1980 - 1989

Copyright: Newspix / News Ltd

1980

Elaine Darling (1936 - )

Elaine Darling was voted Member for Lilley in 1980, becoming the first Queensland woman elected to the House of Representatives. She was re-elected in four subsequent elections held between 1980 and 1990 before retiring in 1993. Following her departure from federal politics, she embraced study and research, focussing on a range of human rights issues. She also served as Councillor for Caloundra City from 2000 to 2004. Elaine is currently the Deputy Chairperson for the Sunshine Coast Regional Disability Council.

Source: McCulloch, J 2005, The Legislators: Women in State and Federal Parliaments, Central Queensland University Press, Rockhampton.

Copyright: Newspix / Bruce Long

1980

Dr Aila Keto

Dr Aila Keto began her distinguished career as a university biochemistry tutor in Queensland. Since then, she has gone on to make great achievements in the field of Australian conservation. She helped stop logging in North Queensland rainforests, on Fraser Island, and in central-eastern Queensland. She was also instrumental in attaining World Heritage listings for Fraser Island and Queensland’s Wet Tropics. In 1982, Aila founded the Rainforest Conservation Society of Queensland (now known as the Australian Rainforest Conservation Society) where she is currently continuing her work as the society’s President.

Copyright: Newspix / Veronica Sagredo

1981

Beatrice Booth

Beatrice Booth has spent the last 27 years bolstering her position as a successful Queensland businesswoman. In 1981, she founded a geotechnical engineering company, of which she became Managing Director. The company, now known as Cairns Engineering Testing Services Pty Ltd, is one of the largest of its kind in North Queensland. Beatrice was also the first female in Queensland to hold a Shotfirer's Licence. In 2006, Beatrice was elected as the first female Board Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Today, Beatrice is President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland, and is also the inaugural Chair of the Australian Chamber Alliance.

Source: Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2009, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland structure: Directors, viewed 5 January 2009, <http://www.cciq.com.au/About-Us/Structure.aspx#1>.

Copyright: Newspix / Bruce Long

1982

Tracey Wickham OAM MBE (1962 - )

Tracey Wickham first took to the pool at the age of eight and, in just four short years, won her first national gold medal in the 200 metre individual medley. Over the next seven years, she went on to win a number of World Championship medals and smashed numerous world records. She retired in 1980 but under the guidance of coach Laurie Lawrence, Tracey returned to the pool for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in her hometown of Brisbane, winning the 400 and 800 metre freestyle events. In 1992, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and, in 2005, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service to Australian swimming, teaching and coaching. In 2008, Tracey helped launch “Hannah’s Chance Foundation” at the Wesley Hospital in Brisbane, dedicated to finding a cure for a rare, aggressive cancer that claimed her daughter, Hannah, in 2007.

Courtesy: National Library of Australia (nla.pic-an23208017)

1982

Dr Isobel Bennett AO (1909 - 2008)

Born in Brisbane in 1909, Dr Isobel Bennett is regarded as one of Australia’s foremost marine biologists. She is well-known for her significant contributions to several major studies of Australian marine life, and her work on the Great Barrier Reef was crucial in securing its World Heritage status. In 1982, she was awarded the Mueller Medal from the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science. Isobel has also written several books, including On the Seashore (1969) and The Great Barrier Reef (1971). In 1984, Isobel was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her services to marine science.

Source: Thorpe, DW 1996, A sense of purpose: great Australian women of the 20^th century, Reed Reference Australia, Australia.

Poster art by Carol Porter. Courtesy: State Library of Victoria (H96.27/7)

1983

Australia ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 and was officially endorsed by Australia in 1983. This human rights treaty establishes an agenda to combat discrimination and aims to achieve true equality of men and women, particularly in the areas of health, education, political participation (including the right to vote), employment, marriage, family relations, and legal rights. Currently 185 countries are parties to CEDAW.

Source: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2008, Women’s Human Rights - United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), viewed 28 November 2008, <http://www.hreoc.gov.au/sex_discrimination/publication/CEDAW/CEDAW_complete.pdf (PDF 3.2 MB)>.

Courtesy: L Cox, Personal collection

1983

Elaine Green (1925 – 1993)

Elaine 'Greenie' Green had been involved in hockey since moving to Brisbane in the 1950s, when she joined Taxation Hockey Club, played goalkeeper and coached lower grade teams.

Over a period spanning more than twenty five years, Elaine's voluntary services to the sport of hockey were immense. Working through almost every role available from canteen steward, team manageress, match secretary and member of countless committees, she is best remembered for her services as the First Aid Officer at the home of Queensland hockey, Downey Park, from 1977 - 1992.

On the motor bike, loaded up with an esky of ice and her first aid kit, Elaine had only one concern, the excellence of care for her beloved hockey girls.

