Hope BLACK

Born 7 February 1919, Died 25 January 2018

Also known as: Jessica Hope Black née Macpherson

Hope Black was the first woman cura­tor (of Mol­lusks) at the Muse­um of Vic­to­ria (1947); and one of the first four women sci­en­tists to vis­it an Aus­tralian Antarc­tic base (Mac­quar­ie…

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Mary Josephine O'KANE

Born 1954

1989 – 1993 — First Dean of Engi­neer­ing, Uni­ver­si­ty of Can­ber­ra, Aus­tralian Cap­i­tal Territory.
In Octo­ber 1996 she was the first woman, and pos­si­bly the youngest, appointed…

Eleanor Elizabeth BOURNE

Born 4 December 1878, Died 23 May 1957

Also known as: Nelly, Dr Eleanor Bourne

First Queens­land woman to study medicine.
First female in Queens­land to attend Bris­bane Gram­mar School for Boys.

1911 — Appoint­ed the first med­ical offi­cer in the Department…

Nova Maree PERIS

Born 25 February 1971

Also known as: née Peris, Nova Peris-Kneebone

1996 — First Indige­nous Aus­tralian to win an Olympic Gold Medal.
1997 — Named Young Aus­tralian of the Year.
2000 — First car­ri­er of the Olympic flame on Aus­tralia Soil at Uluru,…

Kirsty SWORD

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…

Catherine Astrid Salome FREEMAN

Born 16 February 1973

Also known as: Cathy

Cather­ine Free­man was the first Abo­rig­i­nal per­son to win an inter­na­tion­al track medal at the Com­mon­wealth Games (Auck­land, 1990) (at the age of 16) and the first to win Commonwealth…

Edith Emily DORNWELL

Born 31 August 1865, Died 18 November 1945

Also known as: née Dornwell

The first woman to grad­u­ate from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ade­laide in 1885, she was this insti­tu­tion’s and Aus­trali­a’s ear­li­est sci­ence grad­u­ate, pass­ing with First Class Honours.…

Marjorie JACKSON

Born 13 September 1931

Also known as: Lithgow Flash, Marj, Marjorie Jackson-Nelson

1950 — First Aus­tralian woman to break a world record for the 100 metres; won four gold medals (100 yards; 220 yards; 440 yards Med­ley Relay; 660 yards Med­ley Relay), British Empire…

Wendy Elizabeth McCARTHY

Born 22/7/1941

Also known as: née Ryan

1989 — Award­ed Order of Aus­tralia for her con­tri­bu­tion to com­mu­ni­ty and wom­en’s affairs.

Teacher.Chancellor of Uni­ver­si­ty of Canberra.Former Head of Nation­al Trust of…

Emmeline Freda DU FAUR

Born 16 September 1882, Died 11 September 1935

Also known as: Freda

Alpine climb­ing pio­neer in New Zealand. There are fea­tures in New Zealand named after her (e.g., Du Faur Peak and Du Faur Glac­i­er in Mount Cook Nation­al Park). She was the first woman…

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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Louise GEE

2002 — First woman appoint­ed a direc­tor of Gos­ford Coun­cil (New South Wales).
Was a mem­ber of the first class to grad­u­ate with a Bach­e­lor of Applied Sci­ence in Envi­ron­men­tal Health…

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Kathleen RICE

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,…

Dorothy HILL

Born 10 September 1907, Died 23 April 1997

1959 — First woman appoint­ed to the Chair in any Aus­tralian uni­ver­si­ty (Chair of Geology).
1956 — First woman elect­ed as Fel­low of the Aus­tralian Acad­e­my of Science.
1956 — Woman…

Mary Alice HOLMAN

Born 18 July 1893, Died 20 March 1939

Also known as: May

Aus­trali­a’s first female Labor Par­lia­men­tar­i­an (West­ern Aus­tralia) who served more than ten years.

