List of female heads of government in Australia

A total of eleven women have served, or are serving, as the head of an Australian government. Of these, one has served as the prime minister of Australia, six as the premiers of a state and four as the chief minister of a territory. Thirteen 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, eight as the deputy premier of a state, and four as the 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 government head, except for South Australia. The most female heads at one time was four, for 315 days, from 16 May 2011 to 26 March 2012. Clare Martin, who served as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory for 6 years, from 2001 to 2007, has the longest–serving tenure of any female head of government in Australia. Queensland's Anna Bligh served as the Premier of Queensland for 4 years, from 2007 to 2012, making her the longest–serving woman premier of a state. The shortest tenure of a former female head of government, belongs to Kristina Keneally, who served as the Premier of New South Wales for a year, from 2009 to 2011.

There is currently one serving female head of government in Australia, Annastacia Palaszczuk (39th Premier of Queensland), who was elected on 14 February 2015. Jackie Trad is currently has been serving as the Deputy Premier of Queensland since the afforementioned date, and Liza Harvey is serving as the first female Deputy Premier of Western Australia since 16 February 2016. The tenures of these incumbents are accurate as of 25 April 2025.

Female heads of government

Heads

Portrait	Title	Name (birth–death)	State or Territory	Date Assumed Office	Date Departed Office	Duration	Political Party	Leadership history and electoral Mandates
	Chief Minister	Rosemary Follett (b. 1948)	Australian Capital Territory	11 May 1989	5 December 1989	4 years, 112 days	Labor	Elected 1st Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory in May 1989. Defeated in a vote-of-no-confidence in December 1989, to Trevor Kaine. Returned to power in June 1991, following a vote-of-no-confidence against Kaine. Led Labor to victory at the 1992 general election. Defeated by the Liberals under Kate Carnell at the 1995 general election. First woman to become Chief Minister of a Territory of the Commonwealth of Australia. Only female government head to serve non-consecutive terms.
				6 June 1991	2 March 1995
75px	Premier	Carmen Lawrence (b. 1948)	Western Australia	12 February 1990	16 February 1993		Labor	Became 25th Premier of Western Australia in February 1990, following the resignation of Peter Dowding. Defeated at the state election in February 1993, by Richard Court (Liberal). First woman to become Premier of Queensland, and hence, of a State within the Commonwealth of Australia.
	Premier	Joan Kirner (1938–2015)	Victoria	10 August 1990	6 October 1992		Labor	Became 42nd Premier of Victoria in August 1990, following the resignation of John Cain II. Defeated at the state election in October 1992, by Jeff Kennett (Liberal). First, and to date, only woman Premier of Victoria.
	Chief Minister	Kate Carnell (b. 1955)	Australian Capital Territory	2 March 1995	18 October 2000		Liberal	Elected 3rd Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory in March 1995, after defeating Labor under Rosemary Follett at the general election. Led the Liberals to victory at the 1998 general election. Resigned in October 2000.
	Chief Minister	Clare Martin (b. 1952)	Northern Territory	18 August 2001	26 November 2007		Labor	Elected 7th Chief Minister of the Northern Territory in August 2001, after defeating the Country Liberal Party under Denis Burke at the general election. Led Labor to victory at the 2005 general election. Resigned in November 2007. First woman Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, and the longest-serving woman head of government in Australia.
	Premier	Anna Bligh (b. 1960)	Queensland	13 September 2007	26 March 2012		Labor	Became 37th Premier of Queensland in September 2007, following the retirement of Peter Beattie. Led Labor to victory at the 2009 state election. Defeated at the 2012 state election in March 2012, by Campbell Newman (Liberal). First woman Premier of Queensland.
	Premier	Kristina Keneally (b. 1968)	New South Wales	4 December 2009	28 March 2011		Labor	Became 42nd Premier of New South Wales in December 2009, following a Labor Party leadership challenge against Nathan Rees. Defeated at the state election in March 2011, by Barry O'Farrell (Liberal). First, and to date, only woman Premier of New South Wales.
	Prime Minister	Julia Gillard (b. 1961)	Australia (Federal)	24 June 2010	27 June 2013		Labor	Became 27th Prime Minister of Australia in June 2010, following a Labor Party leadership challenge against Kevin Rudd. Led Labor to victory at the 2010 federal election. Defeated in a leadership challenge by Rudd, in June 2013. First, and to date, only woman Prime Minister of Australia.
75px	Premier	Lara Giddings (b. 1972)	Tasmania	24 January 2011	31 March 2014		Labor	Became 44th Premier of Tasmania in January 2011, following the resignation of David Bartlett. Defeated at the state election, in March 2014. First, and to date, only woman Premier of Tasmania.
75px	Chief Minister	Katy Gallagher (b. 1970)	Australian Capital Territory	16 May 2011	11 December 2014		Labor	Became 6th Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory in May 2011, following the resignation of Jon Stanhope. Led Labor to victory at the 2012 general election. Resigned in December 2014.
75px	Premier	Annastacia Palaszczuk (b. 1969)	Queensland	14 February 2015	Incumbent		Labor	Elected 39th Premier of Queensland in February 2015, after defeating the Liberals under Campbell Newman at the state election.

Deputy heads

Name	State/ Territory	Party	Premier/ Chief Minister/ Prime Minister	Term Start	Term End	Duration
Joan Kirner	Victoria	Labor	John Cain II	7 February 1989	10 August 1990
Joan Sheldon	Queensland	Liberal	Rob Borbidge	19 February 1996	26 June 1998
Sue Napier	Tasmania	Liberal	Tony Rundle	18 March 1996	14 September 1998
Anna Bligh	Queensland	Labor	Peter Beattie	28 July 2005	13 September 2007
Katy Gallagher	Australian Capital Territory	Labor	Jon Stanhope	20 April 2006	16 May 2011
Marion Scrymgour	Northern Territory	Labor	Paul Henderson	26 November 2007	8 February 2009
Julia Gillard	Australia	Labor	Kevin Rudd	3 December 2007	24 June 2010
Lara Giddings	Tasmania	Labor	David Bartlett	26 May 2008	24 January 2011
Carmel Tebbutt	New South Wales	Labor	Nathan Rees, Kristina Keneally	5 September 2008	28 March 2011
Delia Lawrie	Northern Territory	Labor	Paul Henderson	9 February 2009	29 August 2012
Robyn Lambley	Northern Territory	Country Liberal	Terry Mills	29 August 2012	6 April 2013
Jackie Trad	Queensland	Labor	Annastacia Palaszczuk	14 February 2015	Incumbent
Liza Harvey	Western Australia	Liberal	Colin Barnett	16 February 2016	Incumbent

Timeline

Heads

Red represents members of the Australian Labor Party, blue represents members of the Liberal Party of Australia.

Deputy heads

Red represents members of the Australian Labor Party, blue represents members of the Liberal Party of Australia and orange represents the Country Liberal Party.

See also

• Women in Australian politics
• List of elected or appointed female heads of state