June Mary BRONHILL

Born 26 June 1929, Died 24 January 2005

Also known as: née Gough

Aus­tralian Nation­al Opera and Sadler’s Wells Opera Com­pa­ny Singer. Win­ner of Syd­ney Eisteddfod and Sun Aria Prize. 1949 came third in Syd­ney Eisteddfod behind Joan Sutherland.…

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…

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Ellen PERRY

Born 1908, Died 2005

Also known as: Nell

The Per­ry fam­i­ly arrived in Ten­nant Creek in 1934 to search for gold. Nell lived in Ade­laide with their three chil­dren for around 10 years, hav­ing a dis­tance rela­tion­ship, before…

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.…

Louisa Ann MEREDITH

Born 20/07/1812, Died 21/10/1895

Also known as: née Twamley

1880 — First women in Aus­tralia to design a postage stamp. She sketched the platy­pus on a Tas­man­ian Duty Stamp. Two years lat­er these stamps were autho­rised for postal use.…

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Jennifer MILLS

Born 1977

Aus­tralian nov­el­ist, short sto­ry writer and poet.

Won 1^st and 2^nd prizes in the Alice Springs News Short Sto­ry Com­pe­ti­tion, 2007.

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Eileen STOTT

Born 1912, Died 26/06/1999

Also known as: née O'Shea

Born in Pine Creek, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry. Pio­neer of North­ern Territory.1940 — Mar­ried Gor­don STOTT (son of Robert STOTT, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry’s first Com­mis­sion­er of Police).

Eileen Beryl DAVIS

Born 1887, Died 16 July 1978

Also known as: née Atkinson

1920 — The first woman in Vic­to­ria to be grant­ed a license to ride at reg­is­tered race meetings.

Pio­neer of the Birchip/​Wimmera dis­trict of Victoria.Trainer of race and…

Mary Jane DOUGLAS

Born 9 October 1958

Also known as: née Gillett

First woman employed nation­al­ly by Fed­er­at­ed Store­man and Pack­ers Union.

1996 – 2002 — A mem­ber of the Aus­tralian Labor Par­ty, rep­re­sent­ing Wer­ribee. The seat was abolished.…

Joy BALUCH

Born 10 October 1932, Died 14 May 2013

Also known as: Nancy Joy Copley, Nancy Joy Baluch

Joy Baluch was the first woman may­or of Port Augus­ta, South Aus­tralia. She presided as may­or for 29 years over 3 terms; 15 years on the Local Gov­ern­ment Asso­ci­a­tion exec­u­tive and…

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Martha BURNS

Born 27 April 1873, Died 5 March 1959

One of the first qual­i­fied female den­tists in Aus­tralia. Martha Burns and (Frances) Dorothy Gray were the first women in Aus­tralia to grad­u­ate in Den­tal Surgery through the University…

Helen LYNCH

Born 1879

Also known as: Nell

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…

Edith Antonia McDONALD

Also known as: née Bohning, Edie

The two Bohn­ing girls, Elsie and Edie, were famous for their sta­tion work.Esther Bohn­ing and her daugh­ters, Elsie and Edith, from Helen Springs Sta­tion north of Ten­nant Creek, were…

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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).

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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…

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Esther JACOBS

Born 6/4/1900, Died 27/1/1991

Also known as: nee Solomon

1975 — First woman deputy Lord May­or (Ade­laide City Coun­cil). 1978 — Resigned after 22 years con­tin­u­ous service.
First woman gov­er­nor of the Ade­laide Fes­ti­val of Arts.…

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Wilhelmina SMITH

Born 1886, Died 24 June 1975

Also known as: Bill, Girlie, William

“Bill” Smith was Aus­trali­a’s first woman jockey.

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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’.

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Kylie BELL

2005 — First Alice Springs female to be a Nation­al Net­ball League Umpire.
2006 — Young Cen­tralian of the Year.

Heather McDonald SUTHERLAND

Born 25 May 1903, Died 1953

Also known as: née Moir

1940s — Prob­a­bly Aus­tralian Cap­i­tal Ter­ri­to­ry’s first female architect.

Half-sis­ter of the opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland.

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Mere RUMBAL

Own­er and Direc­tor of Alice Springs Cen­tral Dance Theatre.2002 — Award­ed world’s first hon­our by British Bal­let organ­i­sa­tion for 50 years ser­vice to the dance industry.

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Shirley ANDERSON

1 of 2 first women Air Traf­fic Con­trollers in Aus­tralia (Syd­ney Air­port 1960).

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Gwendoline Adelaide MEYERS

Also known as: Gwen, Gwendolin

Annie Williams arrived in Alice Springs in the late 1890s. Here she mar­ried Char­lie Mey­ers (aka Aaron Schun­ke), the local sad­dler. They had four chil­dren: Dorothy Annie, Her­man John…

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Emma Louise GEORGE

Born 1 November 1974

1995 – 2000 — World record pole vaulter (17 times; 12 in a row dur­ing the 1990s), which includes Com­mon­wealth Games, Com­mon­wealth Games and World Uni­ver­si­ty Games, Olympic Games, World…

Lalla TRUGERNANNER

Born 1812, Died 8 May 1876

Also known as: Truganini, Trucanini, Trucaninny, Lalla Rooke

One of the fore­most Tas­man­ian Abo­rig­i­nal lead­ers of the 1800s, nego­tia­tor and spokesper­son for her people.

