There have been 54 women in the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

since its creation in 1832. Women have had the right to vote since 1899 and the right to stand as candidates since 1920. The first successful female candidate for the Legislative Council was

Ruby Hutchison Ruby Florence Hutchison (15 February 1892 – 17 December 1974) was an Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1954 to 1971, representing Suburban Province (1954–1965) and North-E ...

, who was elected as one of the members for

Metropolitan-Suburban Province The Metropolitan-Suburban Province was a three-member electoral province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the metropolitan region of Perth. It was created by the ''Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899'', and became effect ...

in 1954, representing the Labor Party. Since then, women have been continuously represented in the Legislative Council; when Hutchison retired in 1971, she was succeeded by

Lyla Elliott Lyla Daphne Elliott (2 July 1934 – 18 February 2017) was an Australian politician who was a Labor member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia between 1971 and 1986, representing North-East Metropolitan Province. Born in Geral ...

. Margaret McAleer became the first

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

woman in the Council in 1974, and Winifred Piesse became the first Country Party woman in 1977. In 1997, the first women representing minor parties were elected to the Council: Helen Hodgson for the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...

, and

Chrissy Sharp Christine Sharp (18 November 1947 – 18 May 2021) was an Australian politician, who was a Greens member of the Western Australian Legislative Council representing South West Region from 1997 to 2005. Early life Born in London, Sharp comple ...

and

Giz Watson Elizabeth Mary "Giz" Watson (born 18 January 1957) is an English-born former Australian politician, and a former leader of The Greens, Western Australia. Biography Watson was born in 1957 in Eastleigh, a town in Hampshire, England, and emig ...

for the

Greens WA Greens Western Australia, commonly known as the Greens WA, is a List of member parties of the Australian Greens, member party of the Australian Greens in Western Australia. The Greens (WA) was formed following the merger of the Western Australia ...

List of women in the Western Australian Legislative Council

Names in bold indicate women who have been appointed as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries during their time in Parliament. Names in ''italics'' indicate entry into Parliament through a by-election or by appointment and * symbolises members that have sat as members in both the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:250 left:20 AlignBars = early DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1950 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1950 Colors = id:AL value:red legend: Australian Labor Party id:LP value:blue legend: Liberal Party of Australia id:NP value:teal legend: National Party of Australia id:AD value:orange legend: Australian Democrats id:AG value:brightgreen legend: Australian Greens id:LC value:yellowgreen legend: Legalise Cannabis WA Party id:ID value:gray(0.6) legend: Independent Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:50 columnwidth:200 BarData = barset:MLCs bar:Ferguson bar:MacTiernan barset:MLCs2 bar:MacLaren bar:Archer barset:MLCs3 bar:Xamon barset:MLCs4 PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:MLCs from:1954 till:1971 color:AL text:"

(1954–1971)" from:1971 till:1986 color:AL text:"

(1971–1986)" from:1974 till:1993 color:LP text:" Margaret McAleer (1974–1993)" from:1974 till:1980 color:AL text:" Grace Vaughan (1974–1980)" from:1977 till:1983 color:NP text:" Winifred Piesse (1977–1983)" from:1983 till:1993 color:AL text:"

Kay Hallahan Elsie Kay Hallahan (born 4 November 1941) is a former deputy leader of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party. As a member of the Labor Party, she also served as a minister in the Burke, Dowding and Lawrence ministries ...

(1983–1993)" from:1986 till:1993 color:AL text:"

Beryl Jones Beryl Lillian Jones (née Davies; born 30 July 1932) is a former Australian politician who was a Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch), Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council of Western ...

(1986–1993)" from:1989 till:2001 color:AL text:"

Cheryl Davenport Cheryl May Davenport ''née'' Crockenberg (born 19 January 1947) is a former Australian politician. She was born in Pinjarra and was an electorate officer before entering politics. In 1989 she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative ...

(1989–2001)" from:1989 till:2001 color:LP text:" Muriel Patterson (1989–2001)" from:1993 till:1993 color:LP text:"

Diane Airey Diane Phyllis Airey (born 4 February 1943) is a former Australian politician. Airey was born in Perth. She was appointed to the Western Australian Legislative Council in February 1993 to replace Phillip Pendal Phillip George Pendal (4 Februar ...

