There have been 60 women in the Victorian Legislative Council 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 Council since 1923. In the 2022 Victorian election, there were 22 women elected to the 40 member Legislative Council, forming a majority of the chamber for the first time.
The first successful female candidates for the Legislative Council were Gracia Baylor and Joan Coxsedge of the Liberal and Labor parties respectively, who were elected in 1979. Since then there have continuously been female members in the Council. The first National Party female member was Jeanette Powell, elected in 1996.
Names in bold indicate women who have been appointed as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries during their time in the Legislative Council. Names in italics indicate entry into Parliament through a by-election or by appointment and * symbolises members that have sat as members in both the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly.
| Name | Party | Province/Region | Period of service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gracia Baylor | Liberal | Boronia | 5 May 1979 - 1 March 1985 (resigned) | |
| Joan Coxsedge | Labor | Melbourne West | 5 May 1979 - 3 October 1992 (retired) | ||
| 3 | Caroline Hogg | Labor | Melbourne North | 3 April 1982 - 18 September 1999 (retired) | |
| Judith Dixon | Labor | Boronia | 3 April 1982 - 1 October 1988 (defeated) | ||
| Joan Kirner | Labor | Melbourne West | 3 April 1982 - 1 October 1988 (transferred to LA) | ||
| 6 | Maureen Lyster | Labor | Chelsea | 2 March 1985 - 3 October 1992 (defeated) | |
| Jean McLean | Labor | Boronia Melbourne West | 2 March 1985 - 2 October 1992 3 October 1992 - 18 September 1999 (retired) | ||
| 8 | Rosemary Varty | Liberal | Nunawading Silvan | 17 August 1985 - 2 October 1992 3 October 1992 - 18 September 1999 (retired) | |
| 9 | Marie Tehan | Liberal | Central Highlands | 21 March 1987 - 2 October 1992 (transferred to LA) | |
| 10 | Licia Kokocinski | Labor | Melbourne West | 1 October 1988 - 30 March 1996 (retired) | |
| 11 | Louise Asher | Liberal | Monash | 3 October 1992 - 18 September 1999 (transferred to LA) | |
| Sue Wilding | Liberal | Chelsea | 3 October 1992 - 18 September 1999 (defeated) | ||
| 13 | Monica Gould | Labor | Doutta Galla | 28 September 1993 - 24 November 2006 (retired) | |
| 14 | Maree Luckins | Liberal | Waverley | 30 March 1996 - 30 November 2002 (ran for LA) | |
| Jeanette Powell | National | North Eastern | 30 March 1996 - 30 November 2002 (transferred to LA) | ||
| Wendy Smith | Liberal | Silvan | 30 March 1996 - 30 November 2002 (defeated) | ||
| 17 | Candy Broad | Labor | Melbourne North Northern Victoria | 18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - 9 May 2014 (resigned) | |
| Elaine Carbines | Labor | Geelong | 18 September 1999 - November 2006 (defeated) | ||
| Andrea Coote | Liberal | Monash Southern Metropolitan | 18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - 29 November 2014 (retired) | ||
| Kaye Darveniza | Labor | Melbourne West Northern Victoria | 18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - 29 November 2014 (retired) | ||
| Dianne Hadden | Labor/Independent | Ballarat | 18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 (defeated) | ||
| Jenny Mikakos | Labor | Jika Jika Northern Metropolitan | 18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - 26 September 2020 (resigned) | ||
| Glenyys Romanes | Labor | Melbourne | 18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 (defeated) | ||
| Marsha Thomson | Labor | Melbourne North | 18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 (transferred to LA) | ||
| 25 | Lidia Argondizzo | Labor | Templestowe | 30 November 2002 - 25 November 2006 (defeated) | |
| Helen Buckingham | Labor | Koonung | 30 November 2002 - 25 November 2006 (retired) | ||
| Carolyn Hirsh | Labor/Independent | Silvan | 30 November 2002 - 25 November 2006 (retired) | ||
| Wendy Lovell | Liberal | North Eastern Northern Victoria | 30 November 2002 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - | ||
