Anne Nicole CURRIE

Born 13 July 1970

Also known as: Anne Brunell

Youngest ath­lete to win an Olympic Medal (aged 13). Paralympian.

Cap­tain of Barcelona Par­a­lympic Swim Team.
Has won over 100 Gold Medals.

1992 — Barcelona Games, won three…

Sarah Friend WILLOUGHBY

Born 3 August 1861, Died 25 July 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…

Sarah Johnston CHINNERY

Born 30 January 1887, Died 24 March 1970

Also known as: née Neill

The ​“sec­ond woman in Eng­land to have” a motorbike.
​“The first woman to ride a lady’s bicy­cle in” Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.


Sarah set her­self the task of record­ing her…

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Helen DANN

At 17, first woman in Vic­to­ria to get semi-trail­er licence.
2015 — Induct­ed into Shell Rim­u­la Hall of Fame at Nation­al Road Trans­port Hall of Fame.

Bought her own TK Bedford…

Olive O'KEEFE

Born 14/05/1907, Died 10/11/1988

Also known as: née Harvey, Keefy, O'Keeffe

Matron at ​“The Bun­ga­low” at the Old Tele­graph Sta­tion, Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.
Vol­un­teered to help Catholic nuns with 35 Bathurst Island chil­dren trav­el to Alice…

Carla Maria ZAMPATTI

Born 19 May 1942

Car­la Zam­pat­ti is a promi­nent Aus­tralian fash­ion design­er who was the first woman appoint­ed as Chair­per­son of SBS tele­vi­sion in 1999.

1965 — Pro­duced her first collection.…

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Rachel WESTAWAY

Carlene Faye KING

1994 — Elect­ed as the first female Dis­trict Gov­er­nor of Lions in Aus­tralia, serv­ing in that capac­i­ty 1994/1995.
First nation­al man­ag­er in Aus­tralia for Lions Youth and Community…

Blanche McNAMARA

Born 1859, Died 1900

1897 – 1900 — Blanche McNa­ma­ra was the pio­neer­ing first woman school inspec­tor in South Aus­tralia and also the first in Aus­tralia. She was appoint­ed specif­i­cal­ly to pay atten­tion to the…

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Anne-Marie PRIESTLEY

1999 — North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry’s first female Angli­can Priest. First woman to have respon­si­bil­i­ty for a parish.

She ​“was ordained a priest in Alice Springs on Sun­day, May 30,…

Kristen Alanna APPEL

Born 23/7/1964

First female nation­al park ranger to be in charge of a nation­al park/​reserve in Aus­tralia (Arl­tun­ga) — August 1992.

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Kaarene Noelle FITZGERALD

Born 12 December 1944, Died 24 May 2003

1999 — Appoint­ed Com­pan­ion of the Order of Aus­tralia for her ser­vices to the com­mu­ni­ty and for ​“coor­di­na­tion of world-wide efforts to devel­op and research edu­ca­tion­al strategies…

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Beth PRESS

From Yuan­du­ma — Chair of Coun­cil Indige­nous Advi­so­ry Coun­cil — to sug­gest ways to win Indige­nous disadvantage.

Margaret Ella BURTON

Born 2 March 1931, Died 17 February 2020

Also known as: née Hayden

Pio­neer of South Aus­tralia. An arts and crafts teacher, car­ry­ing on fam­i­ly arts and crafts tra­di­tions. Taught in Eng­land and Cana­da, where she opened a school for Eski­mo chil­dren who…

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…

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Joanne SCHILLING

2007 — First female Gov­er­nor in North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Rotary Club.

Bertha Martha ANDREW

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…

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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).

Kate VANDERLAAN

1980 — First police woman motor­cy­clist in Australia.
First police woman to be a Super­in­ten­dent in the North­ern Territory.

1978 — Joined NT police as a constable.Bachelor of…

Margaret BLACKWOOD

Born 26 April 1909, Died 1 June 1986

Also known as: Dame Margaret Blackwood

First woman Deputy Can­cel­lor at Mel­bourne Uni­ver­si­ty. First woman appoint­ed Hon­orary Life Mem­ber by the Asso­ci­a­tion of Women on Cam­pus Mel­bourne Uni­ver­si­ty. OBE 1981. First constructor…

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Nicolette Ella FRAILLON

Born 29 July 1960

1995 — Tas­man­ian Sym­pho­ny Orches­tra, becom­ing the first Aus­tralian woman to con­duct an Aus­tralian sym­pho­ny orchestra.
2003 — Music Direc­tor and Chief Con­duc­tor, The Australian…

Annie PRAED

Born 4 April 1872, Died 26 December 1948

Also known as: née Spraggs, Hannah

1895 – 1900 — One of first women to be prac­tic­ing den­tistry in Australia.
1903 — She became the first woman den­tal grad­u­ate in New South Wales to receive the L. D. S.
1905 -…

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Margaret Gwen HARDY

Born 5 August 1926, Died 7 December 2001

Also known as: née Sutcliffe

First woman shire pres­i­dent of Lily­dale, Victoria.
First and only woman com­mis­sion­er of the then Mel­bourne Met­ro­pol­i­tan Board of Works, Victoria.

1977 — Award­ed the Queen’s…

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Michelle ELLIS

Born 1991

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

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Rowie SCHULZ

2003 — First Ter­ri­to­ri­an to win the Aus­tralian Fit­ness Leader of the Year Award.

Owner/​manager of ​‘Essen­tial Fit­ness’ Fit­ness Club, Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.