Elaine was presented the Brisbane Women's Hockey Association Life Membership Award in 1980, Queensland Women's Hockey Association Long Service Award in 1983 and Junior Association Long Service Award in 1992.

Courtesy: Parliament of Australia

1984

The federal division of Rankin in Queensland was created

The federal electoral division of Rankin was created in 1984, named after Dame Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin - the first Queensland woman to be elected to Federal Parliament. The Rankin electoral division lies in southwest Brisbane.

Source: ABC, 2007, ABC Elections: Australia Votes 2007, viewed 28 November 2008, <http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/guide/rank.htm>.

Dr Nancy Cato, photograph by Alec Bolton. Courtesy: Rosemary Dobson-Bolton and the National Library of Australia (nla.pic-an14261275)

1984

Dr Nancy Fotheringham Cato OAM (1917 - 2000)

Born in 1917, Nancy Cato began her career as a journalist with the Adelaide News before becoming a freelance writer. As a passionate conservationist, much of Nancy’s work was inspired by nature. She published 20 books in nearly 60 years, including Green Grows the Vine (1960), But Still the Stream (1962), Distant Island (1988), and Marigold (1992). The television mini-series, All the Rivers Run, was based on her 1978 novel of the same name. Nancy was a foundation member of Lyrebird Writers, a member of the Australian Society of Authors and Noosa Arts, as well as a strong campaigner against development in the Sunshine Coast area. In 1984, Nancy received the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her contribution to literature and conservation.

Courtesy: Women’s Legal Service

1984

The Women’s Legal Service Inc.

Established in 1984, the Women’s Legal Service (WLS) is a feminist organisation developed and operated by women for women. WLS’s work is based on and informed by women’s experiences, providing legal advice sessions both face-to-face and over the telephone. Located in Annerley and run by over 100 volunteers, WLS assists over 5000 Queensland women each year.

Source: Women’s Legal Service Inc, 2006, WLS history and operation, viewed 9 December 2008, <http://www.wlsq.org.au/aboutwls.html>.

Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (PDF 249 KB). Courtesy: Commonwealth Government Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra

1984

Sex Discrimination Act

The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 aims to eliminate discrimination involving the dismissal of employees with family responsibilities, to eliminate sexual harassment in areas of public activity, and to recognise and accept the equality of men and women in the community. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy in a range of areas of public life. Sexual harassment and sexual discrimination remain the most common grounds of complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission under the Act.

Courtesy: L Gasteen, Private collection

1985

Lisa Gasteen

Lisa Gasteen was born in Brisbane where she studied voice with Margaret Nickson at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. She debuted with Opera Queensland in 1985. Since winning the Cardiff Singer of the World in 1991, she has become one of the world's foremost interpreters of the Wagner/Strauss heroines. She is a regular guest at the Royal Opera House, at Covent Garden, Berliner Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Vienna Staatsoper, Hamburg Opera and Opera Australia. her roles have included Elektra, Brünnhilde/Der Ring and Salome, performing under conductors such as Mackerras, Mehta, Young, Haitink, Levine, Maazel and Bychkov. Recent concert engagements include Isolde (Tristan und Isolde) for the Queensland Music Festival, Marta/Tiefland with the Vienna Philharmonic, and Elektra with the Cleveland Orchestra. Future plans include Brünnhilde in a new production of the Ring Cycle in Hamburg, Leonora (Fidelio) for Opera Australia, concerts in Iceland and with the WASO under Sir Andrew Davis.

Source: Jenifer Eddy Artists’ Management 2009, Lisa Gasteen AO – Soprano, Jenifer Eddy Artists’ Management, Victoria

Copyright: Newspix / David May

1985

Sallyanne Atkinson AO (1942 - )

In 1985, Sallyanne Atkinson became the first female Lord Mayor of Brisbane. She served at City Hall until 1991 before taking up senior trade posts to France, Belgium, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Sallyanne has also been recognised for her contribution to Australian sport, lobbying for the Sydney Olympic bid and acting as Deputy Mayor of the Olympic Village in 2000. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from three prominent Australian universities and, in 1993, was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of her service to the community and local government.

Courtesy: S Collins, personal collection

1985

Sandra Collins

Sandra Collins was the first woman to study mining engineering in Queensland and, to her knowledge, was the first female mining engineer to work in the mining industry in the country.

In 1985 while working at the metalliferous Cobar Mines in NSW, she fought for and gained an exemption from state legislation that prevented women from working underground so that she could work and study for her underground mine management certification.

After working in iron ore, coal and metalliferous operations across Australia, Sandra completed an MBA at the Wharton Business School in the US, having been awarded a Harkness Fellowship, the American equivalent of the Rhodes Scholarship.

Sandra managed an aluminium potline and anode plant, worked as an executive with Macquarie Corporate Finance, ran the Kandos cement plant in NSW and the Pozzolanic fly ash business in Queensland before achieving her ambition of managing a mine.