| 29 | Colleen Hartland | Greens | Western Metropolitan | 25 November 2006 - 8 February 2018 (resigned) | |
| Jan Kronberg | Liberal | Eastern Metropolitan | 25 November 2006 - 29 November 2014 (retired) | ||
| Sue Pennicuik | Greens | Southern Metropolitan | 25 November 2006 - 24 November 2018 (defeated) | ||
| Donna Petrovich | Liberal | Northern Victoria | 25 November 2006 - 1 July 2013 (resigned) | ||
| Inga Peulich | Liberal | South Eastern Metropolitan | 25 November 2006 - 24 November 2018 (defeated) | ||
| Jaala Pulford | Labor | Western Victoria | 25 November 2006 - | ||
| Gayle Tierney | Labor | Western Victoria | 25 November 2006 - | ||
| 36 | Jennifer Huppert | Labor | Southern Metropolitan | 3 February 2009 - 27 November 2010 (defeated) | |
| 37 | Georgie Crozier | Liberal | Southern Metropolitan | 27 November 2010 - | |
| 38 | Amanda Millar | Liberal | Northern Victoria | 22 August 2013 - 29 November 2014 (defeated) | |
| 39 | Marg Lewis | Labor | Northern Victoria | 11 June 2014 - 29 November 2014 (retired) | |
| 40 | Rachel Carling-Jenkins | DLP/Conservatives/Independent | Western Metropolitan | 29 November 2014 - 24 November 2018 (ran for LA) | |
| Samantha Dunn | Greens | Eastern Metropolitan | 29 November 2014 - 24 November 2018 (defeated) | ||
| Margaret Fitzherbert | Liberal | Southern Metropolitan | 29 November 2014 - 24 November 2018 (defeated) | ||
| Fiona Patten | Sex Party/Reason | Northern Metropolitan | 29 November 2014 - | ||
| Harriet Shing | Labor | Eastern Victoria | 29 November 2014 - | ||
| Nina Springle | Greens | South Eastern Metropolitan | 29 November 2014 - 24 November 2018 (defeated) | ||
| Jaclyn Symes | Labor | Northern Victoria | 29 November 2014 - | ||
| Mary Wooldridge | Liberal | Eastern Metropolitan | 29 November 2014 - 8 December 2019 (resigned) | ||
| 48 | Melina Bath | National | Eastern Victoria | 16 April 2015 - | |
| 49 | Samantha Ratnam | Greens | Northern Metropolitan | 19 October 2017 - | |
| 50 | Huong Truong | Greens | Western Metropolitan | 21 February 2018 - 24 November 2018 | |
| 51 | Catherine Cumming | Justice | Western Metropolitan | 24 November 2018 - 26 November 2022 (defeated) | |
| Jane Garrett | Labor | Eastern Victoria | 24 November 2018 - 2 July 2022 (died) | ||
| Tania Maxwell | Justice | Northern Victoria | 24 November 2018 - | ||
| Bev McArthur | Liberal | Western Victoria | 24 November 2018 - | ||
| Ingrid Stitt | Labor | Western Metropolitan | 24 November 2018 - | ||
| Nina Taylor | Labor | Southern Metropolitan | 24 November 2018 - 26 November 2022 (transferred to LA) | ||
| Sonja Terpstra | Labor | Eastern Metropolitan | 24 November 2018 - | ||
| Kaushaliya Vaghela | Labor | Western Metropolitan | 24 November 2018 - 26 November 2022 (defeated) | ||
| 59 | Sheena Watt | Labor | Northern Metropolitan | 13 October 2020 - | |
| 60 | Cathrine Burnett-Wake | Liberal | Eastern Victoria | 2 December 2021 - |
DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:1975 till:2025TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1975
Colors = id:LP value:blue legend: Liberal Party of Australia id:AL value:red legend: Australian Labor Party id:NP value:teal legend: National Party of Australia id:AG value:brightgreen legend: Australian Greens id:SX value:yellow legend: Australian Sex Party/Reason Party id:DL value:orange legend: Democratic Labour Party id:AC value:skyblue legend: Australian Conservatives id:JP value:darkblue legend: Derryn Hinch's Justice Party id:ID value:gray(0.6) legend: Independent
Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:50 columnwidth:200
BarData = barset:MLCs bar:CarlingJenkins barset:MLCs2 bar:Cumming barset:MLCs3
PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:MLCs from:1979 till:1985 color:LP text:"Gracia Baylor (1979–1985)" from:1979 till:1992 color:AL text:"Joan Coxsedge (1979–1992)" from:1982 till:1999 color:AL text:"Caroline Hogg (1982–1999)" from:1982 till:1988 color:AL text:"Judith Dixon (1982–1988)" from:1982 till:1988 color:AL text:"Joan Kirner (1982–1988)" from:1985 till:1992 color:AL text:"Maureen Lyster (1985–1992)" from:1985 till:1999 color:AL text:"Jean McLean (1985–1999)" from:1985 till:1999 color:LP text:"Rosemary Varty (1985–1999)" from:1987 till:1992 color:LP text:"Marie Tehan (1987–1992)" from:1988 till:1996 color:AL text:"Licia Kokocinski (1988–1996)" from:1992 till:1999 color:LP text:"Louise Asher (1992–1999)" from:1992 till:1999 color:LP text:"Sue Wilding (1992–1999)" from:1993 till:2006 color:AL text:"Monica Gould (1993–2006)" from:1996 till:2002 color:LP text:"Maree Luckins (1996–2002)" from:1996 till:2002 color:NP text:"Jeanette Powell (1996–2002)" from:1996 till:2002 color:LP text:"Wendy Smith (1996–2002)" from:1999 till:2014 color:AL text:"Candy Broad (1999–2014)" from:1999 till:2006 color:AL text:"Elaine Carbines (1999–2006)" from:1999 till:2014 color:LP text:"Andrea Coote (1999–2014)" from:1999 till:2014 color:AL text:"Kaye Darveniza (1999–2014)" from:1999 till:2006 color:AL text:"Dianne Hadden (1999–2006)" from:1999 till:2020 color:AL text:"Jenny Mikakos (1999–2020)" from:1999 till:2006 color:AL text:"Glenyys Romanes (1999–2006)" from:1999 till:2006 color:AL text:"Marsha Thomson (1999–2006)" from:2002 till:2006 color:AL text:"Lidia Argondizzo (2002–2006)" from:2002 till:2006 color:AL text:"Helen Buckingham (2002–2006)" from:2002 till:2006 color:AL text:"Carolyn Hirsh (2002–2006)" from:2002 till:2022 color:LP text:"Wendy Lovell (2002–present)" from:2006 till:2018 color:AG text:"Colleen Hartland (2006–2018)" from:2006 till:2014 color:LP text:"Jan Kronberg (2006–2014)" from:2006 till:2018 color:AG text:"Sue Pennicuik (2006–2018)" from:2006 till:2013 color:LP text:"Donna Petrovich (2006–2013)" from:2006 till:2018 color:LP text:"Inga Peulich (2006–2018)" from:2006 till:2022 color:AL text:"Jaala Pulford (2006–present)" from:2006 till:2022 color:AL text:"Gayle Tierney (2006–present)" from:2009 till:2010 color:AL text:"Jennifer Huppert (2009–2010)" from:2010 till:2022 color:LP text:"Georgie Crozier (2010–present)" from:2013 till:2014 color:LP text:"Amanda Millar (2013–2014)" from:2014 till:2014 color:AL text:"Marg Lewis (2014)" bar:CarlingJenkins from:2014 till:2016 color:DL text:" from:2016 till:2017 color:AC text:" from:2017 till:2018 color:ID text:"Rachel Carling-Jenkins (2014–2018)" barset:MLCs2 from:2014 till:2018 color:AG text:"Samantha Dunn (2014–2018)" from:2014 till:2018 color:LP text:"Margaret Fitzherbert (2014–2018)" from:2014 till:2022 color:SX text:"Fiona Patten (2014–present)" from:2014 till:2022 color:AL text:"Harriet Shing (2014–present)" from:2014 till:2018 color:AG text:"Nina Springle (2014–2018)" from:2014 till:2022 color:AL text:"Jaclyn Symes (2014–present)" from:2014 till:2019 color:LP text:"Mary Wooldridge (2014–2019)" from:2015 till:2022 color:NP text:"Melina Bath (2015–present)" from:2017 till:2022 color:AG text:"Samantha Ratnam (2017–present)" from:2018 till:2018 color:AG text:"Huong Truong (2018)" bar:Cumming from:2018 till:2019 color:JP text:" from:2019 till:2022 color:ID text:"Catherine Cumming (2018–2022)" barset:MLCs3 from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Jane Garrett (2018–present)" from:2018 till:2022 color:JP text:"Tania Maxwell (2018–present)" from:2018 till:2022 color:LP text:"Bev McArthur (2018–present)" from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Ingrid Stitt (2018–present)" from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Nina Taylor (2018–2022)" from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Sonja Terpstra (2018–present)" from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Kaushaliya Vaghela (2018–2022)" from:2020 till:2022 color:AL text:"Sheena Watt (2020–present)" from:2021 till:2022 color:LP text:"Cathrine Burnett-Wake (2021–present)" barset:skip
Numbers and proportions are as they were directly after the beginning of Council terms and do not take into account deaths, resignations, appointments, defections or other changes in membership.
