The Australian Women's Register

Like her mother and older sisters, Janet was educated at Clyde School (Woodend, Victoria). While travelling abroad she met stockbroker John Calvert-Jones and the pair were married on 3 February 1962. They were to have three sons and a daughter.

Following the birth of her son, Robert, who suffered from impaired hearing, Janet Calvert-Jones co-founded the Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing, and served as its Chairman from 1973 to 1995. The board established ‘Taralye’, an early intervention centre for hearing-impaired children, in Blackburn, Victoria. Janet was a Director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute from 1988, of which her mother was Patron.

Janet Calvert-Jones was chairman of The Herald and Weekly Times Limited from 1989 to 2009, the same company her father ran from 1929 to 1952. She was also a member of the State Library of Victoria Foundation Business sub-committee.

In recognition of her charitable work, Janet was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 8 June 1998. On 26 January 2006, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to the community through philanthropy and support for medical research, access to education in rural areas, development of significant cultural and botanical collections, and to the print media. In the King’s Birthday Honours in 2026, she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for eminent service to philanthropy, to the arts, to medical research organisations, to the community, and to children and youth.