Quentin Bryce was Australia's 25th Governor-General, holding the position between September 2008 and March 2014. Previously, she had held the position of governor of the state of Queensland since 2003. Born in Brisbane, she was raised in Ilfracombe, with her family subsequently living in a number of country towns around Australia. She went to Moreton Bay High School and attended the University of Queensland, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws, becoming one of the first women accepted to the Queensland Bar.

Bryce's catalogue of achievements and contribution to public life throughout the latter part of the twentieth century is long and substantial. The following list is partial and conveys the centrality of concerns about feminism, social justice and community to her professional and personal interests:

• She has been a trailblazer for women in the law, having been appointed to an academic position in the T. C. Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland in 1968, the first woman to be appointed to the faculty.
• In 1978 she was appointed to the National Women's Advisory Council, taking on the role of convener in 1982. In 1984 she became the first director of the Queensland Women's Information Service under the umbrella of the Office of the Status of Women.
• In 1987 she became the Queensland director of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC).
• Between 1988 and 1993 Bryce served as Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner.
• She has been the chair of the National Breast Cancer Advisory Council, sat on the Australian Women's Cricket Board, and been a member of organisations such as the YWCA, the Australian Children's Television Foundation and the Association for the Welfare of Children in Hospital.
• Bryce was also a US State Department Visitor in 1978 and a Member of the Australian Delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland from 1989 to 1991.

Published Resources

Magazine Articles

• Condon, Matthew, To the Manor Born, Qweekly Magazine, The Courier-Mail, 10 May 2008. Details
• Mackay, Diana, The case for Children's Rights, The Australian Women's Weekly, 25 August 1976, 45 pp. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51196815. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Fraser, Andrew, 'First Among Equals', The Australian, 14 April 2008. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/first-among-equals/story-e6frg6z6-1111116052398. Details
• Hartcher, Peter, 'You've got to deliver goals and targets', Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 2010. http://www.smh.com.au/national/youve-got-to-deliver-goals-and-targets-20100604-xklw.html. Details
• Jopson, Debra, 'From radical to regal', Sydney Morning Herald, 31 May 2003, p. 34. http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=radical+to+regal&pb=smh&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SMH0305318V68I21GNR7. Details
• Mealey, Elizabeth, 'Wherever I go I have to defend myself: The isolation of Quentin Bryce', The Sun Herald, 9 October 1988. Details
• Murphey, Damien, 'Polished Trailblazer', The Age, 14 April 2008. http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/polished-trailblazer/2008/04/13/1208024989042.html. Details
• Murphy, Damien; Snow, Deborah; and Dick, Tim, 'A woman of substance and stilettos', The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 April 2008. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/a-woman-of-substance-and-stilettos/2008/04/18/1208025479622.html. Details
• Packham, Ben, 'Woman of substance: Activist, feminist, legal trailblazer breaks through again', Herald Sun, 14 April 2008. Details
• Slee, Amruta, 'Parenthood: Does anyone really know what they are doing', The Sun Herald, 29 October 1989. Details

Resources

• Record of Proceedings (Hansard), Queensland Parliament: Legislative Assembly, Hansard Transcript, 11 March 2003, 374 - 375 pp. http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/2003/030311HA.PDF. Details

Online Resources

• 'Bryce, Quentin', The Australian Women's Register, National Foundation for Australian Women, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE4213b.htm. Details
• Bryce, Quentin, 'Joining the neighbourhood', in Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): Radio National: Boyer Lectures, Transcript and audio, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 3 November 2013, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/joining-the-neighbourhood/4998502. Details
• O'Brien, Kerry and Bryce, Quentin, 'Exclusive interview with Quentin Bryce', in Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): The 7:30 Report, Interview Transcript, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 23 September 2008, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2372400.htm. Details
• Robertson, Dana, 'Quentin Bryce to become nation's first woman G-G', in Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): AM, Transcript, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 14 April 2008, http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2215693.htm. Details