Since 2005 Sandra has managed Cement Australia’s East End Mine at Mount Larcom near Gladstone. The 3 million tonne per annum mine supplies limestone, alumina and silica for the Fisherman’s Landing cement plant.

Sandra can also operate loaders, drills, trucks, bob cats, forklifts and graders and is a dab hand with explosives.

Source: Collins S, 2009, personal biography, 15 April.

Courtesy: Newspix, News Ltd

1985

Florence Bjelke-Petersen

Florence Bjelke-Petersen was born Florence Gilmour in New Farm, Brisbane in 1920. Growing up during the Depression developed Flo’s strong conservative values. She was sent to Brisbane Girls Grammar School and after school, worked in the Queensland Main Roads Department. She was appointed Private Secretary to the Commissioner, a position she held from 1949 to 1952.

At 31 she met and married 40-year-old Johannes Bjelke-Petersen, a peanut farmer and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. As Joh's career took off, she became first a Minister's then a Premier's wife. But far from living in Joh's shadow, she was herself a significant political presence. In 1981 she became a National Party Senator for Queensland.

Flo was Deputy Leader of the National Party in the Senate from 1985 to 1990, and retired from politics in 1993.

When Joh Bjelke-Petersen was knighted in 1984, Flo Bjelke-Petersen became Lady Bjelke-Petersen, and was officially known as 'Senator Lady Bjelke-Petersen' but was almost universally referred to as 'Lady Flo'.

In Canberra Lady Bjelke-Petersen was well liked by politicians of all parties, even those who loathed her husband. Her speeches were usually about local Queensland issues and seldom political in content. She retired from the Senate in 1993, and remains a popular figure in Queensland.

She published a cookbook, 'Classic Country Cooking: Traditional Australian Fare' which included her recipe for her trademark pumpkin scones.

Source: Australian Biography, 2009, Florence Bjelke-Petersen, viewed 14 April 2009, <www.australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/bjelkepetersen/bio.html>

Courtesy: D Allen, Personal collection

1986

Davida Allen (1951 - )

Davida Allen was born in Charleville. She spent her primary school years in Toowoomba before studying at Brisbane’s Stuartholme Convent where she was heartily encouraged to pursue her passion for art. From 1970 to 1972, she studied at the now Queensland College of Art at Griffith University and began producing paintings that would become nationally renowned. Some of her more celebrated works from the 1980s include The Sam Neill Series: 1986, which explore female fantasy and sexuality. In 1986, Davida became the first Queensland woman to win the prestigious Archibald Prize for her portrait of her father-in-law (My father-in-law watering his garden). In 1999, the film Feeling Sexy (written and directed by Davida) opened the Brisbane International Film Festival. She currently exhibits her paintings at Philip Bacon Gallery.

Source: Griffith University, 2008, Griffith Oceania Alumni Update - July 2008, viewed 16 January 2009, <http://griffithalumni.e-newsletter.com.au/link/id/668c5f7fe18523b56130/page.html#f9a421d39dc9ceea3aad>.

Courtesy: Moreton Bay Regional Council

1986

Yvonne Chapman (1940 - )

Yvonne Chapman’s distinguished political career began as a Councillor with the Pine Rivers Shire, where she served three terms from 1976 to 1985. She was also elected to State Parliament in 1983 and, in 1986, she became the first female to serve in the Queensland Cabinet when she was appointed Minister for Welfare Services, Youth and Ethnic Affairs. She was reappointed as Minister for Transport and Ethnic Affairs in 1989. Yvonne returned to local government in 1994 when she was elected Mayor of Pine Rivers Shire. She served the next 14 years in office. Yvonne continues to reside in the Pine Rivers area today where she has lived all of her life.

Source: McCulloch, J 1994, Women members of the Queensland Parliament 1929 - 1994, Queensland Parliamentary Library, Brisbane.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act (PDF 342 KB). Courtesy: Commonwealth Government Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra

1986

Pay Equity

Between 1907 and 1969 the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission had determined that women, unlike men, had no dependents therefore their wage should be only a portion of men’s. This allowed employers to pay female employees significantly less than males performing the same jobs. In 1969, the concept of ‘equal pay for identical work’ was introduced and, in 1972, was expanded by the Commission to ‘equal pay for work of equal value’, allowing women to be awarded pay rates equal to their male counterparts. Today, despite legislated pay equity provisions, the pay gap between men and women still exists. In 2008, female full-time employees in Queensland earned on average 16% less than their male counterparts.

