Roach was sta­tioned at Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.

Linda Joyce SHUTTLE

Also known as: Sister Linda Mary, Reverend Sister Linda Mary

2009 — First Moth­er Supe­ri­or of the Angli­can Com­mu­ni­ty of Sis­ters of the Church (CSC) (in the order’s 140-year his­to­ry) to live in Aus­tralia, instead of England.

Hayley Jane LEWIS

Born 2 March 1974

1990 — Gold Medal­ist, Auck­land Com­mon­wealth Games — Swim­ming — 200m and 400m Freestyle, 200m But­ter­fly, 4 x 200m Relay.
1992 — Bronze Medal­ist, Barcelona Olympic Games — Swimming -…

Betty ROLAND

Born 22/07/1903, Died 12/02/1996

Also known as: née Mary Isabel Maclean/McLean, Betty M. Davies, Mary Isabel Davies

Wrote her first play The Touch of Silk in 1928. Also known for her four vol­ume auto­bi­og­ra­phy. In 1951 she legal­ly changed her name to Bet­ty Roland.

Janet Gertrude PALMER

Born 18/08/1885, Died 19/10/1964

Also known as: née Higgins, Nettie

Author (with hus­band Vance Palmer) of Nur­tur­er and oth­er Aus­tralian stories.

2001 — Induct­ed into the Vic­to­ri­an Hon­our Roll of Women.

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 Mary KELL

Born 1791, Died 22 January 1827

Pio­neer of old Syd­ney Town and the Illawar­ra dis­trict. Eliz­a­beth arrived in Syd­ney Cove in 1819 aboard the ​“Min­er­va” with her hus­band George and three chil­dren (one born on…

Catherine Margaret BRANSON

Born 2/5/1948

Cather­ine Bran­son was the first woman in Aus­tralia (and prob­a­bly in the com­mon law world) to be appoint­ed Crown Solic­i­tor when appoint­ed head of South Australia’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

Bronwyn Nancy DONAGHY

Born 21/12/1948, Died 23/07/2002

Also known as: née Simeon, Frances Storm

Journalist/​Author of books on youth sui­cide and sex edu­ca­tion. Wrote Anna’s Sto­ry (Anna Wood died after tak­ing an Ecsta­sy tablet at a ​“Rave’ Par­ty.” Anna’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

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.

Ita Clare BUTTROSE

Born 17/1/1942

Acknowl­edged for her bril­liant and ground­break­ing media career, Ita But­trose has also ded­i­cat­ed her con­sid­er­able ener­gy and skills to cham­pi­oning med­ical edu­ca­tion and health care. Ita…

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

Fanny ROSS

Also known as: née Wallis

Fan­ny Ross was one of the first Eng­lish speak­ing white women at the heart of Aus­tralia. In 1885 she joined her hus­band Alexan­der, man­ag­er of Undoolya Sta­tion. She had her piano…

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

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 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…

Rose LYNCH

Born 1885

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

Johanna WENDLER

One of the first women police in the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry. All com­menced their recruit train­ing (with a num­ber of men) in Feb­ru­ary 1961, and the course ​“passed out” on 10…

Pamela TATE

2003 — First woman appoint­ed Solic­i­tor-Gen­er­al, Victoria.

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 MacFARRELL

1846 — First woman news­pa­per edi­tor in Aus­tralia, Perth Gazette.

Ellen WARREN

Ellen was a staunch mem­ber of the Tas­man­ian branch exec­u­tive of the Aus­tralian Women Pilots Asso­ci­a­tion, and cel­e­brat­ed her 70^th birth­day in 1994 by fly­ing a 172 on Sat­ur­day 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

Uanita GREGORY

Born 03 March 1911, Died 1990

Also known as: née Gregory

The elec­toral roll for 1940 indi­cates tha less than 5% of the female pop­u­la­tion were in paid employ­ment. The most pop­u­lar work was domes­tic ser­vice in posi­tions such as housemaid,…

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

Daisy Florence RUDDICK

Born 15/08/1915, Died 23/04/2002

Also known as: née Kumachi Cusack

Pio­neer of Dar­win, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry. One of Stolen Gen­er­a­tion. Nan­ny to Austin ASCHE. Nurse who worked with Fly­ing Doc­tor, Clive Fen­ton, at Kather­ine, North­ern Territory.

Jacqueline Gail HUGGINS

Born 19 August 1956

Also known as: Jackie

2000 — Received the Queens­land Pre­mier’s Mil­len­ni­um Award for Excel­lence in Indige­nous Affairs.
2001 — Appoint­ed a Mem­ber of the Order of Aus­tralia, ser­vice to the indigenous…

Una Sybella TEAGUE

Born December 1878, Died 1969

Dur­ing the pro­longed drought in Cen­tral Aus­tralia in the 1920s many Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple died of beri-beri and scurvy. Pas­tor Albrecht want­ed to pipe good water from Kapo­r­ilya Springs 7…

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…

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

Patsy SHADFORTH

North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Pio­neer of Sev­en Emu Station.

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

Caroline Martha DAVID

Born 26/4/1856, Died 25/12/1951

Also known as: née Mallett, Cara, Lady, Caroline Edgeworth David, Caroline Mallett

Wife of Sir Edge­worth David, Pro­fes­sor of Geology.President of Wom­en’s Nation­al Move­ment for Social Reform.Spearheaded cam­paign for Hotels 6 o’clock clos­ing in New South…

Waveney Constance COXON

Also known as: née Saunders, Constance Waveney Coxon

Writ­ten on the back of the draw­ing: Held office at var­i­ous times. Hus­band direc­tor of mines.

