Women in the South Australian House of Assembly
Introduction There have been 51 '''women in the South Australian House of Assembly''' since its establishment in 1857.Women have had the right to vote and the right to stand as candidates since 1894.In 1895, South Australian women became the first state in Australia, and some of the first in the world, to be given the right to vote and stand for election to Parliament. The following year at the 1896 election, the first women in Australia voted. Ironically, South Australia was the last state to elect a female representative, at the 1959 election, when Jessie Cooper and Joyce Steele were elected to the Parliament of South Australia for the Liberal and Country League (LCL). Molly Byrne was the first Labor woman in the House at the 1965 election.Women have been continuously represented in the House since. Steele would also become the first female minister in 1968.Only two women have represented minor parties, these being Heather Southcott for the Democrats in 1982, and Karlene Maywald for the Nationals from 1997 to 2010.Liberal Isobel Redmond in 2009 became the first and only woman to lead a major party in South Australia when she became Leader of the Opposition. Labor's Lyn Breuer from 2010 to 2013 was the first and only female Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. South Australia has not had a female Premier or Treasurer.
List of women in the South Australian House of 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.#NamePartyElectoral DivisionPeriod of service1'''Joyce Steele'''  LCL  Burnside  Davenport  7 March 1959 – 30 May 1970  30 May 1970 – 9 March 1973 (retired)2Molly Byrne  Labor  Barossa  Tea Tree Gully  Todd  6 March 1965 – 30 May 1970  30 May 1970 – 17 September 1977  17 September 1977 – 14 September 1979 (defeated)3'''Jennifer Cashmore'''  Liberal  Coles  17 September 1977 – 10 December 1993 (retired)4''Heather Southcott''  Democrats  Mitcham  8 May 1982 – 5 November 1982 (defeated)5June Appleby  Labor  Brighton  Hayward  6 November 1982 – 7 December 1985  7 December 1985 – 24 November 1989 (defeated)'''Susan Lenehan'''  Labor  Mawson  6 November 1982 – 11 December 1993 (defeated)7Di Gayler  Labor  Newland  7 December 1985 – 24 November 1989 (defeated)8Colleen Hutchison  Labor  Stuart  25 November 1989 – 11 December 1993 (defeated)'''Dorothy Kotz'''  Liberal  Newland  25 November 1989 – 17 March 2006 (retired)10Julie Greig  Liberal  Reynell  11 December 1993 – 11 October 1997 (defeated)'''Joan Hall'''  Liberal  Coles  Morialta  11 December 1993 – 9 February 2002  9 February 2002 – 17 March 2006 (defeated)Annette Hurley  Labor  Napier  11 December 1993 – 9 February 2002 (defeated)Liz Penfold  Liberal  Flinders  11 December 1993 – 20 March 2010 (retired)Lorraine Rosenberg  Liberal  Kaurna  11 December 1993 – 11 October 1997 (defeated)15'''''Lea Stevens'''''  Labor  Elizabeth  Little Para  9 April 1994 – 18 March 2006  18 March 2006 – 20 March 2010 (retired)16''Robyn Geraghty''  Labor  Torrens  7 May 1994 – 15 March 2014 (retired)17'''''Trish White'''''  Labor  Taylor  5 November 1994 – 20 March 2010 (retired)18Frances Bedford  Labor/Independent Florey  11 October 1997 – 19 March 2022 (defeated)Lyn Breuer  Labor  Giles  11 October 1997 – 15 March 2014 (retired)Vini Ciccarello  Labor  Norwood  11 October 1997 – 20 March 2010 (defeated)'''Steph Key'''  Labor  Hanson  Ashford  11 October 1997 – 9 February 2002  9 February 2002 – 17 March 2018 (retired)'''Karlene Maywald'''  National  Chaffey  11 October 1997 – 20 March 2010 (defeated)'''Jennifer Rankine'''  Labor  Wright  11 October 1997 – 17 March 2018 (retired)Gay Thompson  Labor  Reynell  11 October 1997 – 15 March 2014 (retired)25'''Vickie Chapman''' Liberal  Bragg  9 February 2002 – 31 May 2022 (resigned)'''Jane Lomax-Smith'''  Labor  Adelaide  9 February 2002 – 20 March 2010 (defeated)Isobel Redmond  Liberal  Heysen  9 February 2002 – 17 March 2018 (retired)28'''Chloë Fox'''  Labor  Bright  18 March 2006 – 15 March 2014 (defeated)'''Grace Portolesi'''  Labor  Hartley  18 March 2006 – 15 March 2014 (defeated)Lindsay Simmons  Labor  Morialta  18 March 2006 – 20 March 2010 (defeated)31'''Rachel Sanderson''' Liberal  Adelaide  20 March 2010 – 19 March 2022 (defeated)'''Leesa Vlahos''' Labor  Taylor  20 March 2010 – 17 March 2018 (retired)33'''''Zoe Bettison''''' Labor  Ramsay  11 February 2012 – '''''Susan Close''''' Labor  Port Adelaide  11 February 2012 –35Annabel Digance  Labor  Elder  15 March 2014 – 17 March 2018 (defeated)'''Katrine Hildyard''' Labor  Reynell  15 March 2014 – Dana Wortley  Labor  Torrens  15 March 2014 –38'''''Nat Cook''''' Labor  Fisher  Hurtle Vale 6 December 2014 – 17 March 2018  17 March 2018 –39Paula Luethen Liberal King 17 March 2018 – 19 March 2022 (defeated)'''Carolyn Power''' Liberal Elder 17 March 2018 – 19 March 2022 (defeated)Jayne Stinson Labor Badcoe 17 March 2018 –42'''''Andrea Michaels''''' Labor Enfield 9 February 2019 –43Sarah Andrews Labor Gibson 19 March 2022 – Nadia Clancy Labor Elder 19 March 2022 – Lucy Hood Labor Adelaide 19 March 2022 – Ashton Hurn Liberal Schubert 19 March 2022 – Catherine Hutchesson Labor Waite 19 March 2022 – '''Rhiannon Pearce''' Labor King 19 March 2022 – Penny Pratt Liberal Frome 19 March 2022 – Olivia Savvas Labor Newland 19 March 2022 – Erin Thompson Labor Davenport 19 March 2022 –
