The Australian Women's Register

Marisa Paterson was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory in 2020, after a career as an academic researcher including as Director of the Centre for Gambling Research at the Australian National University.

Emma Davidson was first elected to the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory as a Member for Murrumbidgee in 2020, after a career in software development, social research and advocacy in the community sector. She was appointed a Minister in the Labor-Greens Government, holding portfolios in Mental Health, Population Health, Corrections and Justice Health, and Community Services.

Canberra-born Rachel Stephen-Smith was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory as a Member for Kurrajong in 2016, after a career in public policy across Federal and ACT Governments and non-governmental organisations. She was appointed a Minister in the Labor Government, holding portfolios in Community Service and Social Inclusion, Multicultural Affairs, Government Services, Employment and Workplace Safety, Urban Renewal, Health, Disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, and Children, Youth and Families. She has a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the Australian National University and a Master of Real Estate Development from the University of Maryland in the United States.

Rose Andrew was elected an independent member of the sixteenth ACT Advisory Council in September 1961. She served one three-year term during which she supported community development such as proposing a heated swimming pool be built in Canberra. One of two female members of the Council, she did not seek re-election in 1964. Prior to being elected to the ACT Advisory Council she was President of the Canberra branch of the Country Women’s Association of Australia (CWA) in 1959.

Alicia Payne grew up in Canberra, encouraged by her family to develop a strong sense of community service, and began volunteering from an early age. She trained as an economist at the University of Sydney, and worked on economic and social policy, focusing on poverty and inequality, beginning her career at the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling. She joined the Australian Labor Party in 2006 and worked as a political staffer to a senior federal ALP minister, shadow minister and opposition leader before entering politics herself at the 2019 election when she was elected to the seat of Canberra. She was re-elected in 2022.

Pharmacist Liz Grant was a foundation member of the ACT Division of the Australian Liberal Party and was elected a Liberal Party member for the electorate of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) House of Assembly from 1979 to 1982. She maintained an active and prominent role in the Liberal Party for several decades thereafter, as well as close involvement in women’s affairs, health policy and social affairs in the ACT and nationally. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1987, a Life Member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia in 1991, and awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Monash University in 2005.