Women in the New South Wales Legislative Council
There have been 59 women in the New South Wales Legislative Council since its establishment in 1856. Women have had the right to stand as a candidate since 1918; the Council introduced direct election in 1978.
The first women appointed to the Legislative Council were Catherine Green and Ellen Webster in 1931, both appointed directly by the premier, Jack Lang. Green departed in 1932; after Webster's departure in 1934 women were absent from the Council until 1952, when Gertrude Melville became the first woman elected by the New South Wales Parliament to serve. Since then women have been continuously represented in the Legislative Council. The first Liberal woman to serve in the Legislative Council was Eileen Furley in 1962. The first National Party woman was Judy Jakins in 1984. The first minor-party woman was Democrat Elisabeth Kirkby, elected in 1981. The first Call to Australia/Christian Democrat woman was Marie Bignold in 1984; the first Greens woman was Lee Rhiannon in 1999. No female MLCs have been elected as independents, although Anne Press, Marie Bignold, Beryl Evans, Franca Arena and Helen Sham-Ho all left their parties and continued to sit as independents.
The first female minister in the Legislative Council was Virginia Chadwick, who was appointed Minister for Family and Community Services in 1988 by Premier Nick Greiner. Deirdre Grusovin and Carmel Tebbutt held ministerial positions in Labor governments before transferring to the Legislative Assembly.
List of women in the New South Wales Legislative Council
Names in bold type indicate ministers and parliamentary secretaries. Names in italics are of women who entered the parliament through by-election or appointment. Names marked with an asterisk also served in the Legislative Assembly. Where no closing date is shown, the MLC’s term of service is unexpired.Timeline
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id:IL value:coral legend: Independent Labor Group
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id:AJ value:claret legend: Animal Justice Party
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from:1931 till:1934 color:AL text:"Ellen Webster "
from:1952 till:1958 color:AL text:"Gertrude Melville "
from:1958 till:1978 color:AL text:"Edna Roper "
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from:1966 till:1978 color:AL text:"Amelia Rygate "
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from:1962 till:1976 color:LP text:"Eileen Furley "
from:1963 till:1976 color:AL text:"Evelyn Barron "
from:1967 till:1978 color:LP text:"Margaret Davis "
from:1973 till:1981 color:AL text:"Kath Anderson "
from:1973 till:1981 color:LP text:"Vi Lloyd "
from:1976 till:1995 color:AL text:"Delcia Kite "
from:1978 till:1988 color:AL text:"Marie Fisher "
from:1978 till:1999 color:LP text:"Virginia Chadwick "
from:1978 till:1990 color:AL text:"Deirdre Grusovin "
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from:1990 till:1999 color:AL text:"Dorothy Isaksen "
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from:1997 till:1999 color:ID text:"Franca Arena "
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from:1981 till:1998 color:AD text:"Elisabeth Kirkby "
from:1982 till:1998 color:AL text:"Ann Symonds "
from:1984 till:1995 color:LP text:"Beryl Evans "
from:1984 till:1991 color:NP text:"Judy Jakins "
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from:1988 till:2002 color:CD text:"Elaine Nile "
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from:1998 till:2003 color:ID text:"Helen Sham-Ho "
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from:1991 till:2006 color:LP text:"Patricia Forsythe "
from:1991 till:2015 color:NP text:"Jenny Gardiner "
from:1995 till:2003 color:AL text:"Janelle Saffin "
from:1995 till:1997 color:AL text:"Patricia Staunton "
from:1998 till:2005 color:AL text:"Carmel Tebbutt "
from:1999 till:2010 color:AG text:"Lee Rhiannon "
from:2000 till:2015 color:AL text:"Amanda Fazio "
from:2002 till:2015 color:NP text:"Melinda Pavey "
from:2003 till:2020 color:LP text:"Catherine Cusack "
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from:2003 till:2010 color:AG text:"Sylvia Hale "
from:2003 till:2011 color:LP text:"Robyn Parker "
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from:2007 till:2015 color:LP text:"Marie Ficarra "
from:2007 till:2019 color:AL text:"Lynda Voltz "
from:2007 till:2015 color:AL text:"Helen Westwood "
from:2010 till:2016 color:AL text:"Sophie Cotsis "
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from:2018 till:2020 color:AG text:"Cate Faehrmann "
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from:2011 till:2017 color:AG text:"Jan Barham "
from:2011 till:2020 color:LP text:"Natasha Maclaren-Jones "
from:2011 till:2020 color:NP text:"Sarah Mitchell "
from:2013 till:2018 color:AG text:"Mehreen Faruqi "
from:2015 till:2020 color:AL text:"Courtney Houssos "
from:2015 till:2020 color:NP text:"Bronnie Taylor "
from:2017 till:2019 color:AG text:"Dawn Walker "
from:2017 till:2019 color:LP text:"Natalie Ward "
from:2019 till:2020 color:AG text:"Abigail Boyd "
from:2019 till:2020 color:AJ text:"Emma Hurst "
from:2019 till:2020 color:AL text:"Tara Moriarty "
from:2019 till:2020 color:AL text:"Rose Jackson "
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