A total of sixteen women have served, or are serving, as the head of an Australian government. Of these, one has served as the prime minister of Australia, eight as the premier of a state and seven as the chief minister of a territory. Twenty 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 of the country, thirteen 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 in 1989, who was the 1st Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. Carmen Lawrence became the first female premier of a state in 1990, by serving as the 25th Premier of Western Australia. In 2010, Julia Gillard became the first, and to date, only female Prime Minister of Australia.
Today, every Australian state and territory has had at least one female head of government, except for South Australia; the Northern Territory has had the most, with four; the Australian Capital Territory has had three; Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria 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 between 16 May 2011 and 26 March 2012. Annastacia Palaszczuk, who served as the 39th Premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023, had the longest tenure of any female head of government in Australia. The shortest tenure belongs to Eva Lawler, who served as the 13th Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from December 2023 to August 2024.
There are currently two serving female heads of government in Australia: Jacinta Allan (49th Premier of Victoria) who was appointed on 27 September 2023, and Lia Finocchiaro (14th Chief Minister of the Northern Territory) who was appointed on 28 August 2024. In addition, four women currently serve as deputy heads of government in Australia; Yvette Berry (Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory) since 31 October 2016; Susan Close (Deputy Premier of South Australia) since 21 March 2022; Prue Car (Deputy Premier of New South Wales) since 28 March 2023; and Rita Saffioti (Deputy Premier of Western Australia) since 8 June 2023.
| Portrait | Title | Name | State territory | Term start | Term end | Elections | Duration | Party | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Capital Territory | 1989 1992 1995 | 4 years, 122 days | |||||||||
| Premier | Western Australia | 1993 | |||||||||
| Premier | Victoria | 1992 | |||||||||
| Chief Minister | Australian Capital Territory | 1995 1998 | |||||||||
| Chief Minister | Northern Territory | 2001 2005 | |||||||||
| Premier | Queensland | 2009 2012 | |||||||||
| Premier | New South Wales | 2011 | |||||||||
| Prime Minister | Australia | 2010 | |||||||||
| Premier | Tasmania | 2014 | |||||||||
| Chief Minister | Australian Capital Territory | 2012 | |||||||||
| Premier | Queensland | 2015 2017 2020 | |||||||||
| Premier | New South Wales | 2019 | |||||||||
| Chief Minister | Northern Territory | — | |||||||||
| Premier | Jacinta Allan | Victoria | Incumbent | — | |||||||
| Chief Minister | Eva Lawler | Northern Territory | 28 August 2024 | 2024 | |||||||
| Chief Minister | Lia Finocchiaro | Northern Territory | Incumbent | 2024 | |||||||
| Name | State/ territory | Party | Head of government | Term start | Term end | Duration | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 7 February 1989 | 10 August 1990 | |||||||
| Queensland | 19 February 1996 | 26 June 1998 | |||||||
| Tasmania | Liberal | 18 March 1996 | 14 September 1998 | ||||||
| Queensland | Labor | 28 July 2005 | 13 September 2007 | ||||||
| Australian Capital Territory | Labor | 20 April 2006 | 16 May 2011 | ||||||
| Northern Territory | Labor | 26 November 2007 | 8 February 2009 | ||||||
| Australia | Labor | 3 December 2007 | 24 June 2010 | ||||||
| Tasmania | Labor | 26 May 2008 | 24 January 2011 | ||||||
| New South Wales | Labor | 5 September 2008 | 28 March 2011 | ||||||