Barbara ABLEY AM

Bar­bara Abley was elect­ed in March 2001 to the Coun­cil of the City of Greater Gee­long (Vic­to­ria) before becom­ing elect­ed as Deputy May­or lat­er that year.

In 2002 she became the first…

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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Patricker Catherine Bridgett HOLDEN

Born 5 April 1913, Died 19 February 1997

Also known as: née Callahan, Pat

Estab­lished Pat Hold­en Fash­ions, a ladies dress shop in Alice Springs. Worked for Mona MINA­HAN in her dress shop originally.

Molly CLARK

Born 28 December 1922, Died 22 September 2012

Pio­neer pas­toral­ist of North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry, at Anda­do Sta­tion and then Old Anda­do Station. 

Pio­neer of the Cen­tral Aus­tralian tourism industry

Founder of Nation­al Pioneer…

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Stacey WEST

1994 — First North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry net­baller to make an Aus­tralian Net­ball Squad.

North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry open net­ball coach.

Cathy GREEN

Born 27 April 1972

Eques­tri­an — Australian/​Asian Record Jump­ing Champion.
1990 — World Wom­en’s High Jump Record — 7 feet 11 ¹⁄₂ inch­es at Cairns Show (for­mer­ly held by Guy CREIGHTON).
1982 -…

Jane FRANKLIN

Born 4 December 1791, Died 18 July 1875

Also known as: née Griffin, Lady Franklin

Wife of Sir John FRANKLIN, Gov­er­nor of Tas­ma­nia between 1837 – 1843. She was a con­tro­ver­sial reformer for the wel­fare of con­victs and pub­lic education

Roberta Henrietta JULL

Born 1872, Died 1961

Also known as: née Stewart, Roberta Ferguson-Stewart

Scot­tish born and Glas­gow-trained, she joined her broth­er’s prac­tice in West­ern Aus­tralia and then set up her own in Perth in 1897, becom­ing West­ern Aus­trali­a’s first woman…

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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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Susan RIDE

Also known as: née Higgins

1966 — Leader of Aus­trali­a’s first all Abo­rig­i­nal Brown­ie pack.
Cen­tralian of the Year with Sis­ter Eileen HEATH.
1986 — Pre­sent­ed with Banksia Award for ser­vice to Guid­ing in…

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,…

Rose SCOTT

Born 8 October 1847, Died 20 April 1925

First pres­i­dent of a wom­en’s com­mit­tee of the Pris­on­er’s Aid Asso­ci­a­tion in 1898.

Known as the voice of wom­en’s suf­frage in Sydney.Campaigned for the education…

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…

Elizabeth COSSON

Born 1958

Eliz­a­beth Cos­son was the first woman to be pro­mot­ed to the rank of Major Gen­er­al, mak­ing her the first Aus­tralian woman to reach ​“two-star” rank in the Aus­tralian Army. Pri­or to that…

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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…

Beryl Grace McINTOSH

Died 12/1/2013

Also known as: née Hansen

Some of her awards:1999 — Received Inter­na­tion­al Women’s Day award.2000 — Select­ed to car­ry Syd­ney 2000 Olympics torch.2001 — Received Cen­te­nary medal.2002 — Award­ed Palmer­ston Proud…

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Sue GIBSON

2009 — North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Para­medic of the Year.

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…

Enid Esther MATHER

Died 10/1998

Also known as: née L'Estrange, Esther L'Estrange, Esther Mather

1938 — First woman cap­tain of Queens­land Aer­o­bat­ic Team.
1968 — Award­ed the Paul Dis­sandi­er Diplo­ma by the Fédéra­tion Aéro­nau­tique Internationale.
1971 — Award­ed the Nan­cy Bird…

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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.

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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…

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Joyce Debenham SEAGER

Born 20/09/1899, Died 7/09/1991

Also known as: née Tearne, Joy, Joyce Debenham HENNIKER

Jan­u­ary 1925 — First woman doc­tor at Kingscote, on Kan­ga­roo Island, South Aus­tralia. She was the sole med­ical prac­ti­tion­er, phar­ma­cist, and dentist.

1945 — She was the only doctor…

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Catherine O'SHEA

Also known as: née O'Keeffe

1918- Ran a board­ing house at Emu­ngalen (near Kather­ine, North­ern Territory).
1927 — She and hus­band (Tim) built and ran The Rail­way Hotel in Kather­ine, North­ern Territory.
1929 -…

Lillian Rose SAVAGE

Died 17/10/2012

1965 — Arrived with hus­band Bob and six chil­dren at Suple­jack Downs (in Tana­mi Desert) in vir­gin coun­try and made a work­ing sta­tion (15,000 sq. miles).