HerStory Archive

Hazel Audrey CAHILL

Born 1904, Died 1970

Also known as: née Bassett

Pio­neer of Cen­tral Australia.
Hazel and Lar­ry Cahill were new­ly­weds when in 1928 he was offered a job on the con­struc­tion of the new rail­way from Mar­ree to Alice Springs. She loved the…

Audrey Josephine CAHN

Born 17/10/1905, Died 1/04/2008

First woman to com­plete the new­ly estab­lished agri­cul­ture degree at Mel­bourne Uni­ver­si­ty in 1928 

Cah­n’s moth­er, a med­ical prac­ti­tion­er, was inter­est­ed in nutri­tion and…

Amy CAIL

Born 29 March 1833, Died 15 July 1914

Also known as: née Williams

Pio­neer of Bendi­go area of Victoria.

Eunice May CAIRNS

Born 16 August 1921, Died 21 January 2010

Also known as: Teddy

Served dur­ing World War II. Worked at ​‘The Truth’ news­pa­per, Radio 3AW, Chan­nel 9, Chan­nel 0, Conair Air­lines, and 8CCC FM. Known as the White Witch of Alice Springs by her…

Francesca Louise CAIRNS

Also known as: Fran

First Alice Springs, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry, woman to be employed as a grad­er driver.

Author of Draw­ing From the Well, inspired by her work ​“as a grad­er dri­ver, a pho­tog­ra­ph­er and…

Joan CAIRNS

Born 7/1932, Died 27/6/2019

Joan Cairns was Australia’s first female anaes­thet­ic tech­ni­cian. Joan worked at the Alice Springs Hos­pi­tal and took the oppor­tu­ni­ty to study at the May­field Med­ical Cen­tre in…

Daphne CALDER

Born 5 January 1924, Died 15 October 2013

Also known as: née Campbell, Daphne Calder

Pic­tured here at Emi­ly Gap out­side Alice Springs, she starred oppo­site Aus­tralian act­ing leg­end chips Raf­fer­ty in The Over­lan­ders, a clas­sic movie being the first to show…

Helen CALDICOTT

Born 7/8/1938

Also known as: Dr Helen Caldicott

Helen Caldicott is the founder of the Wom­en’s Action for Nuclear Dis­ar­ma­ment (1982). In 1985, Helen was nom­i­nat­ed for the Nobel Peace Prize, which was won by the organ­i­sa­tion she…

Ann CALDWELL

Born 1820, Died 1890

Also known as: née Mooney, Annie

In 1864, aged 44, wid­owed, with sev­en of her chil­dren, she trav­elled in a cov­ered wag­on for eight weeks 900 kilo­me­tres over­land from Gumer­acha (north­east of Ade­laide), South Australia…

Eliza CALLAGHAN

Born 1802, Died 1852

Con­vict who mar­ried John BAT­MAN (Founder of Mel­bourne — he died ¹⁸³⁹⁄₄₀). Lat­er mar­ried John WILLOUGH­BY. Known as Sarah WILLOUGH­BY after divorce from WILLOUGH­BY. Moth­er of 7…

Sarah CALLAGHAN

Law and art grad­u­ate Uni­ver­si­ty South Australia

Ada CAMBRIDGE

Born 21 November 1844, Died 19 July 1926

Also known as: née Cambridge, Ada Cross, A.C.

1889 — News­pa­per nov­el­ist (The Age) under nom de plum ​‘A.C.’.
Author of Up The Mur­ray (1875) — seri­alised in Aus­tralian newspaper.
Author of A Wom­an’s Friend­ship (1889)…

Enid Mona CAMPBELL

Born 1932, Died 2010

First female pro­fes­sor of law in Australasia
AC, OBE

Frances CAMPBELL

First woman to prac­tice med­i­cine in Australia

Gillian Clare CAMPBELL

Born 1967

First woman Tele­com Tech­ni­cian in South Aus­tralia and North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry. Qual­i­fied in 1988, aged 21.


