Women in the Victorian Legislative Assembly

There have been 88 women in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since its establishment in 1856. Women have had the right to vote in Victoria, Australia since 1908 and the right to stand as a candidate for the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1923. As at November 2015, there were 33 women in the 88 member Legislative Assembly, 22 Labor Party members, seven Liberal Party members, two National Party members, one Greens, and one Independent.

The first successful female candidate for the Legislative Assembly was Millie Peacock, who was elected as a United Australia Party member for Allandale in a by-election in 1933, but she retired in 1935, stating that Parliament was "no place for a woman". Ivy Weber was the first woman to win a seat at a general election, winning Nunawading as an independent in 1937 (she was also the first female independent elected in Australia). She was joined in 1938 by Fanny Brownbill, Labor's first female member, elected at a by-election for the seat of Geelong. Weber resigned in 1943 and Brownbill died in 1948, after which there were no women in the Assembly until 1967, when Dorothy Goble was elected as the Liberal member for Mitcham. Since then there have continuously been female members in the Assembly.

The first female minister was Labor's Pauline Toner, who became a minister in 1982. Since then, the number of female members has continued to rise. Jeanette Powell was the first National Party member, elected to the Assembly in 2002. That election also brought 11 new Labor women into the Assembly. Since Ivy Weber, two other women, Susan Davies and Suzanna Sheed, have been elected to the Assembly as independents. Ellen Sandell was one of the two Greens candidates first elected to the Assembly at the 2014 state election.