| Northern Territory | Labor | Paul Henderson | 9 February 2009 | 29 August 2012 | |||||
| Northern Territory | 29 August 2012 | 6 April 2013 | |||||||
| Queensland | Labor | 14 February 2015 | 10 May 2020 | ||||||
| Western Australia | Liberal | 16 February 2016 | 17 March 2017 | [1] | |||||
| Northern Territory | Labor | 12 September 2016 | 21 December 2023 | ||||||
| Australian Capital Territory | Labor | 31 October 2016 | Incumbent | [2] | |||||
| South Australia | Liberal | 19 March 2018 | 22 November 2021 | [3] | |||||
| South Australia | Labor | 21 March 2022 | Incumbent | [4] | |||||
| Victoria | Labor | 27 June 2022 | 27 September 2023 | [5] | |||||
| Prue Car | New South Wales | Labor | Chris Minns | 28 March 2023 | Incumbent | ||||
| Rita Saffioti | Western Australia | Labor | Roger Cook | 8 June 2023 | Incumbent | ||||
| Portrait | Name | State territory | Term start | Term end | Elections | Duration | Party | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Capital Territory | |||||||||||
| Victoria | |||||||||||
| Western Australia | |||||||||||
| Australian Capital Territory | 1995 | ||||||||||
| Australian Capital Territory | |||||||||||
| Northern Territory | 1997 | ||||||||||
| New South Wales | 1999 | ||||||||||
| Northern Territory | 2001 | ||||||||||
| Tasmania | |||||||||||
| Northern Territory | Country Liberal | ||||||||||
| South Australia | 2010 | ||||||||||
| Queensland | 2015 | ||||||||||
| Northern Territory | |||||||||||
| Tasmania | 2018 2021 | ||||||||||
| 2024 | |||||||||||
| Queensland | 2020 | Liberal National | |||||||||
| Western Australia | Liberal | ||||||||||
| New South Wales | Labor | ||||||||||
| Northern Territory | 28 August 2024 | 2024 | Country Liberal | ||||||||
| Australian Capital Territory | Incumbent | Liberal | |||||||||
| Western Australia | 30 January 2023 | 1 year, 291 days | National | ||||||||
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/01/1988 till:01/09/2024TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1988
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DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/01/1988 till:01/09/2024TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1988
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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:"Joan Kirner (1989–1990)" from:19/02/1996 till:26/06/1998 color:LI text:"Joan Sheldon (1996–1998)" from:18/03/1996 till:14/09/1998 color:LI text:"Sue Napier (1996–1998)" from:28/07/2005 till:13/09/2007 color:LA text:"Anna Bligh (2005–2007)" from:20/04/2006 till:16/05/2011 color:LA text:"Katy Gallagher (2006–2011)" from:26/11/2007 till:08/02/2009 color:LA text:"Marion Scrymgour (2007–2009)" from:03/12/2007 till:24/06/2010 color:LA text:"Julia Gillard (2007–2010)" from:26/05/2008 till:24/01/2011 color:LA text:"Lara Giddings (2008–2011)" from:05/09/2008 till:26/03/2011 color:LA text:"Carmel Tebbutt (2008–2011)" from:09/02/2009 till:29/08/2012 color:LA text:"Delia Lawrie (2009–2012)" from:29/08/2012 till:06/03/2013 color:CL text:"Robyn Lambley (2012–2013)" from:14/02/2015 till:10/05/2020 color:LA text:"Jackie Trad (2015–2020)" from:16/02/2016 till:17/03/2017 color:LI text:"Liza Harvey (2016–2017)" from:12/09/2016 till:21/12/2023 color:LA text:"Nicole Manison (2016–2023)" from:31/10/2016 till:end color:LA text:"Yvette Berry (2016–present)" from:19/03/2018 till:22/11/2021 color:LI text:"Vickie Chapman (2018–2021)" from:21/03/2022 till:end color:LA text:"Susan Close (2022–present)" from:27/06/2022 till:27/09/2023 color:LA text:"Jacinta Allan (2022–2023)" from:28/03/2023 till:end color:LA text:"Prue Car (2023–present)" from:08/06/2023 till:end color:LA text:"Rita Saffioti (2023–present)" barset:skipRed represents members of the Australian Labor Party, blue represents members of the Liberal Party of Australia and orange represents the Country Liberal Party.