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Minister for Women (Australia)

Australian cabinet position

Summary

Australian cabinet position

Field	Value
insignia	Coat_of_Arms_of_Australia.svg
insigniacaption	Commonwealth Coat of Arms
flag	Flag of Australia (converted).svg
flagcaption	Flag of Australia
flagborder	yes
post	Minister for Women
incumbent	Katy Gallagher
image	Katy Gallagher 2022.jpg
incumbentsince
style	The Honourable
appointer	Governor-General
appointer_qualified	on the advice of the prime minister
inaugural	Judi Moylan
(as Minister for the Status of Women)
formation
department	Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
website

(as Minister for the Status of Women) The Minister for Women in the Government of Australia is Katy Gallagher, who since 23 May 2022 has been a member of the Albanese ministry. Ministers holding the position, first introduced in 1976 during the Second Fraser ministry, have held several different titles. They have often held other portfolios, and sometimes sat in Cabinet of Australia. All but the first two office-holders have been women.

History

A women's affairs branch was established within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1976. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser announced he wished to "have formal machinery set up for the co-ordination of government activity in women's affairs". He appointed Tony Street as the first Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Women’s Affairs; Street and his successor Ian Macphee are the only men to have held the post. Senator Margaret Guilfoyle, the only female minister at the time (and one of only six women in parliament), declined the position, as she was unwilling to be pigeonholed into portfolios that were considered "women's work".

Scope

In the Government of Australia, the Minister administers the portfolio through the Office for Women within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with the budget being administered through the Department of Social Services. Currently, the Minister works with other Government Ministers to ensure that women's issues and gender equality are taken into consideration in policy and program development and implementation. The Office for Women supports the Minister in this role, and is the central source of advice for Government agencies on the impact of Government policies and programmes for Australian women.

List of ministers

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Women, or any of its precedent titles:

Order	Minister	Party	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Tony Street	Liberal}}	Liberal	Fraser	Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Women's Affairs
2	Ian Macphee
3	Susan Ryan	Labor}}	Labor	Hawke	Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women
4	Margaret Reynolds
5	Wendy Fatin
Keating
6	Rosemary Crowley		days
7	Ros Kelly		days
8	Carmen Lawrence
9	Jocelyn Newman	Liberal}}	Liberal	Howard
10	Judi Moylan	Minister for the Status of Women
(9)	Jocelyn Newman	Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women
11	Amanda Vanstone
12	Kay Patterson
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues
13	Julie Bishop
14	Tanya Plibersek	Labor}}	Labor	Rudd	Minister for the Status of Women
Gillard
15	Kate Ellis
16	Julie Collins
Rudd
17	Michaelia Cash	Liberal}}	Liberal	Abbott	Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women
Turnbull
Minister for Women
18	Kelly O'Dwyer
Morrison
19	Marise Payne
20	Katy Gallagher		Labor	Albanese		Incumbent

Assistant ministers

Order	Minister	Party	Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office	Ref
1	Kate Thwaites	Labor}}		Labor	Albanese	Assistant Minister for Women			days
2	Rebecca White		Incumbent	days

References

"Current Ministry List".
(15 March 1976). "Adviser 'named soon'". [[The Canberra Times]].
(6 July 1976). "Women's affairs". [[The Canberra Times]].
(17 August 1976). "Assistant ministers appointed". [[The Canberra Times]].
Margaret Fitzherbert. "GUILFOYLE, DAME MARGARET GEORGINA CONSTANCE (1926– )". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate.
(2011). "Ministries and Cabinets". [[Parliament of Australia]].
{{Cite Au Parliament
(29 July 2024). "Ministry list as at 29 July 2024".
(13 May 2025). "Ministry list as at 13 May 2025".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

lists-of-government-ministers-of-australia women's-ministries women's-rights-in-australia

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