Courtesy: S Keifel, Personal collection

1987

Justice Susan Mary Kiefel (1954 - )

Susan Kiefel was born in Cairns in 1954. She left school at the age of 15 and came to work as a secretary in a law firm. In her spare time she completed her secondary education and commenced legal studies. In 1973 she secured a position as a law clerk and, shortly after, completed her bar exam with honours. She went on to be awarded a Master of Law from the University of Cambridge and was awarded the University's C.J. Hamson Prize in Comparative Law and the Jennings Prize from Wolfson College. In 1987 she was appointed the first female Queen's Counsel in Queensland and continued in practice until her appointment to the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1993. Whilst a Silk she also acted as a part-time Hearing Commissioner for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. In 1994 she was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia. In 2007 she was appointed to the High Court of Australia, becoming only the third woman to attain this position.

Courtesy: Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library, Photograph of Thea Astley, PIC823

1989

Thea Astley (1925 - 2004)

Thea Astley was a novelist, poet and short story writer who published for more than 40 years.

Born in Brisbane in 1925, Astley was educated at All Hallow’s School and the University of Queensland. She went on to teach English in both Queensland and New South Wales at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Author of 16 books, Astley won the Miles Franklin Award four times, for her works: The Well Dressed Explorer in 1962, The Slow Natives in 1965, The Acolyte in 1972, and for Drylands in 2000. In addition, Astley's novel, The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, was nominated for the 1997 Miles Franklin Award. Such success during an era when literature was dominated by male writers underscores the significance of her works.

In 1989 she was awarded both the Patrick White Award for her services to Australian literature and an honorary doctorate by the University of Queensland. Her 1999 novel Drylands was nominated for the 2001 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary award.

Thea Astley died on August 17, 2004. Her last public recognition was a special award at the 2002 NSW Premier's Literary Awards for her lifetime achievement as "a trailblazer".

Source: The State of Queensland (Department of Communities), 2008, Queensland domestic violence legislation: The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989, viewed 10 December 2008, <http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/violenceprevention/resources/qld_dfv_legislation.html>.

The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act (PDF 610 KB). Courtesy: Commonwealth Government Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra

1989

The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act

The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act was passed in 1989, aiming to provide safety and protection for people in violent domestic relationships. The Act allows a court to make a domestic violence order which attempts to prevent violence occurring within a relationship by restricting the behaviour of the person committing the abuse.

Source: The State of Queensland (Department of Communities), 2008, Queensland domestic violence legislation: The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989, viewed 10 December 2008, <http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/violenceprevention/resources/qld_dfv_legislation.html>.

Courtesy: © The Courier Mail

1989

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) (1920 - 1993)

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) was a poet, activist and educator born with the gift of words and a deep sense of her Aboriginal heritage. This combination led to international acclaim, as she used her poetry and speeches as weapons in a lifelong campaign for Indigenous rights.

Born and raised on North Stradbroke Island, she experienced both bush life and white ways. Kath left school after year seven to take up work as a domestic. She was thirteen years old.

As a single black mother of two sons, she became involved in the Aboriginal movement in the late 1950s. Her first volume of poetry, We Are Going (1964), is the first book by an Aboriginal woman to be published in Australia and became an immediate best-seller. Kath went on to write a number of important works and was always in demand as a speaker.

In 1985, she was declared Aborigine of the Year by the National Aborigines Day Observance Community and, in 1989, she became the first Indigenous woman to receive an honorary Doctorate from Griffith University. She has also received honorary Doctorates from Macquarie University and the Queensland University of Technology.

Source: Grant, H 2005, Great Queensland Women, State of Queensland (Office for Women), Brisbane.

Courtesy: D Pirie, Personal collection

1989

Daphne Pirie MBE

Born in Brisbane in 1931, Daphne began serious running at the age of seventeen when the Queensland Women's Amateur Athletic Association sent her to compete in Sydney. By 1955 she held 40 open championships in her state and was unbeaten in all events.

In the early 1950s Pirie also played for the Valley Women's Hockey Club. In her second year in the game Pirie made the State team, and by 1955 was in the Australian team. She played hockey in the winter and ran in the summer. Marrying in 1958 she had her first child soon after. The family lived at the Gold Coast and Pirie continued playing hockey at Murwillumbah.

Daphne also established a career in sports administration. She was founding president of Womensport Queensland and is a director of Gold Coast Events Management. She holds life memberships with Hockey Australia, Women's Hockey Australia and Hockey Queensland and is a Hockey Queensland Hall of Fame Inductee. She is Deputy Chair of the Queensland Academy of Sport Board, Vice Patron of Hockey Queensland and the University of Queensland Sport and President of the Gold Coast Sporting Hall of fame. In 1989 she was awarded an MBE for services to hockey and in 2006 was granted the inaugural Womensport Queensland Contribution to Sport Award.

Daphne strives to ensure that Queensland sports women are provided the community and government support that will see them reach their potential. She is now a world-ranked Master's Athlete, winning eight gold medals in international competitions.

Source: Pirie D, 2009, personal biography, 23 May.