There have been 38 women in the Tasmanian House of Assembly since its establishment in 1856. Women have had the right to vote since 1903 and the right to stand as candidates since 1921. The first successful female candidates for the House of Assembly were

Amelia Best Amelia Martha (Millie) Best MBE (29 April 1900 – 14 November 1979) was one of the first two women elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. Best was born in Lower Barrington, Tasmania, Australia. She ran an arts and crafts business in L ...

and

Mabel Miller Dame Mabel Flora Miller, DBE (30 November 1906 – 30 December 1978) was an Australian lawyer and politician. She was the first woman elected to the Hobart City Council

, both Liberals, who were elected in 1955. In 1962, Miller (Best had lost election twice, in 1956 and 1959) was joined by the first Labor woman,

Lynda Heaven Lynda Agnes Victoria Heaven (12 April 1902 – 3 April 1987) was an Australian politician. She was the first female Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, and represented the electorate of Franklin between 1962 and 1964. She ...

. In 1964, both Miller and Heaven left the House, and women were not represented again until 1976, when Labor's

Gill James Gillian Hilma James (born 6 December 1934) is a former Australian politician. She was born in Launceston, Tasmania. James was first elected to the Tasmanian Parliament in 1976, when she won a seat in Bass for the Labor Party. She held the sea ...

was elected. Since then women have been continuously represented in the House.

Christine Milne Christine Anne Milne (; born 14 May 1953) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania. She was the leader of the parliamentary caucus of the Australian Greens from 2012 to 2015. Milne stepped down as leader on 6 May 2015, ...

and

Di Hollister Dianne Lesley Hollister (born 9 December 1947) is a former Australian politician. Early life Born in Devonport, Tasmania, she started her career as a teacher. Political career In 1989, she was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Br ...

were the first women elected to represent the

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

in 1989.

Kristie Johnston Kristie Joy Johnston (born 22 December 1980) is an Australian politician. She was elected as the Mayor of City of Glenorchy in 2014 and 2018 and is an Independent member for the seat of Division of Clark, having been elected in the 2021 Tasmania ...

was the first independent woman elected in 2021, although

Mary Willey Mary Lindsay Caroline Willey (6 May 1941 – 14 February 2022) was an Australian politician. Biography She was born in Warrawee, New South Wales, but later moved to Tasmania. At the 1979 state election, she was elected to the Tasmanian House of ...

Madeleine Ogilvie Madeleine Ruth Ogilvie (born 25 January 1969) is an Australian lawyer and politician. She is a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the Division of Clark and is the Minister for Small Business, Advanced Manufactur ...

and

Sue Hickey Susanne Lynnette Hickey (born 25 July 1958) is an Australian politician. She represented the electorate of Denison (later re-named Clark) from the 2018 state election until her defeat at the 2021 election, sitting with the Liberal Party until ...

had served as independents after leaving their parties.

Kathryn Hay Kathryn Isobel Hay (born 24 November 1975 in Launceston) is an Australian Labor politician and former member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the electorate of Bass. She was first elected in the 2002 election. Hay was the first woman of ...

was the first Indigenous woman elected to the Tasmanian parliament in 2002. Lara Giddings became the first female Premier of Tasmania on 24 January 2011. With the re-election of

on 11 September 2019, the House of Assembly became Australia's first state to elect a majority of women members in one house, with 13 of the 25 members being female.

List of women in the Tasmanian House of Assembly

Names in bold indicate women who have been appointed as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries during their time in Parliament. Names in ''italics'' indicate women who were first elected at a recount, and * symbolises members that have sat as members in both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:200 left:20 AlignBars = early DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1950 till:2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1950 Colors = id:LP value:blue legend: Liberal Party of Australia id:AL value:red legend: Australian Labor Party id:AG value:brightgreen legend: Tasmanian Greens/Australian Greens id:ID value:gray(0.6) legend: Independent Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:50 columnwidth:200 BarData = bar:Best barset:MHAs bar:James bar:Willey barset:MHAs2 bar:Cains barset:MHAs3 bar:Giddings barset:MHAs4 bar:Ogilvie bar:Rylah barset:MHAs5 bar:Hickey barset:MHAs6 PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Best from:1955 till:1956 color:LP text:" from:1958 till:1959 color:LP text:"

(1955–1956, 1958–1959)" barset:MHAs from:1955 till:1964 color:LP text:"

Mabel Miller Dame Mabel Flora Miller, DBE (30 November 1906 – 30 December 1978) was an Australian lawyer and politician. She was the first woman elected to the Hobart City Council

(1955–1964)" from:1962 till:1964 color:AL text:"

(1962–1964)" bar:James from:1976 till:1986 color:AL text:" from:1992 till:2002 color:AL text:

(1976–1986, 1992–2002)" bar:Willey from:1979 till:1981 color:AL text:" from:1981 till:1982 color:ID text:"

(1979–1982)" barset:MHAs2 from:1984 till:1986 color:LP text:"

Carmel Holmes Carmel Maude Holmes (5 December 1945 – 7 November 2021) was an Australian politician. Holmes was born in Winnaleah, a small country town in the North East of Tasmania where her parents and grand parents farmed and ran a dairy herd. She attende ...

