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BA, LLB (Qld), Hon LLD (Macquarie), Hon DLitt (Charles Sturt), Hon DUniv (Griffith), Hon DU (QUT), Hon LLD (Qld), Hon DUniv (JCU), Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) (Sydney), Honorary Fellow
,
Law and Legal Studies
2010

On 5 September 2008 Quentin Bryce became Australia's first female Governor-General. This came as a culmination of a remarkable career of public service in which she played a pioneering role.

Quentin Bryce graduated in 1965 from the University of Queensland with degrees in Arts and Law. After a period overseas, she was appointed the first female member of staff of the law school at the University of Queensland, and taught there until 1983. In 1982 she was appointed the Convenor of the National Women's Advisory Council, and from 1984 to 1987 worked in the Office for the Status of Women in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Subsequent appointments included the Director of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission of Queensland (1987-88), the Federal Sex Discrimination Commission (1988-93), and Principal of Women's College at the University of Sydney (1997-2003). From 2003 to 2008 she was Governor of Queensland.

With her background in law, her long association with higher education and her sustained contribution to improving the status of women and advancing human rights, Quentin Bryce has applied the social sciences to public policy with great distinction.

  • Lecturer and Tutor in Law, the University of Queensland (1968-1983)
  • Convenor, National Women's Advisory Council (1982-1984)
  • Inaugural Director, Queensland Women's Information Service, Office of the Status of Women, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (1984-1987)
  • Director, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Queensland (1987-1988)
  • Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1988-1993)
  • Founding Chair and CEO, National Childcare Accreditation Council (1993-1996)
  • Principal and CEO, The Women's College, University of Sydney (1997-2003)
  • Governor of Queensland (2003-2008)