Audrey Ann Fagan (1962–2007): The High Cost for Women Leaders in Policing
Susan Harwood and Helen McDermott
Abstract
The absence of women from leadership roles is still a feature of contemporary policing in Australia, and it appears that the presence of small numbers of women in some senior ranks has done little to significantly alter the ‘culture’. Audrey Fagan was the first woman to head the ACT Policing component of the Australian Federal Police and only the second woman in Australia or New Zealand to lead a policing jurisdiction. She had to manage many contested territories throughout her policing career; her untimely death at the pinnacle of her career leaves questions yet to be answered about the price women pay when choosing to work in densely masculinist workplaces such as policing. This chapter provides an overview of the political, social and feminist antecedents to Australia’s policing organisations. We begin with a brief account of the first female chief commissioner in Australasia, Christine Nixon, before discussing the leadership of Fagan.
Keywords
women leaders, women policing, masculinist workplaces, gendered practices
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