Women in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

There have been 53 women in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since its establishment in 1890. 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 Assembly was Edith Cowan, who was elected as the member for West Perth in 1921 representing the Nationalist Party of Australia. This was the first time a woman had won election anywhere in Australia. Cowan was defeated in 1924 but in 1925 May Holman was elected to the seat of Forrest in a by-election, becoming the first successful Labor woman in Australia. Holman was joined by Florence Cardell-Oliver of the Nationalist Party in 1936, who would become the first female cabinet minister. Cardell-Oliver's retirement in 1956 led to a period of absence for women, until June Craig of the Liberal Party was elected in 1974, since which time women have been continuously represented in the Assembly.

Hilda Turnbull was the first National Party woman elected to the Assembly in 1989, and only two women – Liz Constable (1991–2013) and Janet Woollard (2001–2013) – have been elected as independents. Adele Carles became the first Greens member of the Assembly in 2009, although she later quit the party. Only two Indigenous women have been elected to the Western Australia parliament, starting with Carol Martin in 2001.

List of women in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

Names in bold indicate women who have been appointed as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries during their time in Parliament. Names in italics indicate women who were first elected at a by-election. An asterisk (*) indicates that the member also served in the Legislative Council.

#	Name	Party	Electoral Division	Period of service
1	Edith Cowan	Nationalist	West Perth	12 March 1921 – 22 March 1924 (defeated)
2	May Holman	Labor	Forrest	3 April 1925 – 18 March 1939 (died)
3	Florence Cardell-Oliver	Nationalist/Liberal	Subiaco	15 February 1936 – 7 April 1956 (retired)
4	June Craig	Liberal	Wellington	30 March 1974 – 19 February 1983 (defeated)
5	Pam Beggs	Labor	Whitford	19 February 1983 – 6 February 1993 (defeated)
	Pam Buchanan	Labor/Independent	Pilbara Ashburton	19 February 1983 – 4 February 1989 4 February 1989 – 3 March 1992
	Yvonne Henderson	Labor	Gosnells Thornlie	19 February 1983 – 4 February 1989 4 February 1989 – 14 December 1996 (retired)
	Jackie Watkins	Labor	Joondalup Wanneroo	19 February 1983 – 4 February 1989 4 February 1989 – 6 February 1993 (defeated)
9	Carmen Lawrence	Labor	Subiaco Glendalough	8 February 1986 – 4 February 1989 4 February 1989 – 14 February 1994 (resigned to contest HoR)
	Judyth Watson	Labor	Canning Kenwick	8 February 1986 – 4 February 1989 4 February 1989 – 14 December 1996 (defeated)
11	Cheryl Edwardes	Liberal	Kingsley	4 February 1989 – 26 February 2005 (retired)
	Hilda Turnbull	National	Collie	4 February 1989 – 10 February 2001 (defeated)
13	Judy Edwards	Labor	Maylands	26 May 1990 – 6 September 2008 (retired)
14	Liz Constable	Independent	Floreat Churchlands	20 July 1991 – 14 December 1996 14 December 1996 – 9 March 2013 (retired)
15	Kay Hallahan*	Labor	Armadale	6 February 1993 – 14 December 1996 (retired)
	June van de Klashorst	Liberal	Swan Hills	6 February 1993 – 10 February 2001 (defeated)
	Diana Warnock	Labor	Perth	6 February 1993 – 10 February 2001 (retired)
18	Michelle Roberts	Labor	Glendalough Midland	19 March 1994 – 14 December 1996 14 December 1996 –
19	Rhonda Parker	Liberal	Helena Ballajura	10 September 1994 – 14 December 1996 14 December 1996 – 10 February 2001 (defeated)
20	Megan Anwyl	Labor	Kalgoorlie	14 December 1996 – 10 February 2001 (defeated)
	Katie Hodson-Thomas	Liberal	Carine	14 December 1996 – 6 September 2008 (retired)
	Monica Holmes	Liberal	Southern River	14 December 1996 – 10 February 2001 (defeated)
	Alannah MacTiernan*	Labor	Armadale	14 December 1996 – 19 July 2010 (resigned to contest HoR)
	Sheila McHale	Labor	Thornlie	14 December 1996 – 6 September 2008 (retired)
25	Dianne Guise	Labor	Wanneroo	10 February 2001 – 6 September 2008 (defeated)
	Carol Martin	Labor	Kimberley	10 February 2001 – 9 March 2013 (retired)
	Margaret Quirk	Labor	Girrawheen	10 February 2001 –
	Jaye Radisich	Labor	Swan Hills	10 February 2001 – 6 September 2008 (retired)
	Sue Walker	Liberal/Independent	Nedlands	10 February 2001 – 6 September 2008 (defeated)
	Janet Woollard	Independent	Alfred Cove	10 February 2001 – 9 March 2013 (defeated)
31	Judy Hughes	Labor	Kingsley	26 February 2005 – 6 September 2008 (defeated)
32	Lisa Baker	Labor	Maylands	6 September 2008 –
	Janine Freeman	Labor	Nollamara	6 September 2008 –
	Liza Harvey	Liberal	Scarborough	6 September 2008 –
	Andrea Mitchell	Liberal	Kingsley	6 September 2008 – 11 March 2017 (defeated)
	Rita Saffioti	Labor	West Swan	6 September 2008 –
37	Adele Carles	Greens/Independent	Fremantle	16 May 2009 – 9 March 2013 (defeated)
38	Mia Davies*	National	Central Wheatbelt	9 March 2013 –
	Wendy Duncan*	National	Kalgoorlie	9 March 2013 – 11 March 2017 (retired)
	Eleni Evangel	Liberal	Perth	9 March 2013 – 11 March 2017 (defeated)
	Josie Farrer	Labor	Kimberley	9 March 2013 –
	Glenys Godfrey	Liberal	Belmont	9 March 2013 – 11 March 2017 (defeated)
	Simone McGurk	Labor	Fremantle	9 March 2013 –
44	Libby Mettam	Liberal	Vasse	18 October 2014 –
45	Robyn Clarke	Labor	Murray-Wellington	11 March 2017 –
	Emily Hamilton	Labor	Joondalup	11 March 2017 –
	Lisa O'Malley	Labor	Bicton	11 March 2017 –
	Cassie Rowe	Labor	Belmont	11 March 2017 –
	Amber-Jade Sanderson*	Labor	Morley	11 March 2017 –
	Jessica Shaw	Labor	Swan Hills	11 March 2017 –
	Jessica Stojkovski	Labor	Kingsley	11 March 2017 –
	Sabine Winton	Labor	Wanneroo	11 March 2017 –
53	Alyssa Hayden*	Liberal	Darling Range	23 June 2018 –

Timeline

See also