Mary Gertrude DURACK

Born 20 February 1913, Died 16 December 1994

Also known as: Dame Mary Durack, Virgilia, Aunt Mary, Mary Miller

31 Decem­ber 1977 — Appoint­ed a Dame Com­man­der of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), for her ser­vices to literature.
12 June 1989 — Appoint­ed a Com­pan­ion of the Order of Australia…

Agnes Robertson ROBERTSON

Born 31 July 1882, Died 29 January 1968

Also known as: née Keay, Aggie

Decem­ber 1949 — Elect­ed to the Sen­ate of the Aus­tralian Parliament.
1955 — Joined the Coun­try and Demo­c­ra­t­ic League, and became the first Coun­try Par­ty’s female senator.
1962 -…

Agnes BUNTINE

Born 1821, Died 29 February 1896

Also known as: née Davidson, The Mother of Gippsland

Pio­neer, pos­si­bly first and only woman ​“bul­locky”.

She, and her hus­band, oper­at­ed a small inn at Mor­ris Creek, out­side Tar­rav­ille, Vic­to­ria. 1845 — They established…

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…

Italia FLOREANI

Born 1916, Died 21/09/2012

Also known as: Flo, Ita

On 18 March 1940 Italia Flo­re­ani board­ed the last but one pas­sen­ger boat Romo­la to leave Italy after war was declared in Europe the pre­vi­ous year. With her 18-month-old daughter…

Sophie Muir STONE

Born 1934

First woman to pur­chase a new Steiger trac­tor on her own behalf. Her pho­to is on the wall in US office of Steiger.

Award­ed a Con­di­tion­al Pur­chase block of land to clear and…

Mary Jane WARNES

Born 18/07/1878, Died 19/06/1959

Also known as: née Fairbrother

1936 — Award­ed Mem­ber of the Most Excel­lent Order of the British Empire (MBE).
1947 — First Hon­orary Life Mem­ber of Coun­try Wom­en’s Asso­ci­a­tion (CWA).

1929 — Assisted…

Maud Margaret MOLESWORTH

Born 18 October 1894, Died 9 July 1985

Also known as: née Mutch, Mall, Malla

Molesworth was the first Aus­tralian woman ten­nis play­er to be list­ed in the world’s top ten rank­ings. A. Wal­lis Myer of the Dai­ly Tele­graph rat­ed her No. 10 in 1922 and 1923.…

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

Norma Helen BAILEY

Born 25 June 1936

Also known as: Norma Helen Grant

One of the first five women to be recruit­ed into the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Police. Sworn in on 26 Feb­ru­ary 1961.

Inau­gur­al Pres­i­dent of Coun­try Wom­en’s Asso­ci­a­tion (CWA) in…

Eleni GLOUFTSIS

First woman to umpire a foot­ball game at state lev­el. First female to umpire an A1 ama­teur game and lat­er an South Aus­tralian Nation­al Foot­ball League
(SAN­FL) reserves game.

At the…

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.

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…

Caroline Louisa Waring ATKINSON

Born 25 February 1834, Died 28 April 1872

Also known as: Louisa Atkinson, Caroline Calvert

She con­tributed many nat­ur­al his­to­ry arti­cles to Syd­ney papers and jour­nals becom­ing the first Aus­tralian born woman nov­el­ist when she pub­lished Gertrude the Emi­grant: A Tale of…

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

Patricia PATERSON

Also known as: Pat

Aus­trali­a’s or New South Wales’s first female Health and Build­ing Surveyor.

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 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…

Patricia Elizabeth LASCELLES

Born 24/11/1926, Died 4/05/2018

Also known as: née Tuckwell, Bambi Shmith, Bambi Smith, Lady Harewood, Countess of Harewood, Dowager Countess of Harewood

Pos­si­bly first Aus­tralian to mar­ry into British royalty.

Aus­tralian musi­cian (vio­lin) and mod­el (known as Bam­bi Smith).