Mary Jean GILMORE

Born 16/08/1865, Died 3/12/1962

Also known as: née Cameron, Dame Mary Jean Cameron, Em Jaycey, Sister Jaycey, Rudione Calvert

The first woman executive/​member of the Aus­tralian Work­ers’ Union.
1928 — Founder of the Fel­low­ship of Aus­tralian Writers.
1937 — Made Dame of the British Empire for her contribution…

Evelyn Helena PARKER

Born 12 October 1907, Died 28 September 1993

1975 — First woman May­or in West­ern Aus­tralia (Subi­a­co Coun­cil). In 1976 she was Cit­i­zen of the Year.

She was a Jus­tice of the Peace. In 1977 she received an Offi­cer of the…

Joyce Ethel PRICE

Born 8/11/1915, Died 19/08/2009

Also known as: née Brooke

1956 — Life­time devo­tion to Girl Guides as Dis­trict and Divi­sion Com­mis­sion­ers in South Aus­tralia. She served as:

1963 – 1968 — State Com­mis­sion­er of Victoria.


1968 – 1973 — Chief…

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.

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Jude MUNRO

First woman Chief Exec­u­tive Offi­cer of two cities: Ade­laide and Brisbane.

Chief Exec­u­tive of coun­cils: Ade­laide, Bris­bane, More­land, and St Kilda.2010 – Ms. Munro received…

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F SUTHERLAND

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.

Fanny Elizabeth HUNT

Born 25 July 1863, Died June 1941

1888 — First woman sci­ence grad­u­ate from Uni­ver­si­ty of Syd­ney with a Bach­e­lor of Science.
1892 — First head­mistress of Ipswich Girls Gram­mar School; resigned in 1901.
1905 — Founded…

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Emma SCHULTZ

Born 1875, Died 1951

Flew with Flo­rence Tay­lor, the first woman in Aus­tralia to fly a heav­ier-than-air machine, who took off from the Narrabeen sand­hills near Syd­ney in a glid­er on 5 Decem­ber 1909. They…

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Julia Teresa FLYNN

Born 24 January 1878, Died 14 October 1947

1928 — First woman Chief Inspec­tor of Schools.

March 1912 — Obtained uni­ver­si­ty degree, Mel­bourne, Victoria.1914 — Appoint­ed inspec­tor of sec­ondary schools, ​“at a time when…

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Sciona BROWNE

Born 13 April 1953

1994 — Win­ner of the Nan­cy Bird Trophy.
2002 — Sciona is the old­est woman to com­pete on Aus­tralian Survivor.
2002 — Sciona is the high­est plac­ing woman on Aus­tralian Survivor.…

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Pearl BURTON

First teacher at Hart­ley Street School, Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.

May 1929 – 1933 — ​“Miss Pearl Bur­ton was sent to the town to teach the chil­dren who had not moved to Jay…

Ruth Winifred CRACKNELL

Born 6 July 1925, Died 13 May 2002

Renowned actress of film, stage and tele­vi­sion. Author of ​‘A Biased Mem­oir’ and ​‘Jour­ney From Venice’. Ruth was the first woman to be induct­ed into the Australian…

Kim ANSON

Born 1955

Kim Anson was the first woman Gen­er­al Man­ag­er appoint­ed at Waver­ley Coun­cil, New South Wales in its then 141 year-old his­to­ry (2001). She has sub­se­quent­ly held senior man­age­ment roles…

Sara Jane HENDERSON

Born 15 September 1936, Died 29 April 2005

Also known as: née Barton

1991 – Aus­tralian Busi­ness Woman of the Year award.

North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry pastoralist.Author.

Muriel Grace CRABTREE

Born 9 April 1908, Died 18 December 2010

Bio­chemist and artist. Crab­tree was asso­ci­at­ed with the Mel­bourne Uni­ver­si­ty Wom­en’s Col­lege ​“for almost 50 years as a grad­u­ate, res­i­dent, res­i­dent tutor, vice-prin­ci­pal, acting…

Ivy Lavinia WEBER

Born 7/6/1892, Died 6/3/1976

Also known as: née Filshie

1937 — Pres­i­dent, League of Women Electors.
1937 — Can­di­date for the Leg­isla­tive Assem­bly seat of Nunawad­ing, State elec­tion and became the sec­ond woman to be elect­ed to the Victorian…

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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…

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…

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 -…

Agnes Jean POLLOCK

Born 13/07/1909, Died 13/02/1996

Also known as: Jean

1952 — Found­ing Prin­ci­pal of ​‘Larnook ​‘Teacher Train­ing College.

Pio­neered edu­ca­tion for women.Trained in Domes­tic Arts (lat­er known as Home Economics).

Chelsea ROFFEY

Born 1 August 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.

Anna STEWART

Born 11/03/1947, Died 12/04/1983

1979 — First woman to achieve mater­ni­ty leave for women in the pri­vate sector.

A for­mer jour­nal­ist and active Vic­to­ri­an Union offi­cial from 1974 to 1983.

Lorna Jennie McNAMEE

First female ​“to qual­i­fy under the British Insti­tute of Embalmers in Australia”.

Pri­or to the funer­al busi­ness, she had been a nurse in Ade­laide and Darwin.“Her…

Monica Teresa KENNEDY

Born 1892, Died 28/12/1970

Also known as: nee Sheeran

Mar­ried Michael Fred­er­ick Kennedy (“Fred”) in 1929 and moved to Elke­dra Sta­tion in the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry. Moth­er of five chil­dren who she super­vised with their schooling…

Julie BOYD

Julie Boyd was the first woman May­or of Mack­ay City Coun­cil, Queens­land (1997−2008).

With a back­ground in gov­er­nance, Julie has since served in a vari­ety of posi­tions (e.g.…