| Melody Joy Iliffe | |
| Birth Name: | Melody Joy Welsh |
| Birth Date: | 10 April 1938 |
| Birth Place: | Bundaberg, Queensland |
| Death Place: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Known For: | Becoming the first woman in Australia to read a prime time television news bulletin |
| Television: | QTQ-9 News |
| Years Active: | 1964 to 2009 |
| Awards: | Logie Award (1965) |
Melody Joy Iliffe (née Welsh, 10 April 1938 - 21 September 2017) was an Australian Logie Award-winning news presenter.[1] [2] [3]
Iliffe is best remembered for becoming the first woman to co-anchor a prime time news bulletin on Australian television after she was chosen to read the 6pm news alongside Don Seccombe on QTQ-9 in Brisbane in 1964.[1] Welsh had previously been a production assistant on the station's children's program The Channel Niners hosted by "Captain" Jim Iliffe.[1]
She married Jim Iliffe in 1964.[1] They had three children, including David who is now a media veteran himself and a long serving breakfast presenter on ABC Southern Queensland in Toowoomba.[4]
Although she kept a low profile after her marriage, Melody Iliffe regularly appeared in television commercials for Brisbane-based electrical good retailer Chandlers throughout the 1980's.[5] She also co-hosted QTQ-9's 25th anniversary of Queensland television broadcast in 1984 and appeared at the station's 50th anniversary celebration in 2009.[5] [3]
Jim Iliffe died in 2005.[6] Melody Illife died on 21 September 2017.[7] A funeral service was held for her at St Andrew's Anglican Church in Indooroopilly on 29 September 2017.[7] At the time of her death, she had eight grandchildren.[7]
The achievement of being the first female newsreader in Australia was recognised at the Logie Awards of 1965 when Welsh was presented with a special Logie Award for "acknowledged ability, in a man's domain."[2]