Daugh­ter of Alice Springs artist and teacher Iain CAMPBELL.

Kate Isabel CAMPBELL

Born 1899

Also known as: Dame Kate Campbell

1930 — First per­son in Aus­tralia to be appoint­ed to Lec­ture­ship in Neo-Natal Pae­di­atrics (Uni­ver­si­ty of Melbourne)

DBE

Kate Isabel CAMPBELL

Born 1899

1930 — First per­son in Aus­tralia to be appoint­ed to Lec­ture­ship in Neo-Natal Pae­di­atrics (Uni­ver­si­ty of Melbourne)
(DBE) (Dame)

Mary Ann CAMPBELL

Born 1838, Died 21/1/1916

Also known as: Mary Ann Johns

1861 — First white woman on Queens­land expe­di­tion to stock prop­er­ty near Sorghum Downs Sta­tion with sheep. 

Mary Ann lived at Sorghum Downs and oth­er sta­tions and at Charters…

Jane CAMPION

Born 1954

First woman to receive cin­e­ma’s most cov­et­ed award, the Palme Dîr for her film The Piano.

Alisa Peta CAMPLIN

Born 10 November 1974

“Alisa Cam­plin is Aus­trali­a’s first female Win­ter Olympic gold medal­ist, dual Olympic medal­ist, World Cham­pi­on, World Record Hold­er and two times WC Grand Prix…

Miriam Edith CANNING

First Abo­rig­i­nal (and first woman) vet­eri­nary sur­geon in Australia.

Born and raised at Leono­ra near Kal­go­or­lie, West Aus­tralia. Qual­i­fied for her pri­vate pilot’s licence…

Sadie Miriam CANNING

Born 11 April 1930, Died 3 September 2008

Also known as: née Corner

One of the first trained Abo­rig­i­nal nurs­es and matrons in West­ern Aus­tralia, did not start qual­i­fy­ing until the 1950s.
1964 — Queens’ Birth­day Hon­ours- Award­ed a Mem­ber of the British…

Elaine CANTY

Elaine Canty is the first woman sports broad­cast­er on ABC Radio and Tele­vi­sion in Vic­to­ria. She was the only woman in the ABC team cov­er­ing the 1988 Olympics and, in 1992, was the…

Annie Florence Gillies CARDELL-OLIVER

Born 1876, Died 1965

Also known as: Florence

First elect­ed to the West­ern Aus­tralia Low­er House in 1936, she became the first woman in Aus­tralia to obtain full Cab­i­net rank when made Min­is­ter for Health Sup­ply and Ship­ping in…

Elna Joy Cardona CARDONA

Born 18/3/1956

Also known as: Joy Cardona

Joy Car­dona is the first woman in Aus­tralian Rules to offi­ci­ate a rep­re­sen­ta­tive match. This was the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry ver­sus Hawthorn in 1991, and she still has the score card! She…

Alison CARE

Recip­i­ent of 2009 Young Inves­ti­ga­tor Award, South Australia

Nellie Veir CAREY

Born 1890, Died 15/06/1973

Also known as: née Scott, Nellie Veir Scott

Only female in Vic­to­ria to become a sol­dier set­tler, in Red Cliffs, Vic­to­ria and became a suc­cess­ful grape grower.

1911 — Began train­ing as a nurs­ing sis­ter. Dur­ing the early…

Kate CARNELL

1995 — First woman from Lib­er­al Par­ty elect­ed as a State or Ter­ri­to­ry Chief Min­is­ter, for the ACT

Jodeen CARNEY

Born 9/12/1965

2005 — First female Leader of the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Coun­try Lib­er­al Party
First Cen­tralian to be Leader of the Coun­try Lib­er­al Party.