List of women in the Victorian Legislative Assembly

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

Name	Party	Electoral Division	Period of service
Millie Peacock	UAP	Allandale	November 1933 – February 1935 (retired)
Ivy Weber	Independent	Nunawading	October 1937 – July 1943 (resigned)
Fanny Brownbill	Labor	Geelong	June 1938 – October 1948 (died)
Dorothy Goble	Liberal	Mitcham	April 1967 – February 1976 (retired)
Jeannette Patrick	Liberal	Brighton	March 1976 – January 1985 (retired)
Pauline Toner	Labor	Greensborough	November 1977 – February 1989 (resigned)
Joan Chambers	Liberal	Ballarat South	May 1977 – February 1982 (defeated)
Valerie Callister	Labor	Morwell	June 1981 – August 1988 (retired)
Prue Sibree	Liberal	Kew	August 1981 – February 1988 (resigned)
Jane Hill	Labor	Frankston Frankston North	April 1982 – August 1992 (retired)
Margaret Ray	Labor	Box Hill	April 1982 – August 1992 (defeated)
Kay Setches	Labor	Ringwood	April 1982 – August 1992 (retired)
Jan Wilson	Labor	Dandenong North	March 1985 – August 1999 (retired)
Beth Gleeson	Labor	Thomastown	March 1985 – December 1989 (died)
Carolyn Hirsh*	Labor	Wantirna	March 1985 – August 1992 (defeated)
Jan Wade	Liberal	Kew	March 1988 – August 1999 (retired)
Ann Barker	Labor	Bentleigh Oakleigh	October 1988 – August 1992 (defeated) September 1999 – November 2014 (retired)
Joan Kirner*	Labor	Williamstown	October 1988 – May 1994 (resigned)
Sherryl Garbutt	Labor	Greensborough Bundoora	April 1989 – November 2006 (retired)
Lorraine Elliott	Liberal	Mooroolbark	October 1992 – November 2002 (retired)
Ann Henderson	Liberal	Geelong	October 1992 – August 1999 (defeated)
Carole Marple	Labor	Altona	October 1992 – March 1996 (retired)
Denise McGill	Liberal	Oakleigh	October 1992 – August 1999 (defeated)
Inga Peulich*	Liberal	Bentleigh	October 1992 – November 2002 (defeated)
Marie Tehan*	Liberal	Seymour	October 1992 – August 1999 (retired)
Leonie Burke	Liberal	Prahran	March 1996 – November 2002 (retired)
Christine Campbell	Labor	Pascoe Vale	March 1996 – November 2014 (retired)
Mary Gillett	Labor	Werribee Tarneit	March 1996 – November 2006 (retired)
Lynne Kosky	Labor	Altona	March 1996 – January 2010 (resigned)
Andrea McCall	Liberal	Frankston	March 1996 – November 2002 (defeated)
Judy Maddigan	Labor	Essendon	March 1996 – November 2010 (retired)
Helen Shardey	Liberal	Caulfield	March 1996 – November 2010 (retired)
Susan Davies	Independent	Gippsland West	March 1997 – November 2002 (defeated)
Mary Delahunty	Labor	Northcote	September 1998 – November 2006 (retired)
Jacinta Allan	Labor	Bendigo East	September 1999 –
Louise Asher*	Liberal	Brighton	September 1999 –
Liz Beattie	Labor	Tullamarine Yuroke	September 1999 – November 2014 (retired)
Joanne Duncan	Labor	Gisborne Macedon	September 1999 – November 2014 (retired)
Christine Fyffe	Liberal	Evelyn	September 1999 – November 2002 (defeated) November 2006 –
Jenny Lindell	Labor	Carrum	September 1999 – November 2010 (defeated)
Karen Overington	Labor	Ballarat West	September 1999 – November 2010 (retired)
Bronwyn Pike	Labor	Melbourne	September 1999 – 7 May 2012 (resigned)
Denise Allen	Labor	Benalla	May 2000 – November 2002 (defeated)
Dympna Beard	Labor	Kilsyth	November 2002 – November 2006 (defeated)
Rosy Buchanan	Labor	Hastings	November 2002 – November 2006 (defeated)
Lily D'Ambrosio	Labor	Mill Park	November 2002 –
Anne Eckstein	Labor	Ferntree Gully	November 2002 – November 2006 (defeated)
Danielle Green	Labor	Yan Yean	November 2002 –
Tammy Lobato	Labor	Gembrook	November 2002 – November 2010 (defeated)
Kirstie Marshall	Labor	Forest Hill	November 2002 – November 2010 (defeated)
Heather McTaggart	Labor	Evelyn	November 2002 – November 2006 (defeated)
Maxine Morand	Labor	Mount Waverley	November 2002 – November 2010 (defeated)
Janice Munt	Labor	Mordialloc	November 2002 – November 2010 (defeated)
Lisa Neville	Labor	Bellarine	November 2002 –
Jeanette Powell*	National	Shepparton	November 2002 – November 2014 (retired)
Judith Graley	Labor	Narre Warren South	November 2006 –
Fiona Richardson	Labor	Northcote	November 2006 –
Marsha Thomson*	Labor	Footscray	November 2006 –
Heidi Victoria	Liberal	Bayswater	November 2006 –
Mary Wooldridge	Liberal	Doncaster	November 2006 – November 2014 (transferred to LC)
Marlene Kairouz	Labor	Kororoit	June 2008 –
Jill Hennessy	Labor	Altona	February 2010 –
Donna Bauer	Liberal	Carrum	November 2010 – November 2014 (defeated)
Maree Edwards	Labor	Bendigo West	November 2010 –
Jane Garrett	Labor	Brunswick	November 2010 –
Bronwyn Halfpenny	Labor	Thomastown	November 2010 –
Natalie Hutchins	Labor	Keilor Sydenham	November 2010 –
Sharon Knight	Labor	Ballarat West Wendouree	November 2010 –
Cindy McLeish	Liberal	Seymour Eildon	November 2010 –
Elizabeth Miller	Liberal	Bentleigh	November 2010 – November 2014 (defeated)
Dee Ryall	Liberal	Mitcham Ringwood	November 2010 –
Lorraine Wreford	Liberal	Mordialloc	November 2010 – November 2014 (defeated)
Jennifer Kanis	Labor	Melbourne	July 2012 – November 2014 (defeated)
Lizzie Blandthorn	Labor	Pascoe Vale	November 2014 –
Christine Couzens	Labor	Geelong	November 2014 –
Emma Kealy	National	Lowan	November 2014 –
Sonya Kilkenny	Labor	Carrum	November 2014 –
Steph Ryan	National	Euroa	November 2014 –
Ellen Sandell	Greens	Melbourne	November 2014 –
Suzanna Sheed	Independent	Shepparton	November 2014 –
Ros Spence	Labor	Yuroke	November 2014 –
Louise Staley	Liberal	Ripon	November 2014 –
Natalie Suleyman	Labor	St Albans	November 2014 –
Mary-Anne Thomas	Labor	Macedon	November 2014 –
Vicki Ward	Labor	Eltham	November 2014 –
Gabrielle Williams	Labor	Dandenong	November 2014 –
Roma Britnell	Liberal	South-West Coast	October 2015 –

Timeline

See also

• Women and government in Australia
• Women in the Victorian Legislative Council