(1984–1986)" from:1986 till:2002 color:AL text:"

Fran Bladel Frances Mary Bladel (born 3 October 1933) is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1986 to 2002, representing the seat of Franklin for the Labor Party. Early life and teaching career Born in H ...

(1986–2002)" from:1986 till:2006 color:AL text:" Judy Jackson (1986–2006)" from:1989 till:1998 color:AG text:"

(1989–1998)" from:1989 till:1998 color:AG text:"

(1989–1998)" bar:Cains from:1992 till:1996 color:LP text:" from:1997 till:1998 color:LP text:"

Carole Cains Carole Susan Cains (born 29 November 1943) is an Australian former politician. She was born in Derby, England. In 1992, she was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing Braddon for the Liberal Party. She was defeated in 1996, but ...

(1992–1996, 1997–1998)" barset:MHAs3 from:1992 till:2010 color:LP text:" Sue Napier (1992–2010)" from:1992 till:2008 color:AG text:" Peg Putt (1992–2008)" from:1995 till:2002 color:LP text:"

Denise Swan Denise Elizabeth Swan (born 19 July 1947) is a former Australian politician, who was a Liberal member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the division of Lyons from 1995 to 2002. Swan graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the Univer ...

(1995–2002)" bar:Giddings from:1996 till:1998 color:AL text:" from:2002 till:2018 color:AL text:" Lara Giddings (1996–1998, 2002–2018)" barset:MHAs4 from:1996 till:2009 color:AL text:"

Paula Wriedt Paula Catherine Wriedt (born 11 December 1968, Hobart) is a former Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, representing the outer suburban Hobart seat of Franklin. She was first elected to par ...

(1996–2009)" from:2002 till:2006 color:AL text:"

(2002–2006)" from:2005 till:2010 color:AL text:"

Heather Butler Heather Rose Butler (born 6 November 1947) is a former Australian politician. Born in Hampton in Melbourne, Victoria, she was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly as a Labor member for Lyons in 2005 in a recount caused by the resignat ...

(2005–2010)" from:2006 till:2023 color:AL text:" Michelle O'Byrne (2006–present)" from:2006 till:2010 color:AL text:"

Lisa Singh Lisa Maria Singh (born 20 February 1972) is a former Australian politician. She was a Senator for Tasmania from 2011 to 2019. She had previously been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, representing the division of Denison from 2006 ...

(2006–2010)" from:2008 till:2023 color:AG text:" Cassy O'Connor (2008–present)" from:2010 till:2023 color:LP text:" Elise Archer (2010–present)" from:2010 till:2023 color:LP text:"

Jacquie Petrusma Jacqueline Anne Petrusma (née Harper; born 23 March 1966) is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 2010 to 2022, representing the electorate of Franklin, and served as a m ...

(2010–present)" from:2010 till:2023 color:AL text:" Rebecca White (2010–present)" from:2014 till:2022 color:LP text:" Sarah Courtney (2014–2022)" bar:Ogilvie from:2014 till:2018 color:AL text:" from:2019 till:2021 color:ID text:" from:2021 till:2023 color:LP text:"

(2014–2018, 2019–present)" bar:Rylah from:2014 till:2018 color:LP from:2019 till:2020 color:LP text:"

Joan Rylah Joan Flora Rylah (born 20 July 1955) is an Australian financial adviser, businesswoman and politician from Burnie, Tasmania. She was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Liberal Party in the Division of Braddon at the 2014 state ...

(2014–2018, 2019–2020)" barset:MHAs5 from:2015 till:2018 color:AG text:"

Andrea Dawkins Andrea Elizabeth Dawkins (born 20 February 1965) is an Australian politician. She represented Bass in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 9 June 2015, when she was elected in a countback to replace Kim Booth, until 3 March 2018, when she was ...

(2015–2018)" from:2015 till:2023 color:AG text:" Rosalie Woodruff (2015–present)" from:2018 till:2023 color:AL text:" Jen Butler (2018–present)" from:2018 till:2023 color:AL text:"

Anita Dow Anita Joy Dow is an Australian politician and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. She was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Labor Party in the Division of Braddon The Division of Braddon is an Australian electoral divis ...

(2018–present)" from:2018 till:2023 color:AL text:"

Ella Haddad Eloise Rafia "Ella" Haddad (born 1 February 1978) is an Australian politician. She was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Labor Party in the Division of Denison at the 2018 state election, and is currently the member for Clar ...

(2018–present)" bar:Hickey from:2018 till:2020 color:LP text:" from:2020 till:2021 color:ID text:"

(2018–2021)" barset:MHAs6 from:2018 till:2021 color:AL text:"

Jennifer Houston Jennifer Louise Houston (born 22 April 1971) is a former Australian politician of Palawa heritage. She represented Bass in the Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament ...

(2018–2021)" from:2018 till:2021 color:AL text:"

Alison Standen Alison Standen is an Australian politician. She was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Labor Party in the Division of Franklin The Division of Franklin is an Australian electoral division in Tasmania. The division is loc ...

(2018–2021)" from:2021 till:2023 color:AL text:" Janie Finlay (2021–present)" from:2021 till:2023 color:ID text:"

(2021–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:LP text:"

Lara Alexander Lara Maria Alexander (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician. She has been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the division of Bass since 2022, serving as a member for the Liberal Party before moving to the crossbench as an i ...

(2022–present)" barset:skip

References

{{Women and government in Australia Tasmania