ARNEY, Elizabethy E.

Born 1932

Also known as: Betty

Betty Arney was the first woman to become a priest in the Anglican Church of Australia, ordained with nine other women at St George's Cathedral, Perth 7 March 1992.

BLACKWELL, Winifred Doris

Born 1/05/1891, Died 14/01/1983

Also known as: née Bradshaw, Doris

Wrote Alice On The Line.

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STUBBS, Sheila

1940s - Pioneer of Hay and western New South Wales.1950s - Sawmiller, hotel worker, station hand, drover, horsewoman, kangaroo shooter/skinner, and shearer's cook.1960s - Charcoal…

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WOODS-HAYES, Elsie

Born 1918, Died 02/2008

One of the original residents of the “cottages” in the Gap area of Alice Springs.

ROFFEY, Chelsea

Born 1/08/1981

First woman to officiate (goal umpire) at an AFL Grand Final (2012). Practicing journalist and trained musician; recipient of a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2014.

LACEY, Annie Florence

Born 28/10/1893, Died 1960

Also known as: née Rampton, Nance

Opened first hospital for people with Leprosy in Melbourne in early 1950s. Pioneering Bush Nurse in Northern Territory and Far North Queensland.1919 - Trained as nurse, Hobart General…

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VINES, Dorothy Ada

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

ROBERTS, Judith Mary

Born 17/12/1936

1978 - First Representative from South Australia to National Women's Advisory Council. 1980s - Appointed to the National Health and Medical Research Council and later became its…

WHEATON, Amy Grace

Born 10/07/1898, Died 12/02/1988

Also known as: née Priest

First Director of South Australian Board of Social Studies (established in 1935 as the Board of Social Service Study and Training). 1946 - Co-Founder of South Australian Council of…

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RUNTING, Susannah

Born 11/3/1842, Died 30/5/1933

Also known as: née Kidd

First white baby born in Geelong, Victoria. When she died, she was one of Victoria’s oldest Victoria-born residents.  Her parents claimed that she was the second non-indigenous girl…

PRIOR, Margaret

Chief pilot of Western Australia.

ANDREW, Bertha Martha

Born 16/3/1882, Died 8/11/1963

Also known as: nee Cook

Worked the land with husband. Bertha and her husband, with their four children, departed Port Lincoln, South Australia, in 1933 and travelled overland to Alice Springs. The journey was…

SWORD, Kirsty

Born 19/04/1966

Also known as: née Sword, Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, Ruby Blade

2005 - First Australian woman to be First Lady of East Timor (married President Xanana Gusmao). June 2015 - Sword Gusmão was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) “For…

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JENKINS, Louise Mary

Born 1/2/1958

First female partner in the history of the firm Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks (Solicitors) (or their predecessor firms) Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws, Melbourne University
 Trustee…

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JENKINS, Eliza

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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KIDMAN, Freda

Also known as: Freddie

One of the original air hostesses with Australian National Airlines. After finishing school, Freda trained to become a nurse before working with Australian National Airlines.  She…

IZAN, Izan Aka Haji 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 Business (now…

WEBSTER, Martha

Born 1839, Died 11/08/1915

Also known as: née Turner

1872 - First woman to become a Minister of a Protestant Church in Australia. The 'Women's Voter' wrote for her Obituary:  In relation to women's movement it may…

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WEBB, Margaret

Widow of Bennett WEBB Jnr.  Pioneer of Mt Riddock Station.

PERKINS, Rachel

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 Radio…

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WHITEHEAD, Mary

Born 2/11/1917, Died 1/03/2014

First female state president, Commonwealth Professional Officers Association.

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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.

MOSTYN, Samantha Joy

Also known as: Sam

2005 - First woman to be appointed as member of Australian Football League Commission. She began her career in law working for former high court judge Michael Kirby.  After that she…

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WEHR, Emmie

Born 1938

Well-respected horse trainer based in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, with many wins to her name.  Renowned as a skilled station hand in her early days on New Crown Station where…

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POOLE, Alma Jean

Born 1920

Also known as: née Kuhn, Jean

MARKS, Elizabeth Nesta

Born 28/4/1918, Died 25/10/2002

Also known as: Pat, Patricia

An Australian entomologist who described 38 new mosquito species, as well as new species of fruit flies, bugs, cockroaches, and ticks. 1938 - Bachelor of Science in Zoology, University…

MACPHERSON, Christina Rutherford

Born 19/06/1864, Died 27/03/1936

Also known as: McPherson

Christina McPherson played the zither/autoharp. Banjo Paterson heard her play her recollection of the Craigielee March she had heard at Warnambool. While Christina played, he wrote…

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ROGERS, Nanette

First female Queen's Counsel (QC) in Alice Springs; despite declining press contact after her initial 2006 interview, became known for her public exposure of family violence in…

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SUTHERLAND, F

A handful of European women accompanied their husbands to the mines.  Mary Murphy, Betty O'Neil and F Sutherland signed a petition to get a polling booth there.

