Articles, pictures, worksheets, and much more on Australian Influential Women
Influential Australian women have shaped the nation through leadership, courage, and innovation. From Indigenous activist Faith Bandler, to pioneering medical researcher Fiona Wood, whose spray-on skin has saved countless lives, Australian women have broken barriers in their fields. Dame Nellie Melba became one of the world’s most celebrated opera singers, while Cathy Freeman inspired the nation by winning Olympic gold in 2000 and promoting reconciliation. Today, activists, scientists, athletes, and artists continue to build on the legacy of these trailblazers, making lasting contributions to Australia and the world.
KIDS
ARTICLES
• International Women’s Day
• Woman Suffrage
• Women’s Movement
Women’s Movement
• Vida Goldstein
• Henrietta Dugdale
• Louisa Lawson
• Annie Lowe
Civil Rights Leaders
• Faith Bandler
• Daisy Bates
• Edith Cowan
• Caroline Chisholm
• Henrietta Dugdale
• Pearl Gibbs
• Lowitja O’Donoghue
• Shirley Smith
Astronaut
• Katherine Bennell-Pegg
Aviators
• Nancy Bird
Sports
• Cathy Freeman
• Ash Barty
• Evonne Goolagong Cawley
• Emma McKeon
• Nova Peris
Doctors, Nurses, Researchers
• Fiona Stanley
• Fiona Wood
• Suzanne Cory
• Priscilla Kincaid-Smith
Explorers
• Jessica Watson
• Caroline Creaghe
Inventors
• Marita Cheng
Business Leaders
• Tan Le
• Marita Cheng
• Gail Kelly
• Gina Rinehart
Painters
• Judy Cassab
Political Leaders
• Julia Gillard
• Quentin Bryce
Religious Leaders
• Saint Mary MacKillop
Judges and Justices
• Pat O’Shane
• Susan Kiefel
Musicians, Composers and Singers
• Dame Nellie Melba
• Dame Joan Sutherland
• Kylie Minogue
• Olivia Newton-John
Scientists
• Dorothy Hill
• Helen Newton Turner
• Irene Crespin
• Suzanne Cory
• Ruby Payne-Scott
• Fiona Stanley
• Fiona Wood
Authors
• Oodgeroo Noonuccal
• Miles Franklin
• Mavis Thorpe Clark
• Pamela Allen
• Dame Mary Gilmore
• Mem Fox
• May Gibbs
• Katharine Susannah Prichard
• Ursula Dubosarsky
• Hesba Fay Brinsmead
• Christina Stead
• Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson
• Melina Marchetta
• Nan Chauncy
• Alison Lester
• Judith Wright
• Patricia Wrightson
• Lilith Norman
• Kate Grenville
• Louisa Atkinson
• Mary Grant Bruce
• Catherine Helen Spence
• Ethel Turner
• Jill Ker Conway
• P. L. Travers
Actors, Directors
• Jennifer Hawkins
• Naomi Watts
• Cate Blanchett
• Nicole Kidman
• Margot Robbie
WORKSHEETS:
• Australian Female Authors
STUDENT
ARTICLES
General
• International Women’s Day
• Sex Discrimination
• Sexual Harassment
• Women’s Movement
• Women’s Suffrage
Women’s rights leaders
• Henrietta Dugdale
• Vida Goldstein
• Louisa Lawson
• Annie Lowe
Actors and directors
• Cate Blanchett
• Dame Nellie Melba
• Nicole Kidman
• Naomi Watts
Civil Rights Leaders
• Faith Bandler
• Daisy Bates
• Caroline Chisholm
• Edith Cowan
• Lowitja O’Donoghue
• Pearl Gibbs
• Shirley Smith
Aviators
• Nancy Bird
Sports
• Ash Barty
• Kay Cottee
• Dawn Fraser
• Cathy Freeman
• Stephanie Gilmore
• Evonne Goolagong Cawley
• Lauren Jackson
• Emma McKeon
• Nova Peris
• Samantha Stosur
• Ariarne Titmus
• Jessica Watson
Australian Authors
• Alison Lester
• Catherine Helen Spence
* Christina Stead
• Dame Mary Gilmore
• Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson
• Ethel Turner
• Hesba Fay Brinsmead
• Jill Ker Conway
• Judith Wright
• Kate Grenville
• Katharine Susannah Prichard
• Lilith Norman
• Louisa Atkinson
• Mary Grant Bruce
• May Gibbs
• Melina Marchetta
• Mem Fox
• Mavis Thorpe Clark
• Miles Franklin
• Nan Chauncy
• Oodgeroo Noonuccal
• P. L. Travers
• Pamela Allen
WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Australian Scientists
• Katherine Bennell-Pegg
• Lucy Meredith Bryce
• Helen Mary Caldicott
• Elizabeth Kenny
• Priscilla Kincaid-Smith
• Jean Macnamara
• Bridget Ogilvie
• Fiona Stanley
• Fiona Wood
• Isobel Ida Bennett
• Elizabeth Helen Blackburn
• Stella Grace Maisie Carr
• Suzanne Cory
• Irene Crespin
• Jennifer Ann Marshall Graves
• Dorothy Hill
• Georgiana Molloy
• Helen Newton Turner
• Ruby Payne-Scott
• Michelle Yvonne Simmons
Australian Inventors
• Marita Cheng
TIMELINES
• Women’s Firsts in the Modern Era
WEBQUEST
• Women in Science
WORKSHEET
• Oodgeroo Noonuccal
• Australian Literature and Authors
BIOGRAPHY CENTRE
Use the Biography Centre feature to search for courageous and influential Australian women from history and present day.