| Term | colspan=3 | Labor | colspan=3 | Liberal | colspan=3 | National | colspan=3 | Greens | colspan=3 | Others | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | Total | % | Women | Total | % | Women | Total | % | Women | Total | % | Women | Total | % | Women | Total | % | |||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1982 | align=right | 1 | align=right | 13 | align=right | 7.7% | align=right | 1 | align=right | 27 | align=right | 3.7% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 4 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 2 | 44 | 4.5% | |
| 1982–1985 | align=right | 4 | align=right | 19 | align=right | 21.1% | align=right | 1 | align=right | 21 | align=right | 4.8% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 4 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 5 | 44 | 11.4% | |
| 1985–1988 | align=right | 6 | align=right | 23 | align=right | 26.1% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 16 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 5 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 6 | 44 | 13.6% | |
| 1988–1992 | align=right | 5 | align=right | 19 | align=right | 26.3% | align=right | 2 | align=right | 19 | align=right | 10.5% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 6 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 7 | 44 | 15.9% | |
| 1992–1996 | align=right | 3 | align=right | 14 | align=right | 21.4% | align=right | 3 | align=right | 24 | align=right | 12.5% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 6 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 6 | 44 | 13.6% | |
| 1996–1999 | align=right | 3 | align=right | 10 | align=right | 30.0% | align=right | 6 | align=right | 28 | align=right | 21.4% | align=right | 1 | align=right | 6 | align=right | 16.7% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 9 | 44 | 20.5% | |
| 1999–2002 | align=right | 8 | align=right | 14 | align=right | 57.1% | align=right | 3 | align=right | 24 | align=right | 12.5% | align=right | 1 | align=right | 6 | align=right | 16.7% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 12 | 44 | 27.3% | |
| 2002–2006 | align=right | 11 | align=right | 25 | align=right | 44.0% | align=right | 2 | align=right | 14 | align=right | 14.3% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 5 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 13 | 44 | 29.6% | |
| 2006–2010 | align=right | 5 | align=right | 19 | align=right | 26.3% | align=right | 5 | align=right | 15 | align=right | 33.3% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 2 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 2 | align=right | 3 | align=right | 66.7% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 1 | align=right | 0.0% | 12 | 40 | 30.0% | |
| 2010–2014 | align=right | 5 | align=right | 16 | align=right | 31.2% | align=right | 6 | align=right | 18 | align=right | 33.3% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 3 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 2 | align=right | 3 | align=right | 66.7% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0.0% | 13 | 40 | 32.5% | |
| 2014–2018 | align=right | 5 | align=right | 14 | align=right | 35.7% | align=right | 5 | align=right | 14 | align=right | 35.7% | align=right | 0 | align=right | 2 | align=right | 0.0% | align=right | 4 | align=right | 5 | align=right | 80.0% | align=right | 2 | align=right | 5 | align=right | 40.0% | 16 | 40 | 40.0% | |
| 2018–2022 | align=right | 10 | align=right | 18 | align=right | 55.6% | align=right | 4 | align=right | 10 | align=right | 40.0% | align=right | 1 | align=right | 1 | align=right | 100.0% | align=right | 1 | align=right | 1 | align=right | 100.0% | align=right | 3 | align=right | 10 | align=right | 30.0% | 19 | 40 | 47.5% | |
| 2022– | align=right | 8 | align=right | 15 | align=right | 53.3% | align=right | 6 | align=right | 12 | align=right | 50.0% | align=right | 2 | align=right | 2 | align=right | 100.0% | align=right | 3 | align=right | 4 | align=right | 75.0% | align=right | 3 | align=right | 7 | align=right | 42.9% | 22 | 40 | 55.0% | |