There have been 51 women in the South Australian House of Assembly since its establishment in 1857. Women have had the right to vote and the right to stand as candidates since 1894.
In 1895, South Australian women became the first state in Australia, and some of the first in the world, to be given the right to vote and stand for election to Parliament. The following year at the 1896 election, the first women in Australia voted. Ironically, South Australia was the last state to elect a female representative, at the 1959 election, when Jessie Cooper and Joyce Steele were elected to the Parliament of South Australia for the Liberal and Country League (LCL). Molly Byrne was the first Labor woman in the House at the 1965 election.
Women have been continuously represented in the House since. Steele would also become the first female minister in 1968. Only two women have represented minor parties, these being Heather Southcott for the Democrats in 1982, and Karlene Maywald for the Nationals from 1997 to 2010. Liberal Isobel Redmond in 2009 became the first and only woman to lead a major party in South Australia when she became Leader of the Opposition. Labor's Lyn Breuer from 2010 to 2013 was the first and only female Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. South Australia has not had a female Premier or Treasurer.
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 by-election. An asterisk (*) indicates that the member also served in the Legislative Council.
| Name | Party | Electoral Division | Period of service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joyce Steele | 7 March 1959 - 30 May 1970 30 May 1970 - 9 March 1973 (retired) | ||
| 2 | 6 March 1965 - 30 May 1970 30 May 1970 - 17 September 1977 17 September 1977 - 14 September 1979 (defeated) | |||
| 3 | Jennifer Cashmore | 17 September 1977 - 10 December 1993 (retired) | ||
| 4 | Heather Southcott | 8 May 1982 - 5 November 1982 (defeated) | ||
| 5 | 6 November 1982 - 7 December 1985 7 December 1985 - 24 November 1989 (defeated) | |||
| Susan Lenehan | 6 November 1982 - 11 December 1993 (defeated) | |||
| 7 | 7 December 1985 - 24 November 1989 (defeated) | |||
| 8 | 25 November 1989 - 11 December 1993 (defeated) | |||
| Dorothy Kotz | 25 November 1989 - 17 March 2006 (retired) | |||
| 10 | 11 December 1993 - 11 October 1997 (defeated) | |||
| Joan Hall | 11 December 1993 - 9 February 2002 9 February 2002 - 17 March 2006 (defeated) | |||
| 11 December 1993 - 9 February 2002 (defeated) | ||||
| 11 December 1993 - 20 March 2010 (retired) | ||||
| 11 December 1993 - 11 October 1997 (defeated) | ||||
| 15 | Lea Stevens | 9 April 1994 - 18 March 2006 18 March 2006 - 20 March 2010 (retired) | ||
| 16 | Robyn Geraghty | 7 May 1994 - 15 March 2014 (retired) | ||
| 17 | Trish White | 5 November 1994 - 20 March 2010 (retired) | ||
| 18 | Labor/Independent | 11 October 1997 - 19 March 2022 (defeated) | ||
| 11 October 1997 - 15 March 2014 (retired) | ||||
| 11 October 1997 - 20 March 2010 (defeated) | ||||
| Steph Key | 11 October 1997 - 9 February 2002 9 February 2002 - 17 March 2018 (retired) | |||
| Karlene Maywald | 11 October 1997 - 20 March 2010 (defeated) | |||
| Jennifer Rankine | 11 October 1997 - 17 March 2018 (retired) | |||
| 11 October 1997 - 15 March 2014 (retired) | ||||
| 25 | Vickie Chapman | 9 February 2002 - 31 May 2022 (resigned) | ||
| Jane Lomax-Smith | 9 February 2002 - 20 March 2010 (defeated) | |||
| 9 February 2002 - 17 March 2018 (retired) | ||||
| 28 | Chloë Fox | 18 March 2006 - 15 March 2014 (defeated) | ||
| Grace Portolesi | 18 March 2006 - 15 March 2014 (defeated) | |||
| 18 March 2006 - 20 March 2010 (defeated) | ||||
| 31 | Rachel Sanderson | 20 March 2010 - 19 March 2022 (defeated) | ||
| Leesa Vlahos | 20 March 2010 - 17 March 2018 (retired) | |||
| 33 | Zoe Bettison | 11 February 2012 - | ||
| Susan Close | 11 February 2012 - | |||
| 35 | 15 March 2014 - 17 March 2018 (defeated) | |||
| Katrine Hildyard | 15 March 2014 - | |||
| 15 March 2014 - | ||||
| 38 | Nat Cook | Fisher Hurtle Vale | 6 December 2014 - 17 March 2018 17 March 2018 - | |
| 39 | Paula Luethen | Liberal | King | 17 March 2018 - 19 March 2022 (defeated) |
| Carolyn Power | Liberal | Elder | 17 March 2018 - 19 March 2022 (defeated) | |
| Jayne Stinson | Labor | Badcoe | 17 March 2018 - | |
| 42 | Andrea Michaels | Labor | Enfield | 9 February 2019 - |
| 43 | Sarah Andrews | Labor | Gibson | 19 March 2022 - |
