Australian Women Leaders

Penny Wong is an Australian politician. She has been a senator for South Australia since 2002. Currently, she is leader of the opposition in the senate. She is a qualified lawyer and has previously worked as a political advisor. She is a member of the LGBTQAI+ community and played a key role in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Australia. 

Pauline Hanson is an Australian politician who has been serving as a senator for Queensland since 2016. Hanson is credited with founding a right-wing political party called One Nation, for which she also serves as the leader. Also an author, Pauline Hanson has published many books, including her autobiography, Untamed and Unashamed.

Julie Bishop is an Australian former politician who once served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs. For several years, she was the deputy leader of the Liberal Party. She studied law at the University of Adelaide and worked as a commercial lawyer before venturing into politics. In 2020, she became the first woman chancellor of the Australian National University.  

Former premier of New South Wales, the biggest state economy of Australia, Gladys Berejiklian was born to Armenian immigrants in Sydney. She made headlines when she resigned from her premiership in October 2021, amid investigations on corruption and the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a regular at the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Jacqui Lambie is an Australian politician who was a senator for Tasmania from 2014 to 2017. she was re-elected in 2019. She was initially affiliated with the Palmer United Party (PUP). Following her resignation, she was an independent for a while. Today, she is the leader of her own political party, the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN).

Edith Cowan was an Australian social reformer best remembered for serving as a member of parliament; she was the first Australian woman to do so. She is also remembered for working for the welfare and rights of children and women. In recognition of her contribution, Cowan has been depicted on Australia's fifty-dollar note since 1995.

Zali Steggall is an Australian lawyer turned politician. She has been serving as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Division of Warringah since 2019. She is a former Olympic athlete as well and is considered Australia's most internationally successful alpine skier. She became a lawyer after retiring from skiing and eventually entered politics as well. 

Quentin Bryce is an Australian academic and politician. She served as the 25th Governor-General of Australia from 2008 to 2014 and is the first woman to have held the position. She attended the University of Queensland, where she studied law and became one of the first women accepted to the Queensland Bar. Following a legal career, she entered politics. 

British-origin Australian politician Sussan Ley was born in Nigeria and raised in the UAE and England, before moving to Australia in her teens. The Liberal Party deputy leader went on to represent Farrer in the Australian Parliament after managing ministries such as health, aged care, environment, and sport.

Marie Bashir created history when she became the first female governor of New South Wales. A doctor, too, she was initially associated with children’s hospitals and later focused on psychiatry. She also worked for the mentally ill and homeless people from the Aboriginal community of Australia.

Natasha Stott Despoja is an Australian politician, diplomat, and author. She began her career as a political advisor and was soon appointed to the senate. She has held several political positions. She is a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the founding Chair of the Board of Our Watch. 

Nova Peris is an Australian athlete and former politician. In 1996, she became the first Aboriginal Australian to earn a gold medal at the Olympics; she was part of the women's hockey team that won the gold medal. She switched sports to sprinting and participated in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, winning gold medals in the 200m and 4x100m relay events. 

Enid Lyons was an Australian politician best remembered for becoming the first woman to serve in the federal cabinet as well as the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives. In 1980, she became the second woman to be made a Dame of the Order of Australia. She is also remembered as the wife of Joseph Lyons.

Roma Mitchell was an Australian lawyer and judge. She became the first woman to hold a number of positions in Australia, including the country’s first female judge. She was also the first woman to be a Queen's Counsel and the governor of an Australian state. She was a pioneer of the Australian women's rights movement as well.

Marjorie Jackson-Nelson is a former Australian athlete. She won two Olympic and seven Commonwealth Games Gold Medals. She was appointed the Governor of South Australia in 2001 and held this position until 2007. She was married to Olympic cyclist Peter Nelson who died in 1977. She has been inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.