A total of twelve women have served, or are serving, as the head of an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n government. Of these, one has served as the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of Australia, seven as the

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

of a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and five as the chief minister of a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

. Seventeen women have also served, or are serving, as the deputy head of government in Australian states and territories; one has served as the

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

of the country, ten as the deputy premier of a state, and six as the deputy chief minister of a territory. The first female head of government in Australia, was

Rosemary Follett Rosemary Follett (born 27 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the inaugural Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, serving in 1989 and again between 1991 and 1995. She was the first woman to become head of gove ...

in 1989, who was the 1st Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory.

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

became the first female premier of a state in 1990, by serving as the 25th Premier of Western Australia. In 2010,

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

became the first, and to date, only female Prime Minister of Australia. Today, every Australian state and territory has had at least one female government head, except for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

; the Australian Capital Territory has had the most, with three serving throughout its 27-year history; Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory have each had a second female head of government serving in their respective jurisdiction. The most female heads to serve concurrently was four, during the 315 days of 16 May 2011 to 26 March 2012.

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , Polish: Annastacia Pałaszczuk, ; born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who has been the 39th premier of Queensland since 2015 and the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since ...

, who has served as 39th Premier of Queensland since 14 February 2015, has the longest–serving tenure of any female head of government in Australia. The shortest tenure of a female head of government belongs to

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Represe ...

, who served as the 42nd Premier of New South Wales for a little over a year, from December 2009 to March 2011. There are currently two serving female heads of government in Australia,

( 39th Premier of Queensland) who was elected on 14 February 2015, and

Natasha Fyles Natasha Kate Fyles (born 26 May 1978)Natasha Fyles
''Territory Women'', Northern Ter ...

( 12th Chief Minister of the Northern Territory) who was appointed on 13 May 2022. Three women currently serve as deputy heads of government in Australia;

Nicole Manison Nicole Susan Manison (born 1979) is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 2013, representing the electorate of Wanguri. She has been Deputy Chief Minister since the 20 ...

(

Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory The deputy chief minister of the Northern Territory is a role in the Government of the Northern Territory assigned to a responsible Minister in the Northern Territory. It has second ranking behind the chief minister of the Northern Territory in ...

) since 12 September 2016,

Yvette Berry Yvette Simone Berry (born 1 August 1968) is an Australian politician and Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. She has been a Labor Party member for the seat of Ginninderra in the ACT Legislative Assembly since the 2012 AC ...

(

Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory The deputy chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the second-most senior officer in the Government of the Australian Capital Territory. The deputy chief ministership has been a ministerial portfolio since its establishment in 1989 ...

) since 31 October 2016 and

Susan Close Susan Elizabeth Close (born 12 November 1967) is an Australian politician, who is currently the Deputy Premier of South Australia since March 2022. She also holds the ministerial portfolios of Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minist ...

(

Deputy Premier of South Australia Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

) since 21 March 2022. The tenures of these incumbents are accurate as of .

Female heads of government

Heads

Deputy heads

Female opposition leaders

Timeline

Heads

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:30 right:180 left:20 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1980 till:01/06/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1980 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:LI value:blue id:LA value:red Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Governors PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5, -4) anchor:till barset:Governors from:11/05/1989 till:05/12/1989 color:LA text:"

1st (1989)" from:12/02/1990 till:16/02/1993 color:LA text:"

(1990–1993)" from:10/08/1990 till:06/10/1992 color:LA text:"

Joan Kirner Joan Elizabeth Kirner (née Hood; 20 June 1938 – 1 June 2015) was an Australian politician who was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. A Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1982 to 1994, she was a mem ...

(1990–1992)" from:06/06/1991 till:02/03/1995 color:LA text:"

2nd (1991–1995)" from:02/03/1995 till:18/10/2000 color:LI text:"

Kate Carnell Anne Katherine Carnell (née Knowlman; born 30 May 1955) is an Australian businesswoman and former Liberal Party politician, who served as the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) from 1995 to 2000. Early life and p ...

(1995–2000)" from:18/08/2001 till:26/11/2007 color:LA text:"

Clare Martin Clare Majella Martin (born 15 June 1952) is a former Australian journalist and politician. She was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in a shock by-election win in 1995. She was appointed Opposition Leader in 1999, and won ...

(2001–2007)" from:13/09/2007 till:26/03/2012 color:LA text:"

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In 2 ...

(2007–2012)" from:04/12/2009 till:28/03/2011 color:LA text:"

(2009–2011)" from:24/06/2010 till:27/06/2013 color:LA text:"

(2010–2013)" from:24/01/2011 till:31/03/2014 color:LA text:"

Lara Giddings Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings (born 14 November 1972) is a former Australian politician who was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014, the first woman to hold the position. Born in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, she ...

