Susan Maree Ryan (10 October 194227 September 2020) was an Australian politician and public servant. She was a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

(ALP) and held ministerial office in the Hawke Government as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women (1983–1988), Minister for Education and Youth Affairs (1983–1984), Minister for Education (1984–1987) and

Special Minister of State The Special Minister of State (SMOS) in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by Don Farrell since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. The minister is responsible for various parliamentary, electo ...

(1987–1988). She was the first woman from the ALP to serve in

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and was notably involved in the creation of the ''

Sex Discrimination Act 1984 The ''Sex Discrimination Act 1984'' is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which prohibits discrimination on the basis of mainly sexism, homophobia, transphobia and biphobia, but also sex, marital or relationship status, actual or potential ...

'' and the ''Affirmative Action (Equal Opportunities in Employment) Act 1986''. Ryan served as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

from 1975 to 1987. After leaving politics she served as the Age Discrimination Commissioner from 2011 to 2016, within the

Australian Human Rights Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...

Early life

Ryan was born on 10 October 1942 in

Camperdown, New South Wales Camperdown is an inner western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Camperdown is located 4 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Inner West region. Camperdown lies across the ...

. She was the daughter of Florence Ena (née Hodson) and Arthur Francis Aloysius Ryan; her mother worked as a sales assistant and her father was a public servant. Ryan grew up in the suburb of Maroubra and attended the Brigidine Convent. She enrolled at the Sydney Teachers' College in 1960, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1963. In the same year she married future diplomat Richard Butler. Ryan worked as a schoolteacher until the birth of her first child in 1964, later running a small business, the Living Parish Hymn Book Publishing Company, from her home in Cremorne. In 1965 the family moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

for her husband's career. She enrolled as a postgraduate at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

(ANU), studying English literature. In 1966 the family moved to Austria, where Butler was second secretary at the Australian embassy in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. They returned to Australia in 1969 and Ryan resumed her studies at ANU, also tutoring part-time at the

Canberra College of Advanced Education The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

. In 1970 they moved to New York for another of Butler's diplomatic postings; however, the marriage broke down and Ryan returned to Australia the following year. They divorced in 1972. In 1973, Ryan graduated from ANU with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree. In the same year she was appointed national executive officer of the Australian Council of State School Organisations. Ryan was also a foundation member of the

Belconnen The District of Belconnen () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), used in land administration. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Belconne ...

branch of the

(ALP) and the Women's Electoral Lobby. She unsuccessfully stood for ALP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

in the Division of Fraser prior to the 1974 federal election.

Political career

In 1974, Ryan was appointed to the non-governing

ACT Advisory Council The Australian Capital Territory Advisory Council was an elected body that operated from 1930 until 1974, when it was replaced by the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly. The Council originally consisted of three elected members, being ...

and elected to the non-governing ACT House of Assembly, serving briefly between 1975 and 1976 as the member for

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ele ...

. In 1975 she was elected as one of the first two senators for the ACT, on the slogan "A woman's place is in the Senate". She was the ACT's first female senator and first Labor senator. When the Hawke Labor government was elected in March 1983, Ryan was appointed Minister for Education and Youth Affairs and Minister assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. She was Minister for Education in the second Hawke Ministry and opposed the re-introduction of fees for tertiary education despite strong support in

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

for the user-pays principle. She lost the education portfolio in the third Hawke Ministry and was instead given a much reduced role as

, with responsibility for the ill-fated

Australia Card The Australia Card was a proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987. History The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in 1 ...

. Subsequently, the

Higher Education Contribution Scheme Tertiary education fees in Australia are payable for courses at tertiary education institutions. The Commonwealth government provides loans and subsidies to relieve the cost of tertiary education for some students. Some students are supported ...

was introduced to partially fund higher education. Ryan resigned from the Senate on 29 January 1988. Ryan had a strong focus on gender equality in politics. A

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

introduced by her in 1981 was crucial to the development of the ''Sex Discrimination Act 1984'', the ''Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986'', the ''Public Service Reform Act 1984'' and the ''Equal Employment Opportunity (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987''. She was also a founding member of the Women's Electoral Lobby ACT branch.

After politics

Following her resignation from politics, Ryan worked as an editor and in the insurance, plastics and superannuation industries. In November 1998 Ryan was appointed one of the first two pro-chancellors of the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

, a position she held until 2011. She was president of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees from 2000 to 2007. Ryan campaigned for an Australian

bill of rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

and was deputy chairman of the

Australian Republican Movement The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is a non-party-partisan organisation campaigning for Australia to become a republic. ARM and its supporters have promoted various models of a republic including parliamentary republic and it is, again, revi ...

from 2000 to 2003. In 1999 Ryan published a political autobiography, ''Catching the Waves: life in and out of politics''. In July 2011, Ryan was appointed as Australia's inaugural Age Discrimination Commissioner with the

for a 5-year term. She was also the Disability Discrimination Commissioner, from 2014 to 2016.

Honours and awards

Ryan was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO) in June 1990. She received honorary doctorates from the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

and the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

. In April 2018 Ryan was awarded the Australian National University's Alumni of the Year award.

Death

Ryan died on 27 September 2020 in Sydney, aged 77. She had fallen ill after going for a swim on 25 September, and had been in intensive care at

Prince of Wales Hospital Prince of Wales Hospital is a large of Tertiary referral hospital and large of teaching hospital from Faculty of Medicine in Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin, New Territories in Hong Kong.. Named after Charles, Prince of Wales (now ...

in Randwick since then. Paying tribute, former Prime Minister

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

said that Ryan's greatest achievement in politics had been to help lift Australian high school retention from a rate of three children in 10 to nine children in 10 whilst Education Minister. Incumbent Prime Minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

also paid tribute, calling her a "ground breaker" as the first Minister for Women. ACT senator

Katy Gallagher Katherine Ruth Gallagher (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Gover ...

said Ryan campaigned that a woman's place was in "all the places where decisions were being made".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Susan Maree 1942 births 2020 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian republicans Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for the Australian Capital Territory Members of the Cabinet of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Republic Advisory Committee University of Sydney alumni Women members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly Women government ministers of Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians Australian National University alumni 20th-century Australian women politicians