Margaret Helena DOOHAN

Born 1850, Died 17 September 1922

Also known as: née McInerney

1867 – 1873 — First Post Mis­tress of Tan­kerooka, New South Wales. After hus­band’s death took over licence of Tele­graph Hotel, Wee­long, New South Wales. Owned hotel till 1906.…

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

Mayse YOUNG

Born 1913, Died 2006

Also known as: née Dowling

1963 — First woman to be elect­ed as pres­i­dent of a Race Club (Pine Creek).

1994 — Medal of the Order of Australia. 

2003 — A recip­i­ent of the Trib­ute to North­ern Territory.…

Julie Isabel BISHOP

Born 17 July 1956

Also known as: Julie Gillon

Australia’s first female For­eign Min­is­ter (2013); first female Deputy leader of the Lib­er­al Par­ty; induct­ed into West­ern Aus­tralia Women’s Hall of Fame (West­ern Aus­tralia Depart­ment of…

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

Lucy SKOSS

Born 1966

Also known as: née Lisle

First North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry woman to win ​“Best Yarn Spin­ner” at Ade­laide fes­ti­val organ­ised by Sto­ry Telling Guild of South Australia.
Win­ner of the first-time entrant award at…

Mary Hyacinthe Petronel WHITE

Born 4 October 1900, Died 01 June 1984

Also known as: née Groom, Petronel

The first woman to rep­re­sent a cap­i­tal city coun­cil in Aus­tralia, she was elect­ed alder­man to the Hamil­ton ward of the Bris­bane City Coun­cil in 1949.

Maroochy BARAMBAH

Born c. 1950

Also known as: Yvette Isaacs

Maroochy Baram­bah is a dis­tin­guished Indige­nous musi­cian whose career since the 1970s has spanned the gen­res of jazz, rock, musi­cal the­atre and clas­si­cal opera. She was the first…

Gloria Ouida LEE

Born 14/07/1908, Died 13/04/1995

Also known as: née Hong, Siew Yoke Kwan

Glo­ria or Siew Yoke Kwan was born in the creek under a tree in Stu­art in 1908, the daugh­ter of a West­ern Arrernte woman Ran­ji­ka and Chi­nese mar­ket gar­den­er, Ah Hong. But for her…

Clara Victoria Elizabeth ANDERSON

Born 21 February 1872, Died 6 April 1975

Also known as: née Campbell, Vic Campbell

Pio­neer of Theodore, Queens­land. As a child, Clara lived with her fam­i­ly at sev­er­al dif­fer­ent sta­tions before set­tling at their prop­er­ty, ​“Clar­avale”, in Queens­land. In her…

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

Georgia LE PLASTRIER

Mem­ber (Robyn Fox, Geor­gia Le Plas­tri­er, Jen­ny McKen­zie, Jo Van Son) of the first Aus­tralian all-female canoe team to make the full descent of the Yukon Riv­er (Unit­ed States).

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

Gwendoline Alice BURROWS

Born 16 August 1913, Died 26 December 2006

Also known as: Gwen

Moth­er of Sir Robert Stig­wood, entre­pre­neur. First Entrant in Arthri­tis Foundation’s Grand­moth­er of the Year Quest. South Aus­tralia sup­port­er of Vari­ety Club and Zonta.

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

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’.

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

Glenys SIMPSON

1975 — First woman pro­mot­ed to Sergeant in North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Police Force.

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

June Elizabeth APPLEBY

1985 — First woman in South Aus­tralian Par­lia­ment to become Gov­ern­ment Whip in House of Assembly

A mem­ber of the Aus­tralian Labor Par­ty, June Apple­by was elect­ed as the Member…

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

Jane Catharine TOST

Born 1817, Died 24 April 1889

Also known as: née Ward

Prob­a­bly the first female taxi­der­mist in Aus­tralia (Syd­ney 1860s).
Maybe first woman to be employed in a pro­fes­sion­al capac­i­ty in any Aus­tralian Muse­um (Tas­ma­nia 1856).

Jane CAMPION

Born 30 April 1954

“She is the sec­ond of five women ever nom­i­nat­ed for the 66^th Acad­e­my Award for Best Director”.
In 1993, Writer and Direc­tor Jane Cam­pi­on became the first and only woman film­mak­er to…

Kelly COLE

2000 — Kel­ly walked with camels (and with Mark Swindells for part of the jour­ney) from West­ern Aus­trali­a’s most west­er­ly point to New South Wales most east­er­ly point.

