Great Australian Women: From Federation to Freedom

Great Australian WomenGreat Australian Women presents twenty courageous women who broke down the barriers of prejudice to enter the professions ‑ law, medicine, politics and architecture ‑ or made their names as musicians, writers and sports women.

From Federation to the present century, from Frances 'Fanny' Durack, the first female swimmer to win Olympic gold in 1912, Lillie Goodisson, pioneer of family planning, Eileen Joyce, world-famous pianist, Enid Lyons, our first female cabinet minister, to Roma Mitchell, appointed as Australia's first female judge of the Supreme Court in 1965 and as our first female State Governor in 1991, here are twenty outstanding Australians who succeeded against all the odds.

Their stories will make you laugh, weep and wonder at their bravery and determination.

Sarah Frances 'Fanny' Durack Elizabeth Kenny
Annette Kellerman Lillie Goodisson
Louisa Lawson Ella Simon
Mary Gilmore Kundaibark
Martha Caldwell Cox Eileen Joyce
Dagmar Berne, Dr Florence Mary Taylor
Constance Stone, Dr Joan Mavis Rosanove (Lazarus)
Agnes Bennett, Dr Roma Flinders Mitchell
Joice NanKivell Loch Ethel Florence Lindesay (Henry Handel) Richardson
Edith Dircksey Cowan Enid Burnell Lyons