The Australian Women's Register

Susan Davies served as the member for Gippsland West as an Independent in the Legislative Assembly in the Victorian Parliament from 1997-2002. She stood for re-election in 2002, but was unsuccessful. She had previously been a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and stood as the ALP candidate for Gippsland West in the 1996 state election, but resigned in January 1997. She rejoined the ALP to contest the federal election in 2004 for the seat of La Trobe, in which she was unsuccessful.

Although no longer involved in parliamentary politics, Susan remains active in the community that she served. In 2006 she was a Director of the Bass Coast Community Foundation, which she established in 2001, and in 2005 she initiated the Wonthaggi Energy Innovation Festival, which is an extension of the Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix (of which she is a Patron and Management Committee Member.)

Susan Davies was National Manager of HIPPY Australia (HIPPY= Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters), with the Brotherhood of St Laurence. HIPPY is an early childhood enrichment program which works with refugee, migrant, aboriginal and other families helping parents improve their children’s “school readiness” skills. She left that position in 2008.

Since that time she has been living full-time and working on her small beef farm in Outtrim (South Gippsland, Victoria), and has continued as a Director on several boards, including West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (Victorian Government appointment), South Gippsland General Practice Alliance (Independent appointment) and since 2009, as Chair of Energy Innovation Co-operative Ltd. Energy Innovation Co-op works within South Gippsland/ Bass Coast and Cardinia Shires, to achieve the vision of “Energy self-reliant and zero carbon emission local communities”.

She also belongs to “Grow Lightly”, a local food-producer’s network focusing on sustainable local food production and sale plus Korumburra Landcare group, participating in indigenous re-vegetation projects along local waterways.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Wendy Smith served as the Member for Silvan Province in the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Victoria from 1996-2002.
Her earlier community service included a period as a Councillor for the City of Kew from 1983-88. She was a candidate in the Legislative Assembly seat of Albert Park at the state election, which was held in 3 October 1992.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Maree Luckins served as the member for Waverley in the Legislative Council of the Victorian Parliament from 1996-2002. Before her election to the State Parliament in 1996, she was an unsuccessful candidate in the Legislative Assembly seat of Dandenong North at the election, which was held on 3 October 1992. She unsuccessfully contested the Legislative Assembly seat of Narre Warren in the Victorian state election, which was held on 30 November 2002.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Andrea McCall served as the Member for Frankston in the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament from 1996-2002.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Louise Asher held the Ministerial portfolios of Tourism and Small Business from 1996-99 in the Kennett Government, which was in power in Victoria from 1992-99. She served as the Member for Monash Province in the Legislative Council of the Victorian Parliament from 1992-99 and moved to the Legislative Assembly as the Member for Brighton in 1999 and was re-elected in 2002 and 2006. She held the positions of Shadow Minister for Industry and Employment and Major Projects from January 2004 to December 2006 and was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for Urban Water, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Shadow Minister for Tourism and Major Events from 2006-10. She was re-elected in 2010 and was appointed the Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business as well as Minister for Tourism and Major Events in the new Liberal Government. In addition she retained the position of Deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

On the defeat of the Liberal Government in November 2014, and Asher’s re-election, she resigned as deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

Violet Mary Amor ran as a Democratic Labor Party candidate for Castlereagh in 1962. She was a once-only candidate.

Mollie Barry’s varied career as an activist, ALP member and mentor for young people exemplifies the commitment to social involvement so common among her generation. She was an ALP candidate for Coogee in 1971.

Margaret Blaxell is an active and long-term member of the ALP. She was an ALP candidate for Ermington in 1991and House of Representatives candidate for Dundas in 1983 and 1984.

A lifelong campaigner and activist, Freda Brown is a highly respected figure in the history of Australian women’s organizations. She was a Communist Party of Australia candidate for Newtown in 1947 and a Senate candidate in 1949 and 1961.

A successful Aboriginal bureaucrat and activist, Linda Burney became the first Aboriginal person elected to the New South Wales (NSW) Parliament in 2003, and only the fourth Aboriginal woman elected anywhere in Australia. She was re-elected in 2007, 2011 and 2015. She held a range of Ministerial portfolios from 2007-2011. In 2016 she was serving as Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

Parliamentary and Local Government career

• Elected, Canterbury, 2003, Party: ALP

Actor and activist, Noeline Brown has been involved in social, community and political affairs all her life. She was an ALP candidate for the Southern Highlands in 1999 and 2003.

From working at the meatworks of Qeerah, Queensland, Rose Colless went on to be Queensland Commissioner for Aborigines and manage a centre for the rehabilitation of alcoholics before being presented with an Order of Australia Medal and an Australian human rights award.