(1993)" bar:Ferguson from:1993 till:1993 color:AL text:" from:1995 till:1997 color:AL text:"

Valma Ferguson Valma Eileen Ferguson, ''née'' Tucker (born 20 November 1941) is a former Australian politician. She was born in Perth to truck driver Robert Henry Tucker and Mavis Irene Higham. After finishing school at Girdlestone High School, she worked for ...

(1993, 1995–1997)" bar:MacTiernan from:1993 till:1996 color:AL text:" from:2017 till:2022 color:AL text:"

Alannah MacTiernan Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan (born 10 January 1953) is an Australian politician. Since 1988, she has served in politics at a federal, state, and local level, including as a minister in the Western Australian state governments of Ge ...

(1993–1996, 2017–present)" barset:MLCs2 from:1993 till:2009 color:LP text:" Barbara Scott (1993–2009)" from:1997 till:2001 color:AD text:" Helen Hodgson (1997–2001)" from:1997 till:2015 color:AL text:"

Ljiljanna Ravlich Ljiljanna Maria Ravlich (born Ljiljana Ravlić on 9 January 1958 in Split, Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a Western Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1997 to 2015. She was the M ...

(1997–2015)" from:1997 till:2005 color:AG text:"

(1997–2005)" from:1997 till:2013 color:AG text:"

(1997–2013)" from:2001 till:2022 color:AL text:"

Kate Doust Catherine Esther Doust (born 27 May 1962) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia since 2001, representing South Metropolitan Region. She was President of the Legislative C ...

(2001–present)" from:2001 till:2022 color:AL text:"

Sue Ellery Suzanne Mary Ellery (born 12 May 1962) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia since 2001, representing South Metropolitan Region. She is the current Minister for Finance, ...

(2001–present)" from:2001 till:2021 color:AL text:"

Adele Farina Adele Farina (born 31 March 1964) is an Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2021, representing South West Region. She served as parliamentary secretary to three differ ...

(2001–2021)" from:2001 till:2005 color:AG text:"

Dee Margetts Diane Elizabeth Margetts (born 5 March 1955), known as Dee Margetts, is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1993 to 1999 and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2005, rep ...

(2001–2005)" from:2001 till:2017 color:LP text:" Robyn McSweeney (2001–2017)" from:2001 till:2007 color:AL text:"

Louise Pratt Louise Clare Pratt (born 18 April 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2016, and previously from 2008 to 2014. She is a member of the Labor Party, and served as a member of the Western Australian ...

(2001–2007)" bar:MacLaren from:2005 till:2005 color:AG text:" from:2009 till:2017 color:AG text:"

Lynn MacLaren Lynn Ellen MacLaren (born 24 March 1962) is an American-born former Australian politician. Early life MacLaren was born in Colorado Springs and studied journalism at university in California, where she began a career in journalism as the chief ...

(2005, 2009–2017)" bar:Archer from:2005 till:2007 color:AL text:" from:2007 till:2009 color:ID text:"

Shelley Archer Shelley Frances Archer (born 15 October 1958) is a former Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from May 2005, representing the Mining and Pastoral electoral region. A former union off ...

(2005–2009)" barset:MLCs3 from:2005 till:2022 color:LP text:"

Donna Faragher Donna Evelyn Mary Faragher (née Taylor; born 12 September 1975) is an Australian politician who has been a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia since 2005, representing East Metropolitan Region. She became a mi ...

(2005–present)" from:2005 till:2009 color:AL text:" Sheila Mills (2005–2009)" from:2005 till:2017 color:LP text:"

Helen Morton Helen Margaret Morton (born 30 September 1949) is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2005 to 2017, representing the region of East Metropolitan. On 14 December 2010, Morton ...

(2005–2017)" from:2005 till:2007 color:LP text:"

Margaret Rowe Margaret-Anne Bernadette Rowe (née Trahair; born 1949) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 2005 to 2007, representing Agricultural Region. Rowe was born in Kalgoorl ...