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PYE, Thelma May

Also known as: née Burrows

1962 - Manager with husband David, of Todd River Station, Alice Springs, Northern Territory.

PADGHAM-PURICH, Cecilia Noel

Born 25/12/1927

Also known as: Noel, Noel Padgham

One of first female politicians in the Northern Territory (CLP), serving from 1977-1997. She is ranked as the fifth longest serving woman, 20 years and 4 months.

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KOLBE, Anne

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 as…

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BANDLER, Faith

Born 27/09/1920, Died 13/02/2015

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…

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OSBURN, Lucy

Born 1/04/1836, Died 22/12/1891

She trained at the Nightingale Training School, St Thomas' Hospital. One month into her training she was selected to lead a team of nurses to establish the Nightingale nursing…

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LAWTON, Margaret Doreen

Born 18/4/1923, Died 18/5/2002

Also known as: Peg, Peggy, Peg Gooden

1998 - Awarded Order of Australia in Australia Day Honours List, community service to the Flinders Medical Centre Volunteer Service. 22 years volunteering at Flinders Medical Centre,…

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LANG, Nell Margaret

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.

ROBINSON, Edith Frances

Born 24/09/1906, Died 7/10/2000

Also known as: Edie, Edie Payne

1928 - First woman to run for Australia in a track and field event (100 m) in the Olympics (Amsterdam, Holland). Prior to 1928, women were not permitted to compete in track and field…

FORREST, Helena Mabel Checkley

Born 6/03/1872, Died 18/03/1935

Also known as: née Mills, Mabel, Helena Mabel Mills, Mabel Burkinshaw, Reca

Civic poet of Queensland and state's unofficial Poet Laureate. 1925 - Her first book The Wild Moth was adapted by film maker Charles Chauvel in his first film The Moth of…

WILLOUGHBY, Sarah Friend

Born 3/8/1861, Died 25/7/1923

Also known as: née Skinner

Pioneer of Mallee District, Victoria.  The family spent the first year at Tyntynder Homestead.  While the government promised “all the water you wanted,” their home was “4 miles from…

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WOOTTON, Grace Smith

One of South Australia's first women “Surfies.” The State's first women surfies surfaced in 1915.

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SUTHERLAND, Mary

Co-Founder of 'Tambo Teddies'.

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SHAW, Mary Turner

Born 14/01/1906, Died 23/04/1990

Also known as: Mollie

1941 - First woman Architect employed by Public Works (Department of the Allied Services).

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KENNEDY, Marion

Born 1846, Died 1/9/1936

Also known as: née Murray

An early pioneer of western Queensland. Married to pastoralist Alexander Kennedy. Sir Hudson Fysch wrote the book Taming the North: the Story of Alexander Kennedy and other Queensland…

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CHETTLE, May Venetta

Born 20/05/1906, Died 26/08/1997

Also known as: née Robb, May, Maise, formerly Lawrie

Maise Robb was the first teacher at the Bungalow, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, when it moved to the Old Telegraph Station during the 1930s.  She lived in town and drove to work…

BRATTON, Sarina

In 1999, Sarina Bratton became the first woman founder and chief executive officer of a cruise line anywhere in the world when she launched her Sydney-based Norwegian Capricorn Line…

HYNES, Inez

Also known as: née Hynes

1938 - Appointed South Australia's first air hostess.

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MILLER, Michelle

2002 - LCDR (at the time) Michelle Miller was appointed the Commanding Officer of the patrol craft HMAS Dubbo. Mid-2007 - Commander Michele Miller assumed command of the Anzac class…

DARCY FOWLER, Anne Isabella

Born 24/07/1911, Died 13/06/2003

Also known as: née Darcy, Ann, Annie

Annie was one of the first female drovers, and it is believed that she and her brothers photos adorn the walls at Daly Waters Pub as chararcters of the Territory. Annie was part of a…

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TARLING, Olga

1960 - First Australian female Air Traffic Controller appointed to a position at Brisbane Airport.
Was an Air Traffic Controller for 25 years. 1981 - President of the Australian Women…

MCKAY, Judith

Born 12/06/1949

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 Queensland…