The ACT Women's Consultative Council was established in 1989 by the then chief minister Rosemary Follett. The Council was given the following terms of reference:

• to advise the Chief Minister on the status of women in the ACT;
• to develop a broad overview of women's status in the ACT, with a particular emphasis on identifying gaps in programs or services and on advising priorities for attention, acknowledging that all programs, services and policies affect women to a greater or lesser extent;
• to provide to, and receive from women, and the organisations involved in women's issues, information about issues of concern to women; and
• to prepare a yearly work program for approval by the first ACT Women's Consultative Council under these terms of reference.

The following women were members of the Council:

First Women's Consultative Council, 1989-1992

• Pamela Cahir (Convenor to April 1990)
• Susan Bambrick (Convenor September 1990-March 1991)
• Maureen Bromfield (to May 1991)
• Danielle Hyndes (Convenor March 1991-May 1992)
• Gillian Boyd
• Kathryn Cole
• Elizabeth Grant, AM
• Winsome Hall
• Margaret Munro
• Koula Notaras
• Vanda Podravac
• Alison Purvis (to July 1991)
• Karen Richards (to May 1991)
• Julia Ryan
• Margaret Timpson

Second Women's Consultative Council, June 1992-June 1994

• Julia Ryan (Convenor)
• Ann Quadroy (Deputy Convenor from December 1993)
• Dorothy Broom (until March 1994)
• Grace Coe
• Jennifer Bradley
• Beverly Ch'ng
• Jacklynn Draper
• Jane Grace
• Gwen Gray
• Charlotte Palmer
• Jayne Pilkinton (until February 1994)
• Heather Ponting
• Felicity Rafferty
• Betty Searle
• Lorraine Weatherall

Third Women's Consultative Council, July 1995-June 1996

• Jenny Morison (Chair)
• Danielle Hyndes (Deputy Chair)
• Robyne Bancroft
• Paula Calcino
• Margaret Carmody
• Betty Craig
• Elizabeth Grant, AM
• Donna Holden
• Ingrid McKenzie
• Anne Ranson
• Dennise Simpson
• Jean Thomson
• Lita Vidal

Fourth Women's Consultative Council, July 1996-March 1998

• Danielle Hyndes (Chair)
• Elizabeth Grant, AM
• Margaret Carmody
• Jean Thompson
• Betty Craig
• Karen Sorensen
• Dennise Simpson
• Linda Crebbin
• Ingrid McKenzie
• Robyne Bancroft
• Lita Vidal

August 1998-June 2000

• Karen Fogarty (Chair)
• Jacqueline Pearce (Deputy Chair)
• Aysun Adams
• Libby Bell
• Myriam Bonazzi
• Betty Craig
• Margaret Head
• Cathi Moore
• Glenda Munro
• Julia Nesbitt
• Margery Smyth, OAM
• Megan Thompson
• Jean Thompson
• Lulu Turner
• Ann Wentworth, AM

July 2000-September 2001

membership as above, with the addition of:

• Matilda House