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Ann LEWIS

Born 1926

1948 — First woman com­mer­cial pilot in West­ern Aus­tralia. Award­ed the Coro­na­tion Medal for rep­re­sent­ing the wom­en’s fly­ing branch of the R.A.F.
First female pilot to fly for the…

Kylie TENNANT

Born 12/03/1912, Died 28/02/1988

1935 — Win­ner of the S. H. Pri­or Memo­r­i­al Prize for her first pub­lished nov­el Tiburon.

1942 — Aus­tralian Lit­er­ary Soci­ety gold medal for The Battlers.

1960 — Won Children’s…

Rene KULITJA

Born 12/12/1958

Also known as: Wanuny Kulitja

Rene Kulit­ja is the first Abo­rig­i­nal artist to have her art work paint­ed on a domes­tic Qan­tas air­craft. She designed the Yananyi Dream­ing for the Qan­tas Boe­ing 737. The Yananyi…

Nene Claire KING

Born 3/1943

Nene King was the first woman to sit on the board of Ker­ry Pack­er’s pub­lish­ing and broad­cast­ing com­pa­ny which con­trols the Nine Net­work and Con­sol­i­dat­ed Press.

Nene…

Kemarre Margaret Mary TURNER

For­mer Abo­rig­i­nal and Tor­res Strait Islander Com­mis­sion (ATSIC) Councillor.

Nation­al Abo­rig­ines and Islanders Day Obser­vance Com­mit­tee (NAIDOC) Week Abo­rig­i­nal of the Year.

1997 -…

Martha WEBSTER

Born 1839, Died 11 August 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…

Eleanor Towzey STEWART

Born 20 /11/1858, Died 21/06/1931

Also known as: née Stewart, née Towzey, Nellie, Eleanor Row

1877 — Aus­trali­a’s first female com­ic opera star.

Mary Beatrice SCOTT

Also known as: née Smith

1928 — Mary Beat­rice Scott was named as the first female town clerk when appoint­ed at Echu­ca, Victoria.

Lynne ALLEN-BROWN

Also known as: Lynne Spencer

In 1993, Lynne Allen-Brown became the first female Chief Super­in­ten­dent of St Johns Ambu­lance. In 1999, she was the first female Chief Com­mis­sion­er of St Johns Ambu­lance. Earlier,…

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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Emily Kame KNGWARREYE

Born 1910, Died 2/9/1996

In 1995, Emi­ly became the first Indige­nous woman artist to have a major ret­ro­spec­tive. She was born in 1910 on Utopia Sta­tion where she worked as a stock­man and became a senior figure…

Marjory Florence DEMPSTER

Born 1915, Died 09 November 1985

Also known as: née Walker, Marj, Marjorie

Wife of a Kid­man stock­man, Mick Demp­ster. Vic­to­ria Riv­er Downs. They were Top End pioneers.

Catherine Elizabeth GREEN

Born 1 August 1881, Died 25 January 1965

Also known as: née Digges

First female in Upper House (Labor Par­ty), New South Wales.

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Anna Christina BOOTH

Born 25 November 1955

1987 – 1992 — First Aus­tralian woman Fed­er­al Sec­re­tary of a union (Nation­al Sec­re­tary of the Tex­tile Union).

1977, 1983, 1984 – 1985 — Research Offi­cer for the Cloth­ing and Allied…

Sheila LAXON

First woman to train a Mel­bourne Cup winner.
2002 — Made an Offi­cer of the New Zealand Order of Mer­it, for ser­vices to racing.

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.”

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Michelle ELLIS

Born 1991

2007 — North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry cadet of the year, St John Ambulance.

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Phyllis Glory McDONAGH

Born 7/1/1900, Died 17/10/1978

Also known as: Phyllis Glory O'Brien (married name)

1933 — One of the McDon­agh Sis­ters — first all female run film com­pa­ny in Australia.
2001 — Vic­to­ri­an Hon­our Roll of Women.