(2011–2014)" from:16/05/2011 till:11/12/2014 color:LA text:"

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 ...

(2011–2014)" from:14/02/2015 till:end color:LA text:"

(2015–present)" from:23/01/2017 till:05/10/2021 color:LI text:"

Gladys Berejiklian Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021. Berejiklian became a member ...

(2017–2021)" from:13/05/2022 till:end color:LA text:"

Natasha Fyles Natasha Kate Fyles (born 26 May 1978)Natasha Fyles
''Territory Women'', Northern Ter ...

(2022–present)" barset:skip Red represents members 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 ...

, blue represents members of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

Deputy heads

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:30 right:180 left:20 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1980 till:01/06/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1980 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:LI value:blue id:LA value:red id:CL value:orange Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Governors PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5, -4) anchor:till barset:Governors from:07/02/1989 till:10/08/1990 color:LA text:"

(1989–1990)" from:19/02/1996 till:26/06/1998 color:LI text:"

Joan Sheldon Joan Mary Sheldon (born 29 April 1943) is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1990 to 2004, representing the electorates of Landsborough (1990–1992) and then Caloundra (1 ...

(1996–1998)" from:18/03/1996 till:14/09/1998 color:LI text:"

Sue Napier Suzanne Deidre Napier (née Braid; 1 January 1948 – 5 August 2010) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Division of Bass. Napier was first elected in 1992 and was re-elected in 1996, 1998, ...

(1996–1998)" from:28/07/2005 till:13/09/2007 color:LA text:"

(2005–2007)" from:20/04/2006 till:16/05/2011 color:LA text:"

(2006–2011)" from:26/11/2007 till:08/02/2009 color:LA text:"

Marion Scrymgour Marion Rose Scrymgour (born 13 September 1960) is an Australian politician and the current MP for Lingiari. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the electorate of Arafura. She was th ...

(2007–2009)" from:03/12/2007 till:24/06/2010 color:LA text:"

(2007–2010)" from:26/05/2008 till:24/01/2011 color:LA text:"

(2008–2011)" from:05/09/2008 till:26/03/2011 color:LA text:"

Carmel Tebbutt Carmel Mary Tebbutt (born 22 January 1964) is an Australian former politician. She was the Labor Party Member for the former seat of Marrickville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly until the 2015 election and was Deputy Premier of New ...

(2008–2011)" from:09/02/2009 till:29/08/2012 color:LA text:"

Delia Lawrie Delia Phoebe Lawrie (born 30 July 1966) is an Australian politician. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2016, representing the electorate of Karama. She was a Labor member from 2001 to 2015, and served ...

(2009–2012)" from:29/08/2012 till:06/03/2013 color:CL text:"

Robyn Lambley Robyn Jane Lambley (born 26 January 1965) is an Australian politician. She is an independent member representing the division of Araluen in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, having been first elected in a 2010 by-election as a memb ...

(2012–2013)" from:14/02/2015 till:10/05/2020 color:LA text:"

Jackie Trad Jacklyn Anne Trad (born 25 April 1972) is a former Australian politician. She was Deputy Premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2020, Treasurer of Queensland from 2017 to 2020 and represented the Electoral district of South Brisbane for the Labor P ...

(2015–2020)" from:16/02/2016 till:17/03/2017 color:LI text:"

Liza Harvey Liza Mary Harvey (née Browne; born 25 October 1966) is an Australian politician who was the Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2008 to 2021, representing the seat of Scarborough. She was a minister in t ...

(2016–2017)" from:12/09/2016 till:end color:LA text:"

(2016–present)" from:31/10/2016 till:end color:LA text:"

(2016–present)" from:19/03/2018 till:22/11/2021 color:LI text:"

Vickie Chapman Vickie Ann Chapman is a former Australian politician, representing the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Bragg for the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia between the 2002 election and May 2022. Chapman served ...

(2018–2021)" from:21/03/2022 till:end color:LA text:"

(2022–present)" from:27/06/2022 till:end color:LA text:"

Jacinta Allan Jacinta Marie Allan (born 19 September 1973) is an Australian politician serving as the 29th and current deputy premier of Victoria since June 2022. She is a member of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Labor Party and has been a member of ...

(2022–present)" barset:skip Red represents members of the

, blue represents members of the

and orange represents the

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

Notes

References

External links

Australian Electoral Commission: Electoral Milestones for Women
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of female heads of government in Australia . . Women heads of government of Australian states and territories

Female heads of government The following is a list of women who have been elected or appointed head of state or government of their respective countries since the interwar period (1918–1939). The first list includes female President (government title), presidents who a ...

Female heads of government

Heads

Deputy heads

Female opposition leaders

Timeline

Heads

Deputy heads

See also

Notes

References

External links