(2005–2007)" from:2005 till:2022 color:AL text:" Sally Talbot (2005–present)" from:2008 till:2013 color:NP text:"

Wendy Duncan Wendy Maxine Duncan (née Tonkin; born 7 October 1954) is an Australian politician who was a National Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2013 to 2017, representing the seat of Kalgoorlie. She was previously a m ...

(2008–2013)" from:2008 till:2009 color:AL text:" Carolyn Burton (2008–2009)" from:2008 till:2009 color:AL text:"

Shelley Eaton Shelley Elizabeth Eaton (born 11 January 1965) is an Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from September 2008 until May 2009, representing the Mining and Pastoral Region. She was bor ...

(2008–2009)" from:2009 till:2017 color:LP text:" Liz Behjat (2009–2017)" from:2009 till:2013 color:AL text:" Helen Bullock (2009–2013)" from:2009 till:2013 color:NP text:"

Mia Davies Mia Jane Davies (born 3 November 1978) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition and leader of the National Party in Western Australia. She has been a member of the state Legislative Assembly since 2013, having pr ...

(2009–2013)" from:2009 till:2017 color:LP text:"

Alyssa Hayden Alyssa Kathleen Hayden (; born 7 June 1970) is an Australian politician. Born in Perth, Hayden was a proprietor of a small business and a Australian Senate, Senate staff member before entering politics. In 2008, she was elected to the Western ...

(2009–2017)" bar:Xamon from:2009 till:2013 color:AG text:" from:2017 till:2021 color:AG text:"

Alison Xamon Alison Marie Xamon (born 8 June 1969) is an Australian Greens politician who served two separate terms in the Western Australian Legislative Council. Early life Xamon was born in Mundaring, Western Australia Xamon studied law and arts at M ...

(2009–2013, 2017–2021)" barset:MLCs4 from:2010 till:2013 color:AL text:" Linda Savage (2010–2013)" from:2013 till:2021 color:NP text:"

Jacqui Boydell Jacqueline Ellen Boydell (born 22 February 1968) is an Australian former politician. She was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council as a Nationals member for Mining and Pastoral region at the 2013 state election. Prior to her ...

(2013–2021)" from:2013 till:2022 color:AL text:"

Alanna Clohesy Alanna Therese Clohesy (born 21 August 1962) is an Australian politician who is the 19th and current President of the Western Australian Legislative Council. She was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council as a Labor Party member ...

(2013–present)" from:2013 till:2022 color:AL text:" Samantha Rowe (2013–present)" from:2013 till:2017 color:AL text:"

Amber-Jade Sanderson Amber-Jade Sanderson (born 25 October 1976) is an Australian Labor Party politician who is the member for Morley in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Western Australia. Since 21 December 2021, sh ...

(2013–2017)" from:2016 till:2017 color:AL text:"

Laine McDonald Laine Courtney McDonald is an Australian politician. She was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for North Metropolitan from 27 September 2016, when she was elected in a countback following the resignation of Ken Traver ...

(2016–2017)" from:2017 till:2017 color:LP text:" Elise Irwin (2017)" from:2017 till:2021 color:AG text:"

Diane Evers Dianne Evers (born 9 November 1956) is a retired female tennis player from Australia. With her partner Judy Chaloner, she won the 1979 Australian Open Doubles title and had a career high singles ranking of No. 42. Tennis career Evers began ...

(2017–2021)" from:2021 till:2022 color:AL text:" Klara Andric (2021–present)" from:2021 till:2022 color:AL text:" Sandra Carr (2021–present)" from:2021 till:2022 color:AL text:" Ayor Makur Chuot (2021–present)" from:2021 till:2022 color:AL text:" Lorna Harper (2021–present)" from:2021 till:2022 color:AL text:" Jackie Jarvis (2021–present)" from:2021 till:2022 color:LC text:" Sophia Moermond (2021–present)" from:2021 till:2022 color:AL text:" Shelley Payne (2021–present)" from:2021 till:2022 color:AL text:" Rosetta Sahanna (2021–present)" barset:skip

List of women in the Western Australian Legislative Council

Timeline

See also