The Australian Women's Register

Aileen Ekblom served the people of Whyalla as a commissioner on the Town Commission from 1967 for three years, then as a councillor on the newly formed City of Whyalla Council for five years, before standing unopposed for the position of Mayor. She was the first female to hold the position and held it from 1975 to 1991.

She was also chair of both the Northern and Eyre Peninsula Local Government Associations, the North Flinders Planning Committee, the Whyalla Jubilee 150 Committee, and a member of the Eyre Peninsula Cultural Trust, the South Australian Health Commission, the South Australian Jubilee 150 Board and the Whyalla Hospital Board.

Prior to her local government positions, Aileen managed a women’s fashion store in Whyalla. She was married to Anders Ekblom, a merchant sea captain, in 1961.

She was appointed an Officer in the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1979 for her service to local government. Ekblom Street in Whyalla is named after her in recognition that she was the first woman elected to the Town Commission.