Timeline ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:200 left:20AlignBars = earlyDateFormat = yyyyPeriod   = from:1955 till:2025TimeAxis  = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1955Colors   =  id:LP  value:blue       legend: Liberal & Country League/Liberal Party of Australia  id:AL  value:red        legend: Australian Labor Party  id:AD  value:orange     legend: Australian Democrats  id:NP  value:teal       legend: National Party of Australia  id:ID  value:gray(0.6)  legend: IndependentLegend     = columns:3 left:150 top:50 columnwidth:300BarData =  barset:MHAs  bar:Bedford  barset:MHAs2PlotData=  width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:MHAs  from:1959 till:1973 color:LP text:"Joyce Steele (1959–1973)"  from:1965 till:1979 color:AL text:"Molly Byrne (1965–1979)"  from:1977 till:1993 color:LP text:"Jennifer Cashmore (1977–1993)"  from:1982 till:1982 color:AD text:"Heather Southcott (1982)  from:1982 till:1989 color:AL text:"June Appleby (1982–1989)"  from:1982 till:1993 color:AL text:"Susan Lenehan (1982–1993)"  from:1985 till:1989 color:AL text:"Di Gayler (1985–1989)"  from:1989 till:1993 color:AL text:"Colleen Hutchison (1989–1993)"  from:1989 till:2006 color:LP text:"Dorothy Kotz (1989–2006)"  from:1993 till:1997 color:LP text:"Julie Greig (1993–1997)"  from:1993 till:2006 color:LP text:"Joan Hall (1993–2006)"  from:1993 till:2002 color:AL text:"Annette Hurley (1993–2002)"  from:1993 till:2010 color:LP text:"Liz Penfold (1993–2010)"  from:1993 till:1997 color:LP text:"Lorraine Rosenberg (1993–1997)"  from:1994 till:2010 color:AL text:"Lea Stevens (1994–2010)"  from:1994 till:2014 color:AL text:"Robyn Geraghty (1994–2014)"  from:1994 till:2010 color:AL text:"Trish White (1994–2010)" bar:Bedford  from:1997 till:2017 color:AL text:"  from:2017 till:2022 color:ID text:"Frances Bedford (1997–2022)" barset:MHAs2  from:1997 till:2014 color:AL text:"Lyn Breuer (1997–2014)"  from:1997 till:2010 color:AL text:"Vini Ciccarello (1997–2010)"  from:1997 till:2018 color:AL text:"Steph Key (1997–2018)"  from:1997 till:2010 color:NP text:"Karlene Maywald (1997–2010)"  from:1997 till:2018 color:AL text:"Jennifer Rankine (1997–2018)"  from:1997 till:2014 color:AL text:"Gay Thompson (1997–2014)"  from:2002 till:2023 color:LP text:"Vickie Chapman (2002–2022)"  from:2002 till:2010 color:AL text:"Jane Lomax-Smith (2002–2010)"  from:2002 till:2018 color:LP text:"Isobel Redmond (2002–2018)"  from:2006 till:2014 color:AL text:"Chloë Fox (2006–2014)"  from:2006 till:2014 color:AL text:"Grace Portolesi (2006–2014)"  from:2006 till:2010 color:AL text:"Lindsay Simmons (2006–2010)"  from:2010 till:2022 color:LP text:"Rachel Sanderson (2010–2022)"  from:2010 till:2018 color:AL text:"Leesa Vlahos (2010–2018)"  from:2012 till:2023 color:AL text:"Zoe Bettison (2012–present)"  from:2012 till:2023 color:AL text:"Susan Close (2012–present)"  from:2014 till:2018 color:AL text:"Annabel Digance (2014–2018)"  from:2014 till:2023 color:AL text:"Katrine Hildyard (2014–present)"  from:2014 till:2023 color:AL text:"Dana Wortley (2014–present)"  from:2014 till:2023 color:AL text:"Nat Cook (2014–present)"  from:2018 till:2022 color:LP text:"Paula Luethen (2018–2022)"  from:2018 till:2022 color:LP text:"Carolyn Power (2018–2022)"  from:2018 till:2023 color:AL text:"Jayne Stinson (2018–present)"  from:2019 till:2023 color:AL text:"Andrea Michaels (2019–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Sarah Andrews (2022–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Nadia Clancy (2022–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Lucy Hood (2022–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:LP text:"Ashton Hurn (2022–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Catherine Hutchesson (2022–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Rhiannon Pearce (2022–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:LP text:"Penny Pratt (2022–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Olivia Savvas (2022–present)"  from:2022 till:2023 color:AL text:"Erin Thompson (2022–present)"  barset:skip
See also