Using their home, the McDon­agh sis­ters wrote,…

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Lennie WALLACE

Born 2/10/1930, Died 13/10/2013

Also known as: née Waddell, Ninda

Author of ​‘Leaves From The Penin­su­la’ and ​‘Bit­ten by the Bull Bug’. Pio­neer of Cape York sta­tion life.

Helen Charmaine BEH

Born 31/7/1941, Died 7/2/2012

Helen Beh was the first woman to achieve fol­low­ing posi­tions in the Sci­ence Fac­ul­ty at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Syd­ney: Senior Lec­tur­er in Psy­chol­o­gy (1972−1988; ); Asso­ciate Pro­fes­sor; Head…

Phyllis Dorothy CILENTO

Born 13 March 1894, Died 26 July 1987

Also known as: née McGlew, Lady Cilento, Lady C., Mother M.D., Medical Mother

First Queens­lan­der of the Year (1981) and Queens­land Senior Cit­i­zen of the Year (1987). She was award­ed a medal of mer­it by the Aus­tralian chap­ter of the Legion of Fron­tiers­men of the…

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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…

Mary CLARK

Died 1960

Writ­ten on the back of the draw­ing: Long­stand­ing mem­ber, died 1960. Car­ri­er and wood merchant.

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Vera Agnes FOWLER

Born 27 December 1917, Died 13 February 2002

First hon­orary legal advi­sor dur­ing growth of Girl Guides Association.

Pio­neer­ing woman lawyer.1996 — Foun­da­tion mem­ber of ​‘Emi­ly’s List’.

Amy CAIL

Born 29 March 1833, Died 15 July 1914

Also known as: née Williams

Pio­neer of Bendi­go area of Victoria.

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Roma BLAIR

Born 1923, Died 5 November 2013

Also known as: née Blair, Swami Nirmalananda

First Aus­tralian Bride to be mar­ried by Proxy.

Author of six (6) books on yoga.Established Roma Blair Yoga Clubs in Syd­ney, New South Wales.1959 — Estab­lished television…

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…

Susan Elizabeth MEEUWISSEN

Born 15/4/1962, Died 18/07/2000

Also known as: Sue

First per­son in the world to obtain a rul­ing of Unlaw­ful Dis­crim­i­na­tion by rea­son of Dis­abil­i­ty (Asth­ma) for expo­sure to envi­ron­men­tal tobac­co smoke.

Janet Patteson DARLING

Born 31 August 1913, Died December 2007

Also known as: née Gunther, Pat

Nurse. Pris­on­er of War in Suma­tra dur­ing World War II.
1941 – ​“Enlist­ed in the ²⁄₁₀ Aus­tralian Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal and sent to what was then Malaya [now Malaysia] and lat­er joined the…

Judy CASSAB

Born 15 August 1920, Died 3 November 2015

Also known as: née Kaszab, Maria Koperdak, Judy Kampfner

1969 — Sec­ond woman to win the Archibald Prize, which she won twice.

1969 — Appoint­ed as a Com­man­der of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), for her ser­vice to the visu­al arts.…

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Mary BRYANT

Born 1765, Died after 1794

Also known as: née Broad/Braund

Mary Bryant, arrived on the First Fleet. In just a few months, the food the First Fleet had brought with it had run out or was rot­ten. Des­per­ate and hun­gry, Mary, her hus­band William…

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Deborah CLARKE

Artist. Teach­es Fine Arts at the uni­ver­si­ty lev­el (Tafe, New South Wales and Charles Dar­win Uni­ver­si­ty, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry). She cre­ates using a vari­ety of media (cre­ative writing,…

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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…

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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…

Fiona Caroline GRAHAM

Also known as: Dr Fiona Graham, Sayuki

2007 — First for­eign geisha in Japan.

Social anthro­pol­o­gist; doc­u­men­tary film mak­er; author; and finan­cial journalist.