The Australian Women's Register

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Jan Jarrett was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Whitsunday in 2001. She currently holds the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Employment and Economic Development.

A member of the One Nation Party, Rosa Lee Long was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Tablelands in February 2001. She remained in parliament for eight years, suffering defeat at the 2009 election.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Carolyn Male was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Glasshouse in 2001. After the electoral redistribution of 2008 she stood successfully for the seat of Pine Rivers at the 2009 election. She currently holds the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Education.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Rachel Nolan was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Ipswich in 2001. She was the youngest woman to enter the Queensland Parliament. She held the position of Deputy Government Whip from 2004 until 2007. She currently holds the Ministerial portfolio of Transport.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Anita Phillips was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Thuringowa in 2001. She retired in February 2004 to contest the federal seat of Herbert in November 2004 but was unsuccessful on that occasion.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Dianne Reilly was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Mudgeeraba in 2001. She served in that capacity for eight years until she was defeated at the 2009 election.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Desley Scott was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Woodridge in 2001. She was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2009.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Barbara Stone was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Springwood in 2001. She was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2009.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Carryn Sullivan was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Pumicestone in 2001. She was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2009. Before her entry into the state parliament, she served as a councillor for the Shire of Caboolture from 1991-94.

Originally a member of the National Party in Queensland, now the Liberal National Party since the merger of the Liberal and National Parties in Queensland in September 2008, Rosemary Menkens was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Burdekin in 2004. She was re-elected in 2006 and 2009.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Vicky Darling was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Sandgate in 2006. She was re-elected in 2009 and currently holds the position of Deputy Government Whip.

A member of the Australian Labor party, Kate Jones was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Ashgrove in 2006. She was re-elected in 2009 and currently holds the ministerial portfolio of Climate Change and Sustainability.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Betty Kiernan was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Mt Isa in 2006. She was re-elected in 2009 and currently holds the position of Deputy Government Whip. Before her election to parliament she served as a local government councillor for the Shire of Cloncurry from 1981-1990.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Annastacia Palaszczuk was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Inala in 2006. She was re-elected in 2009, 2012 and 2015. She was a minister in the Bligh government, but was elected Leader of the Opposition in March 2012 after the landslide defeat of the Labor Government. In January 2015 Annastacia Palaszczuk led the Labor Party to an unexpected victory and became the first woman to take a party from opposition into government when she became Premier on 14 February 2015.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Grace Grace was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Brisbane Central at a by-election, which was held on 13 October 2007. She was re-elected at the 2009 election.

A member of the Liberal National Party, Tracy Davis was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Aspley at the election which was held on 21 March 2009.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Di Farmer was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Bulimba at the election which was held on 21 March 2009.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Mandy Johnstone was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Townsville at the election which was held on 21 March 2009.

Margaret Ann Montgomery Bailey was the longest serving headmistress of Ascham School. She experimented with new learning methods, introducing the ‘Dalton plan’, a philosophy of learning which emphasises self-responsibility and independence, into the senior school in 1922.

She was educated at the Newnham School for Girls, Toowoomba, and attended the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1900.

Gladys Hope Marks was a lifelong supporter of women’s rights. She was active in a range of feminist groups, including the National Council of Women of New South Wales. A gifted linguist, she taught French at the University of Sydney in the 1920s and 30s.

The New South Wales branch of the Australian Federation of University Women established the Gladys Marks memorial fund to assist mature women to complete courses at the university.

A member of the Country Liberal Party, Kezia Purick was elected to the Northern Territory Assembly as the Member for Goyder in 2008. She currently holds the position of Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

At the Beijing Olympics, Kylie Palmer won gold for the 4×200 women’s relay team, with other members Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt and Linda MacKenzie. Kylie swam the fastest leg of the race for the Australian team, helping them to a world record time and defeating the teams from the U.S.A and China.

In London, in 2012, she followed up with a silver medal in the 4 x 200m relay.

Melanie Schlanger was a member of the 4 x 100m freestyle relay team that won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

A member of the Aboriginal Bidjara Nation, Marcia Langton is an authority on social issues concerning Aboriginal people. She holds the Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies in the Centre for Health and Society at the University of Melbourne. During the 1970s she was active in the Women’s Liberation movement, drawing attention to the oppression of black women. She continued to work for Aboriginal causes and became a key participant in the Wik Land rights negotiations which were conducted during the late 1990s. She has appeared in film and television portraying strong Aboriginal characters. In 1993 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia ‘for service as an anthropologist and advocate of Aboriginal issues’. In 2001 she was admitted as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Dale Spender distinguished herself as a writer on feminist and women’s issues. Whilst living in England from 1974 to 1986 she was active in feminist groups there, serving on the executive of the Fawcett Society from 1983 to 1987. On her return to Australia she was appointed an honorary fellow at the University of Queensland.

Florence Buchanan spent much of her life working in Anglican missions on Thursday and Moa Islands, north of Australia, despite a number of health problems. In 1887 she migrated to Australia, landing in Bundaberg, Queensland with her two brothers. She later assumed responsibility for the fundamentalist non-denominational South Seas Evangelical Mission, also know as the Queensland Kanaka Mission. During the 1890s she worked on Thursday Island and was ordained there as a deaconess in 1908. In the same year she went to Moa Island to conduct the Anglican mission and teach school. In 1911 she resigned from her position, due to ill-health, but continued to teach until her return to Brisbane in 1913.

Isabella Hetherington spent most of her life in Australia working with Aboriginal people. A member of the Baptist Church, she joined the Australian (United) Aborigines Mission from 1906, and served for three years at Wellington, New South Wales. She spent time at Manunka near Port Macleay, South Australia and at La Perouse in New South Wales. From 1930 she worked in Mossman, Queensland setting up a ‘Faith Mission’ in the Gorge reserve. In 1933 she was accepted as an Assemblies of God missionary to the Aborigines with the opening of a church and school building in 1938. She opposed the policy of removing children with a non-Aboriginal father from their families.