Wendy Jennifer CHAPMAN

Born 3 June 1942

She became the first woman Lord May­or of an Aus­tralian state cap­i­tal city when appoint­ed in Ade­laide in 1983 (until 1985).
1986 — Award­ed a Mem­ber of the Order of Aus­tralia, at 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

Susana FERNANDEZ

Also known as: née Fernandez, Susana Henderson

A pilot in the Aus­tralian Defence Force, she was the first female in an Aus­tralian Defence Force Recon­nais­sance Squadron; first female Aus­tralian Defence Force Troop Com­man­der in…

Ena HAMILTON

Died 14 March 1993

Writ­ten on the back of the draw­ing: Devot­ed mem­ber (dog lover).

Margaret RIACH

Born 07/03/1846, Died 29/12/1935

Also known as: née Oprey, Granny Riach, Grannie Riach

Organ­is­er of the World War I War Memo­r­i­al at Thirroul, New South Wales, the first memo­r­i­al in New South Wales.

Patricia Irene JARRETT

Born 9/3/1911, Died 28/8/1990

Also known as: Pat. Nee Herschell. Her names were registered as Irene Herschell, but she was always known as Patricia.

Grand Old Lady of the Mel­bourne Her­ald. Edi­tor of Wom­en’s pages in the Dai­ly Sun. Cel­e­brat­ed 25 years of con­tin­u­ous ser­vice with the Her­ald and Week­ly Times — the only woman…

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

Marion BELL

Octo­ber 1925 — April 1926 — First woman and third per­son to dri­ve around Australia.
She was the first woman to obtain a taxi license in Perth.

Lillian INKAMALA

Born 1966

Artist

For­mer health work­er at Iman­pa Health Clinic
Worked for two years as an Anan­gu edu­ca­tion work­er at the Iman­pa Pri­ma­ry School

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

Kerryn PHELPS

Born 14 December 1957

Also known as: Dr Kerryn Phelps

First woman Fed­er­al Pres­i­dent of Aus­tralian Med­ical Association

Ker­ryn Lyn­del Phelps AM was the first woman to be elect­ed pres­i­dent of the Aus­tralian Med­ical Asso­ci­a­tion (AMA).

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…

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

Rebecca WOOD

Also known as: Becky

First female in North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry to train as a Tel­stra com­mu­ni­ca­tions technician.

Evonne Fay CAWLEY

Born 31/07/1951

Also known as: née Goolagong

First Abo­rig­i­nal Aus­tralian to win the pres­ti­gious Wim­ble­don ten­nis ladies’ sin­gles tour­na­ment title (1971).

Ten­nis — 14 Grand Slam Tour­na­ment Titles — sev­en in…

Clare LINDOP

First Aus­tralian female to ride in the Mel­bourne Cup (2003).
First woman to win South Aus­trali­a’s Jock­ey’s Pre­mier­ship (2004−2005) with 87 winners.

Sue GORDON

Born 1944

First Abo­rig­i­nal magistrate.
First Abo­rig­i­nal woman to head a Gov­ern­ment Depart­ment in West­ern Aus­tralia (Com­mis­sion­er for Abo­rig­i­nal Plan­ning) in 1986.

Only full time…

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

Gladys Barbara EASTICK

Born 19 August 1920, Died 20 February 2011

Also known as: née Kemp, Nancy

Youth work­er from Queens­land who helped post war dis­placed per­sons in Europe through the Girl Guide move­ment of Aus­tralia and England.1947 — Trained in Britain for Guides International…

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…

Daisy SHEARER

Also known as: née Swan

Writ­ten on the back of the draw­ing: Excel­lent cook. Hus­band in gov­ern­ment ser­vice. Mrs Shear­er was a for­mer sis­ter at the hospital.Came to Alice Springs after war to wok as nursing…

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 DOWLING

First all-women tour group to Cen­tral Australia.

Adele Viola PURVIS

A pas­toral matri­ach from Wood­green Sta­tion, Adele was the first per­son to donate a box of papers to the Alice Springs office of the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Archives when it opened in 2003.…