Janet Cameron CARR

Born 15 October 1927, Died 13 August 2006

Also known as: née Davidson, Dr Janet Davidson

1950 – Grad­u­at­ed as a M.D. from Queen’s Uni­ver­si­ty, Belfast, Ireland.1958 – With her hus­band, moved to his home city of Sydney.Ran a gen­er­al prac­tice, immu­niza­tion clin­ics, and was…

Dorothy CARROLL

Born 1 February 1897, Died 18 June 1966

1957 – 1966 — First woman to be appoint­ed to the boards of the Roy­al Ade­laide and Queen Eliz­a­beth hospitals.
1955 — Appoint­ed to the Order of the British Empire — Offi­cer (Civ­il).…

Gladys CARRUTH

Writ­ten on the back of the draw­ing: Long-stand­ing mem­ber devot­ed worker.

Elsie CARTER

Born 1905, Died 1982

Pio­neer of Syd­ney’s Domes­tic Service

Sarah Anne CARTHEW

Born 1872, Died 1951

Also known as: Bessie

Dairy farmer and dress­mak­er at Black­wood SA

Jennifer CASHMORE

First woman Min­is­ter of Health in the South Aus­tralian Par­lia­ment (1979)

Judy CASSAB

Artist. Sec­ond (2^nd) woman to win the Archibald Prize, which she won twice.

Amy Eliza CASTLES

Born 25 July 1880, Died 19 November 1951

One of the great­est voic­es Aus­tralia has pro­duced. Was acclaimed world wide by audi­ences and by royalty.16 March 1899 — She made her début in Patience, Aus­tral Salon, Melbourne,…

Tricia CASWELL

First female Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of the Aus­tralian Con­ser­va­tion Foun­da­tion (1992−1995); first woman Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary of the Tech­ni­cal Teach­ers Union of Vic­to­ria (1979−1992); first…

Suzanne CAVANAGH

First woman Pres­i­dent of Coun­try Lib­er­al Par­ty (CLP) in the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry (1994−2001)

Evonne Fay CAWLEY

Born 31/07/1951

Also known as: née Goolagong

First Abo­rig­i­nal Aus­tralian to win the pres­ti­gious Wim­ble­don ten­nis sin­gles title (1971)

Ten­nis — Aus­tralian Open — won 4 times. French Open — won 1. Wim­ble­don — won 1971…

Cora Kate CHALMERS

Born 18 February 1885, Died 13 August 1958

Also known as: née Coventry

Pio­neer of Cen­tral Aus­tralia, Mac­Don­ald Downs, sheep and cat­tle station.

Muriel CHAPLIN

1998 — First woman in world to be appoint­ed Grand Mas­ter of an Inde­pen­dent Order of Odd­fel­lows Fra­ter­ni­ty Grand Lodge.

Jan CHAPMAN

Born 1950

Pro­duc­er, and pro­duced The Piano, direct­ed by Jane Campion.

Wendy CHAPMAN

She became the first woman Lord May­or of an Aus­tralian state cap­i­tal city when appoint­ed in Ade­laide in 1983.

Yvonne Ann CHAPMAN

Queens­land’s first female Cab­i­net Min­is­ter — appoint­ed 31 Jan 1986

Martha Christina CHARMAN

Born 1849, Died 1914

Also known as: née Ward

Pio­neer of Tim­bar­ra set­tle­ment, Victoria.
​“Martha Char­man emerges in Aunt Vio­lets [sic] writ­ings as the matri­arch of the set­tle­ment — attend­ing to births, sick­ness, acci­dents and the…

Irene CHATFIELD

First woman award­ed the Aus­tralian Foot­ball League’s (AFL’s) inau­gur­al Woman of the Year (1998)

Deborah CHEETHAM

Born 24 November 1964

Aus­trali­a’s first female Indige­nous opera singer; in 2007, wrote ​“Pecan Sum­mer,” Aus­trali­a’s first Indige­nous opera, then trained the nec­es­sary Indige­nous singers;…

May Venetta CHETTLE

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…

Kerry CHIKAROVSKI

First woman to lead a major polit­i­cal par­ty in New South Wales when elect­ed Leader of the NSW Par­lia­men­tary Lib­er­al Par­ty (1998)