The Australian Women's Register

Maura Fay’s name is associated with a variety of film, television and theatre projects including: Brides of Christ, The Paper Man, The Thorn Birds, Cold Feet, The Last Bullett, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Farscape and On the Beach.

Wendy Edmond was Queensland Minister for Heath and Minister Assisting the Premier on Women’s Policy. She was elected MLA (ALP) for the electorate of Mount Coot-tha on 2 December 1989.

Irene Longman was the first woman to both stand for and be elected to the Queensland Parliament. She was a member of the Country and Progressive National Party for the electorate of Bulimba from 11 May 1929 to 11 June 1932. Longman moved Address-in-Reply to the Governor’s Opening of Parliament Speech on 21 August 1929.

Kelly Hoare was elected MHR (ALP) for Charlton, New South Wales in 1998.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Sussan Ley was elected to the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Australia, representing the electorate of Farrer, New South Wales, on 10th November 2001. She was re-elected in 2004, 2007 and 2010.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Julia Irwin was elected to the Australian Parliament as Member for Fowler, New South Wales, in 1998. She was re-elected in 2001, 2004 and 2007. She was not a candidate in the 2010 federal election.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Joanna Gash was elected to the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Australia as the Member for Gilmore, New South Wales, in 1996. She was re-elected in 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Danna Vale was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Hughes, New South Wales in 1996. She became Minister for Veterans’ Affairs on 26 November 2001 and Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence from 2001 until 2003. From 1984 until 1988 Minister Vale was a full-time wife, mother and student. In 1988 she began practising as a solicitor and held this position until entering parliament.
She did not contest the 2010 federal election.

Jackie Kelly was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister in the third Howard Ministry on 26 November 2001. She was elected MHR (Lib) for Lindsay, New South Wales on 19 October 1998.

Bronwyn Bishop, Minister for Aged Care (1998-2001), was elected MHR (Lib) for Mackellar, New South Wales on 26 March 1994.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Sharon Grierson was elected as the Member for Newcastle, New South Wales, in the House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament at the federal election, which was held on 10 November 2001. She was re-elected in 2004, 2007 and 2010.

Janice Crosio was the first woman Cabinet Minister of New South Wales, and first woman to serve on the executive at all three levels of government – local, state and federal. She was elected to the House of Representatives (ALP) for the seat of Prospect, New South Wales, in 1990 and retired in 2004.

She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 30 December 1978 for services to local government.

Jill Griffiths Hall has enjoyed a distinguished career in local, state and federal politics in New South Wales, representing the Australian Labor Party. She has held the federal seat of Shortland since 1998.

Mervyn Davis commenced A Catalogue of Botanical Collectors and Delineators in 1955. She was elected first individual member and delegate for Australia to the International Federation of Landscape Architects in 1959, a position she held for ten years. Davis was the first woman elected a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Parks and Recreation in 1964, and in 1969 she was elected as the first Fellow of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.

On 14 June 1980, Mervyn Davis was appointed a Member of the British Empire for her work in the public service.

Vivienne Abraham was active in the Australian peace movement for several decades. She was Honorary Secretary of the Peace Pledge Union (1946-52), acting editor and editor of the ‘Peacemaker’ and Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (1982-89).

Meredith Stokes has been associated with the women’s movement and various organisations for nonviolence activists over many years. She has also been involved in broadcasts for the Canberra community radio station 2XX.

Anna Vroland was an activist and writer who campaigned for Aboriginal rights in the 1940s and 1950s.

Mrs Matenson has worked extensively on her family history and done genealogical research, publishing several booklets, the first in 1988, and won a certificate from the Tasmanian Government. Her second “A Melbourne Family 1848-1948” won the first prize of the Alexander Henderson Award 1989. Her most recent book was self published.

Helen Coonan is a former Australian politician, who was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing New South Wales from July 1996 to August 2011. On 26 November 2001, she was appointed Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer in the Howard Government. She was re-elected in 2001 and 2007. From 2004-07, she served as Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.

Since leaving politics in 2011, Coonan has transitioned into the corporate world, and vouches for the seminal importance of the law, including legal training, legal practise and legal experience as a common thread underpinning her capacity to perform across a diverse professional and public landscape for a very long time.

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

Chris Gallus was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs on 26 November 2001.

She was elected to the House of Representatives (Liberal Party) in 1990 for the seat of Hawker, which was later abolished, and for the seat of Hindmarsh in 1993 and subsequent elections.

Elected to the Senate for South Australia in 1984 (Liberal Party), Amanda Vanstone was appointed Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women on 30 January 2001.

Amana Vanstone was honoured with an AO in the Australia Day Honours list in 2020 for distinguished service to the Parliament of Australia, to the people of South Australia, and to the community.

Margaret Reynolds was a Senator for Queensland from 1983 until 1999. First elected to the Senate in 1983, she was re-elected in 1984, 1987 and 1993. Reynolds worked as primary and remedial teacher then a tutor before entering parliament. She also served on the Townsville City Council from 1979-1983. Reynolds’ responsibilities have included: Federal Government representative on the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation 1992-1995; Minister assisting PM on Status of Women 1988-1990; Chair of the Parliamentary Adviser to the United Nations; and Minister for Local Government 1987-1990. Reynolds has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1971, and has held many positions in the ALP.

Reynolds retired from parliamentary politics in 1999. She is now the National President of the United Nations Association of Australia and an Adjunct Professor and Sessional Lecturer in the School of Political science and international studies, University of Queensland.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Sharman Stone was elected to the House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament representing the electorate of Murray, Victoria in 1996. She was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage on 21 October 1998 and served in that capacity until October 2004, when she became Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration. She also served as Vice-President of the Executive Council. She was Minister for Workforce Participation from January 2006 until December 2007. She was re-elected in 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Judith Troeth was elected as a Senator for Victoria in the Parliament of Australia in 1993. She was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy from October 1997 until October 1998, when she moved to become Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. She held that position until October 2004. She retired at the 2010 federal election, but remained in the Senate until her term expired on 30 June 2011.

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Trish Worth was elected to the House of Representative of the Australian Parliament as the Member for Adelaide, South Australia in 1993. She was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing on 26 November 2001 in the Howard Government. She was defeated at the 2004 election.

Senator the Honourable Kay Patterson was elected to the Senate for Victoria in 1987. On 7 October 2003 she was appointed Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. Her other ministerial appointments have included being Minister for Health and Ageing, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Prior to entering Parliament she was Principal Lecturer and Chair with the School of Behavioural Sciences at the Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences.

Nancy Burbidge worked at the CSIRO between 1946-1973, rising from systematic botanist to Curator of the Herbarium. From 1973 to 1977 she was scientific leader of the Flora of Australia project. Burbidge published several books on Australian plants.