| Nadia Clancy | Labor | Elder | 19 March 2022 - | |
| Lucy Hood | Labor | Adelaide | 19 March 2022 - | |
| Ashton Hurn | Liberal | Schubert | 19 March 2022 - | |
| Catherine Hutchesson | Labor | Waite | 19 March 2022 - | |
| Rhiannon Pearce | Labor | King | 19 March 2022 - | |
| Penny Pratt | Liberal | Frome | 19 March 2022 - | |
| Olivia Savvas | Labor | Newland | 19 March 2022 - | |
| Erin Thompson | Labor | Davenport | 19 March 2022 - |
DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:1955 till:2025TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1955
Colors = id:LP value:blue legend: Liberal & Country League/Liberal Party of Australia id:AL value:red legend: Australian Labor Party id:AD value:orange legend: Australian Democrats id:NP value:teal legend: National Party of Australia id:ID value:gray(0.6) legend: Independent
Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:50 columnwidth:300
BarData = barset:MHAs bar:Bedford barset:MHAs2
PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:MHAs from:1959 till:1973 color:LP text:"Joyce Steele (1959–1973)" from:1965 till:1979 color:AL text:"Molly Byrne (1965–1979)" from:1977 till:1993 color:LP text:"Jennifer Cashmore (1977–1993)" from:1982 till:1982 color:AD text:"Heather Southcott (1982) from:1982 till:1989 color:AL text:"June Appleby (1982–1989)" from:1982 till:1993 color:AL text:"Susan Lenehan (1982–1993)" from:1985 till:1989 color:AL text:"Di Gayler (1985–1989)" from:1989 till:1993 color:AL text:"Colleen Hutchison (1989–1993)" from:1989 till:2006 color:LP text:"Dorothy Kotz (1989–2006)" from:1993 till:1997 color:LP text:"Julie Greig (1993–1997)" from:1993 till:2006 color:LP text:"Joan Hall (1993–2006)" from:1993 till:2002 color:AL text:"Annette Hurley (1993–2002)" from:1993 till:2010 color:LP text:"Liz Penfold (1993–2010)" from:1993 till:1997 color:LP text:"Lorraine Rosenberg (1993–1997)" from:1994 till:2010 color:AL text:"Lea Stevens (1994–2010)" from:1994 till:2014 color:AL text:"Robyn Geraghty (1994–2014)" from:1994 till:2010 color:AL text:"Trish White (1994–2010)" bar:Bedford from:1997 till:2017 color:AL text:" from:2017 till:2022 color:ID text:"Frances Bedford (1997–2022)" barset:MHAs2 from:1997 till:2014 color:AL text:"Lyn Breuer (1997–2014)" from:1997 till:2010 color:AL text:"Vini Ciccarello (1997–2010)" from:1997 till:2018 color:AL text:"Steph Key (1997–2018)" from:1997 till:2010 color:NP text:"Karlene Maywald (1997–2010)" from:1997 till:2018 color:AL text:"Jennifer Rankine (1997–2018)" from:1997 till:2014 color:AL text:"Gay Thompson (1997–2014)" from:2002 till:2023 color:LP text:"Vickie Chapman (2002–2022)" from:2002 till:2010 color:AL text:"Jane Lomax-Smith (2002–2010)" from:2002 till:2018 color:LP text:"Isobel Redmond (2002–2018)" from:2006 till:2014 color:AL text:"Chloë Fox (2006–2014)" from:2006 till:2014 color:AL text:"Grace Portolesi (2006–2014)" from:2006 till:2010 color:AL text:"Lindsay Simmons (2006–2010)" from:2010 till:2022 color:LP text:"Rachel Sanderson (2010–2022)" from:2010 till:2018 color:AL text:"Leesa Vlahos (2010–2018)" from:2012 till:2023 color:AL text:"Zoe Bettison (2012–present)" from:2012 till:2023 color:AL text:"Susan Close (2012–present)" from:2014 till:2018 color:AL text:"Annabel Digance (2014–2018)" from:2014 till:2023 color:AL text:"Katrine Hildyard (2014–present)" from:2014 till:2023 color:AL text:"Dana Wortley (2014–present)" from:2014 till:2023 color:AL text:"Nat Cook (2014–present)" from:2018 till:2022 color:LP text:"Paula Luethen (2018–2022)" from:2018 till:2022 color:LP text:"Carolyn Power (2018–2022)" from:2018 till:2023 color:AL text:"Jayne Stinson (2018–present)" from:2019 till:2023 color:AL text:"Andrea Michaels (2019–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Sarah Andrews (2022–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Nadia Clancy (2022–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Lucy Hood (2022–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:LP text:"Ashton Hurn (2022–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Catherine Hutchesson (2022–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Rhiannon Pearce (2022–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:LP text:"Penny Pratt (2022–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Olivia Savvas (2022–present)" from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Erin Thompson (2022–present)" barset:skip