A once-only candidate, Emma Ekman was Democratic Labor Party candidate for Hawkesbury in 1973. She was married to Russell Ekman, with whom she had a daughter and a son.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Carole Marple served as the Member for Altona in the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament from 1992-96. She held the shadow portfolio of Agriculture and Rural Affairs from 1993-96. At the 1996 election, which was held on 30 March, she stood in the Legislative Council Province of Geelong, but was unsuccessful.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Denise McGill served as the Member for Oakleigh in the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament from 1992-99. Her previous public work included a period as an Oakleigh City Councillor from 1987-94 and as Mayor from 1990-91. She was a candidate in the Legislative Council Province of Waverley at the state election, which was held on 30 November 2002.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Inga Peulich served as the Member for Bentleigh in the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament from 1992-2002. Before her election to the Victorian Parliament she was a Councillor for the City of Moorabbin from 1990-93. She re-established her parliamentary career when she was elected as Member for the new Legislative Council Region of South Eastern Metropolitan at the Victorian state election, which was held on 25 November 2006. She was re-elected in November 2010, when the Liberal Party won government and again in 2014, when the Labor Party regained power.
She served as Parliamentary secretary for Education from December 2010 to March 2014 and Cabinet secretary from March to December 2014 in the Liberal government. As a member of the Opposition she is now Shadow Minister for Cultural Affairs and Scrutiny of Government.

Mary Graham completed her university studies on the Gold Coast and moved to Brisbane in order to gain more experience in the Aboriginal community. She began working with the Brisbane Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agency (AICCA) as a Liaison Officer and later as Administrator. She was involved with the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) in its establishment and early years.

Mary Graham was listed as a member of the CPI Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1992. She has also been a lecturer at the University of Queensland.

Mollie Dyer, of Yorta Yorta descent, was instrumental in establishing the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) in 1977, and became its first Program Director. She fostered 20 children from Aboriginal communities in Victoria, as well as having six of her own. She advocated for the adoption legislation in Victoria to prevent Aboriginal families unnecessarily surrendering their children and was involved with the establishment of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) in the early 1980s.

Dyer received an Advance Australia medal and an Order of Australia award for ‘her outstanding contribution to the advancement and enrichment of Australia, its people and its way of life’.

Mollie Dyer died in 1998 after a long illness.

Barbara Cummings, a member of the Stolen Generations, was brought up in the Retta Dixon Home. She graduated in social work and community development before working with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the Northern Territory Government. She was involved with a number of organisations in a voluntary capacity and played a crucial role in the establishment of Karu, the Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agency in Darwin.

In 1991 Cummings received the Aboriginal of the Year award. She is the author of Take This Child which exposes the history of the removal of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory.

Barbara Cummings passed away in September 2019, aged 71. Many have paid tribute to the trailblazing Territorian, who became a powerful voice in Aboriginal affairs in Australia.

Christine Fejo-King worked in community welfare in Darwin before becoming involved with Karu, Darwin’s newly-developed Aboriginal child care agency. She held the position of Coordinator of Karu for a time, and was a member of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) Executive.

Julie Tommy, of Innawongia descent, grew up on the Onslow Native Welfare Reserve where her family was relocated from their traditional land in the Tom Price/Paraburdoo area of Western Australia. Her primary school years were spent in a native welfare hostel near the Onslow Reserve, and she had little interaction with her family.

Tommy commenced a social work degree at Curtin University before working with the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (ACCA) from 1980 to 1986. She became Coordinator of the Agency and attended national conferences on child care.

Jenny Munro became involved with Aboriginal organisations in 1978, when she began working at the Aboriginal Children’s Service as a trainee bookkeeper and then as Administrator in 1979. She was actively involved in endeavours to convince the New South Wales welfare department to change its policies and practices. She was a member of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) in its early days, and one of its first chairpersons.

Separated from her family at birth, Heather Shearer was adopted into a non-Aboriginal family. She grew up in Adelaide, completely cut off from her culture and from Aboriginal people. Since 1978, Shearer has been actively involved with Aboriginal child welfare groups and family link-up services.

At the age of 15, Betty Pearce became Secretary of the first Aboriginal organisation established in Darwin. By 1962 she was active in the land rights movement, and later became the first Aboriginal person in the Australian Labor Party, serving on the National Aboriginal Policy Committee that first conceived the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

In 1982 Pearce worked with the Central Aboriginal Congress in Alice Springs and helped establish a child care agency in Central Australia in 1985. She also participated in the establishment of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC).

Betty Pearce currently works for Territory Health in Alcohol and other Drug Services.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Jan Wade served as the member for Kew in the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the State of Victoria from 1988-99. As a Minister in the Liberal Government from 1992-99, she held the portfolios of Attorney General, Fair Trading and Women’s Affairs.

Educated at Sydney Girls’ High School, Firbank Church of England Girls’ Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, Jan Wade worked as a solicitor in private practice (1964-67), in the Parliamentary Counsel’s office from 1970-79 and as president of the Equal Opportunity Board (1985-88) before entering parliament in 1988.

Go to ‘Details’ below to read a reflective essay written by Jan Wade for the Trailblazing Women and the Law Project.

Jenny Pryor is a Bindal clan member of the Birri Gubba nation and Kaanju people. She has been a Commissioner with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission for North Queensland, holding the portfolio of infrastructure, housing, land and natural resources. For eight years she held the position of Administrator of the Northern Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agency in Townsville, and has been associated with the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) since its inception in the early 1980s.

Pryor retains strong ties with the Palm Island community where her mother was born.

A member of the Liberal party of Australia, Marie Tehan served in both Houses of the Victorian Parliament. She was the Member for Central Highlands in the Legislative Council from 1987-92 and for Seymour in the Legislative Assembly from 1992 until 1999, when she retired. As a minister in the Kennett Liberal Government she held the portfolios of Minister for Health from 1992-96 and Minister for Conservation and Land Management from 1996-99.