Quentin Bryce

Quentin Bryce AD CVO (b. 1942), academic, lawyer and community and human rights advocate, was the first woman to be appointed governor-general of Australia. Born in Brisbane, she spent her early childhood in Ilfracombe in central western Queensland. She finished school in Brisbane before completing degrees in arts and law at the University of Queensland, where in 1968 she became the first female member of the law faculty. By the time she retired from teaching in 1983, she was increasingly involved in human rights and advocacy work. Over the next decade she was director of the Queensland Women’s Information Service, director of Queensland’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner. Having spent three years as chair of the National Childcare Accreditation Council, in 1997 she became principal and chief executive officer of the Women's College within the University of Sydney. Six years later she became governor of Queensland, continuing her work with women, families and young people while extending her influence across rural, regional, aged, indigenous, migrant, and disability sectors. In 2008 she was appointed Australia’s 25th governor-general. Her term concluded in March 2014, after which she chaired Queensland’s special taskforce on domestic and family violence.