Judyth Watson was born in 1940 at Burton-on-Trent in the United Kingdom to Cecil Watson, a railway worker, and his wife Hylda. The family moved to Western Australia 1949, and Judyth attended Perth Modern School on a scholarship, trained as a nurse, then completed a Bachelor of Science with first class Honours in 1977. She won the faculty prize and a Commonwealth postgraduate award, and completed a doctoral thesis on worker's compensation in 1982. Watson joined the Australian Labor Party in 1976, and her experience and research expertise ensured that she could make a valuable contribution to national occupational health and safety policy. Watson was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia in 1986, and served as member for Canning until 1989. She was then elected member for Kenwick, which she held until December, 1996.

Sources used to compile this entry: Black, David and Bolton, Geoffrey (eds), Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia, Vol. 2, 1930-1990, Western Australian Parliamentary History Project, Perth, Western Australia, 1990; Black, David and Phillips, Harry, 'Making a Difference: Women in the West Australian Parliament 1921-1999', Parliament of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 2000; Watson, Judyth [ed.], We Hold Up Half the Sky: The Voices of Western Australian ALP Women in Parliament, Australian Labour Party, Perth, Western Australia, 1994.