Women in the Western Australian Legislative Council


There have been 46 women in the Western Australian Legislative Council since its creation in 1832. Women have had the right to vote since 1899 and the right to stand as candidates since 1920.
The first successful female candidate for the Legislative Council was Ruby Hutchison, who was elected as one of the members for Metropolitan-Suburban Province in 1954, representing the Labor Party. Since then, women have been continuously represented in the Legislative Council; when Hutchison retired in 1971, she was succeeded by Lyla Elliott. Margaret McAleer became the first Liberal woman in the Council in 1974, and Winifred Piesse became the first Country Party woman in 1977.
In 1997, the first women representing minor parties were elected to the Council: Helen Hodgson for the Australian Democrats, and Chrissy Sharp and Giz Watson for the Greens WA.

List of women in the Western Australian Legislative Council

Names in bold indicate women who have been appointed as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries during their time in Parliament. 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.

Timeline


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DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1950 till:2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1950
Colors =
id:AL value:red legend: Australian Labor Party
id:LP value:blue legend: Liberal Party of Australia
id:NP value:teal legend: National Party of Australia
id:AD value:orange legend: Australian Democrats
id:AG value:brightgreen legend: Australian Greens
id:ID value:gray legend: Independent
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bar:MacLaren
bar:Archer
barset:MLCs3
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width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift: anchor:till
barset:MLCs
from:1954 till:1971 color:AL text:"Ruby Hutchison "
from:1971 till:1986 color:AL text:"Lyla Elliott "
from:1974 till:1993 color:LP text:"Margaret McAleer "
from:1974 till:1980 color:AL text:"Grace Vaughan "
from:1977 till:1983 color:NP text:"Winifred Piesse "
from:1983 till:1993 color:AL text:"Kay Hallahan "
from:1986 till:1993 color:AL text:"Beryl Jones "
from:1989 till:2001 color:AL text:"Cheryl Davenport "
from:1989 till:2001 color:LP text:"Muriel Patterson "
from:1993 till:1993 color:LP text:"Diane Airey "
bar:Ferguson
from:1993 till:1993 color:AL text:"
from:1995 till:1997 color:AL text:"Valma Ferguson "
bar:MacTiernan
from:1993 till:1996 color:AL text:"
from:2017 till:2018 color:AL text:"Alannah MacTiernan "
barset:MLCs2
from:1993 till:2009 color:LP text:"Barbara Scott "
from:1997 till:2001 color:AD text:"Helen Hodgson "
from:1997 till:2015 color:AL text:"Ljiljanna Ravlich "
from:1997 till:2005 color:AG text:"Chrissy Sharp "
from:1997 till:2013 color:AG text:"Giz Watson "
from:2001 till:2018 color:AL text:"Kate Doust "
from:2001 till:2018 color:AL text:"Sue Ellery "
from:2001 till:2018 color:AL text:"Adele Farina "
from:2001 till:2005 color:AG text:"Dee Margetts "
from:2001 till:2017 color:LP text:"Robyn McSweeney "
from:2001 till:2007 color:AL text:"Louise Pratt "
bar:MacLaren
from:2005 till:2005 color:AG text:"
from:2009 till:2017 color:AG text:"Lynn MacLaren "
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from:2005 till:2007 color:AL text:"
from:2007 till:2009 color:ID text:"Shelley Archer "
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from:2005 till:2018 color:LP text:"Donna Faragher "
from:2005 till:2009 color:AL text:"Sheila Mills "
from:2005 till:2017 color:LP text:"Helen Morton "
from:2005 till:2007 color:LP text:"Margaret Rowe "
from:2005 till:2018 color:AL text:"Sally Talbot "
from:2008 till:2013 color:NP text:"Wendy Duncan "
from:2008 till:2009 color:AL text:"Carolyn Burton "
from:2008 till:2009 color:AL text:"Shelley Eaton "
from:2009 till:2017 color:LP text:"Liz Behjat "
from:2009 till:2013 color:AL text:"Helen Bullock "
from:2009 till:2013 color:NP text:"Mia Davies "
from:2009 till:2017 color:LP text:"Alyssa Hayden "
bar:Xamon
from:2009 till:2013 color:AG text:"
from:2017 till:2018 color:AG text:"Alison Xamon "
barset:MLCs4
from:2010 till:2013 color:AL text:"Linda Savage "
from:2013 till:2018 color:NP text:"Jacqui Boydell "
from:2013 till:2018 color:AL text:"Alanna Clohesy "
from:2013 till:2018 color:AL text:"Samantha Rowe "
from:2013 till:2017 color:AL text:"Amber-Jade Sanderson "
from:2016 till:2017 color:AL text:"Laine McDonald "
from:2017 till:2017 color:LP text:"Elise Irwin "
from:2017 till:2018 color:AG text:"Diane Evers "
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