Mary David ALLCHIN

Born 17/5/1913

Pio­neer of Cen­tral Aus­tralia. Arrived in Alice Springs in 1941, took her final vows with the Catholic Church in 1942 and helped estab­lish Arl­tun­ga mis­sion in 1942. Also worked on…

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

Julia PITCHER

Also known as: Dr Julia Pitcher

Neu­ro­phys­i­ol­o­gist. She and her team’s research was named among the top 10 health and med­ical research projects in 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

Dorothy Evelyn Lettie BELLAMY

Born 1907, Died 1984

Also known as: née Oliffe, Paddy, Dorothy Evelyn Letty

1940s — First woman to dri­ve alone between Ade­laide and Alice Springs.
1947 — First woman in Alice Springs to actu­al­ly reg­is­ter a busi­ness — the first exclu­sive wom­ens’ store 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

Kathleen Audrey HALL

Born 1915, Died 2007

Pio­neer of ball­room danc­ing in Ade­laide, South Australia.

Alexandrina SEAGER

Born 27 November 1872, Died 12 March 1950

Also known as: née Laidlaw, Alexandra

First woman to hold Vice Pres­i­den­cy of Returned Ser­vices Asso­ci­a­tion (lat­er known as the RSL).

1909 — Start­ed her own busi­ness, ​“Scholas­tic Agency,” to supply…

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

Rachel WESTAWAY

First Thai/​Chinese woman in Aus­tralia to hold the fol­low­ing positions:
2003-08 — CEO of Coun­try Press (old­est news­pa­per asso­ci­a­tion in Aus­tralia rep­re­sent­ing 120 newspapers);
2003-06 -…

Jennifer CASHMORE

First woman Min­is­ter of Health in the South Aus­tralian Par­lia­ment (1979)

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

Lorna Beryl MOSS

Born 21 February 1922

Also known as: née Robinson

1946 – 47 — Helped organ­ise North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry’s first pub­lic preschool, the Alice Springs Kindergarten.
Her son is Ian Moss, ​“an Aus­tralian rock musi­cian … [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

Constance ELLIS

Born 1860, Died 1959

Also known as: Connie

Con­nie went ​“to Queens­land in 1889 because she want­ed a job in a new land. … Connie’s first job in Aus­tralia was as a ladies’ com­pan­ion at Kyabra, more than 1100 km west of Brisbane.”

Gloria Joan Liles CHILD

Born 1921, Died 23/02/2013

Also known as: Joan

First woman Aus­tralian Labor Par­ty (ALP) mem­ber in the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives (1974)

Aus­trali­a’s first woman Speak­er of either House of the Fed­er­al Par­lia­ment (House of…

Suzi HUTCHINGS

Born 25 March 1962

Also known as: Dr Susan Jane Hutchings, Dr Suzi Hutchings

1995 — Pio­neer Arrente woman with PhD from Ade­laide University.Co-ordinates and teach­es in Indige­nous Policy.

Marion F. WRIGHT

Also known as: née Lunn, Brownie, Browny

In 1934 Brown­ie was the first Aus­tralian woman pilot to go night fly­ing. There were no marked run­ways with lights, just kerosene flares made out of tin cans full of burn­ing rags. In…

Isabelle Bruce REID

Born 21 December 1883, Died 13 December 1945

Also known as: Belle, Isabel Bruce

Aus­trali­a’s first and the world’s sec­ond female reg­is­tered vet­eri­nar­i­an, she received her diplo­ma from Aus­trali­a’s first Vet­eri­nary Col­lege in 1906, pri­or to the…

Mary ADLER

Born 17 February 1862, Died 8 June 1897

Also known as: née Millar

Mary Adler came from Mur­toa in the Wim­mera. In 1893, she and her hus­band select­ed land at Lal­bert, near Swan Hill, which they set­tled with their five sons. She died at 36 years of…

Edith Ellen DEMPSTER

Born 31 January 1884, Died 28 May 1967

Also known as: née McLellan, E. E.

Pio­neer on cat­tle sta­tions in South Aus­tralia and North­ern Territory.Top End pio­neers and South Aus­tralian pioneers.Pioneer pas­toral­ist on Vic­to­ria Riv­er Downs.

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

Babs MacKINNON

2004 — Received Order of Aus­tralia, for her con­tri­bu­tion to Aus­tralian Entertainment.

Part of ​“The Musi­cal Macks” (from age 2) — fam­i­ly enter­tain­ment at stage shows…

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

Pippa TESSMAN

Born 1961

2006 — Win­ner North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry West­pac Busi­ness Own­er award.
2009 — Select­ed to rep­re­sent the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry on the inau­gur­al Phys­io­ther­a­py Board of 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

Elizabeth ANDREW

Born 1948, Died 12 April 1993

Also known as: Elizabeth Andrew-Oates

North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry’s first woman to hold an exec­u­tive and Cab­i­net posi­tion. At first, she was the Exec­u­tive Mem­ber for Edu­ca­tion and Con­sumer Ser­vices, then for Edu­ca­tion and Law…

Janine Lee SHEPHERD

Born 7/01/1962

First Aus­tralian par­tial para­plegic to fly an FA 18 Jet fighter.
First female direc­tor of the Civ­il Avi­a­tion Safe­ty Authority.

For­mer cross-coun­try ski­er. Part Paraplegic…

Phyllis Mary KITTLE

Born 22 May 1920, Died 28 October 2008

Also known as: née Lennon, Phyl

Cen­tral Aus­tralian pio­neer. Moth­er of six chil­dren. Wid­ow of Len Kit­tle of Kit­tle Bros, Car Deal­ers. Phyl­lis first came to the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry in 1938, when she moved to Tennant…