Women in the Victorian Legislative Council

There have been 60 women in the Victorian Legislative Council since its establishment in 1856. Women have had the right to vote in Victoria, Australia since 1908 and the right to stand as a candidate for the Victorian Legislative Council since 1923. In the 2022 Victorian election, there were 22 women elected to the 40 member Legislative Council, forming a majority of the chamber for the first time.
The first successful female candidates for the Legislative Council were Gracia Baylor and Joan Coxsedge of the Liberal and [Australian Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch)|Labor Party (Victorian Branch)|Labor] parties respectively, who were elected in 1979. Since then there have continuously been female members in the Council. The first National Party female member was Jeanette Powell, elected in 1996.

List of women in the Victorian Legislative Council

Names in bold indicate women who have been appointed as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries during their time in the Legislative Council. Names in italics indicate entry into Parliament through a by-election or by appointment and * symbolises members that have sat as members in both the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly.

#	Name	Party	Province/Region	Period of service
1	Gracia Baylor	Liberal	Boronia	5 May 1979 - 1 March 1985
1	Joan Coxsedge	Labor	Melbourne West	5 May 1979 - 3 October 1992
3	Caroline Hogg	Labor	Melbourne North	3 April 1982 - 18 September 1999
3	Judith Dixon	Labor	Boronia	3 April 1982 - 1 October 1988
3	Joan Kirner*	Labor	Melbourne West	3 April 1982 - 1 October 1988
6	Maureen Lyster	Labor	Chelsea	2 March 1985 - 3 October 1992
6	Jean McLean	Labor	Boronia Melbourne West	2 March 1985 - 2 October 1992 3 October 1992 - 18 September 1999
8	Rosemary Varty	Liberal	Nunawading Silvan	17 August 1985 - 2 October 1992 3 October 1992 - 18 September 1999
9	Marie Tehan*	Liberal	Central Highlands	21 March 1987 - 2 October 1992
10	Licia Kokocinski	Labor	Melbourne West	1 October 1988 - 30 March 1996
11	Louise Asher*	Liberal	Monash	3 October 1992 - 18 September 1999
11	Sue Wilding	Liberal	Chelsea	3 October 1992 - 18 September 1999
13	Monica Gould	Labor	Doutta Galla	28 September 1993 - 24 November 2006
14	Maree Luckins	Liberal	Waverley	30 March 1996 - 30 November 2002
14	Jeanette Powell*	National	North Eastern	30 March 1996 - 30 November 2002
14	Wendy Smith	Liberal	Silvan	30 March 1996 - 30 November 2002
17	Candy Broad	Labor	Melbourne North Northern Victoria	18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - 9 May 2014
17	Elaine Carbines	Labor	Geelong	18 September 1999 - November 2006
17	Andrea Coote	Liberal	Monash Southern Metropolitan	18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - 29 November 2014
17	Kaye Darveniza	Labor	Melbourne West Northern Victoria	18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - 29 November 2014
17	Dianne Hadden	Labor/Independent	Ballarat	18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006
17	Jenny Mikakos	Labor	Jika Jika Northern Metropolitan	18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 - 26 September 2020
17	Glenyys Romanes	Labor	Melbourne	18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006
17	Marsha Thomson*	Labor	Melbourne North	18 September 1999 - 25 November 2006
25	Lidia Argondizzo	Labor	Templestowe	30 November 2002 - 25 November 2006
25	Helen Buckingham	Labor	Koonung	30 November 2002 - 25 November 2006
25	Carolyn Hirsh*	Labor/Independent	Silvan	30 November 2002 - 25 November 2006
25	Wendy Lovell	Liberal	North Eastern Northern Victoria	30 November 2002 - 25 November 2006 25 November 2006 -
29	Colleen Hartland	[Australian Australian Greens Victoria\|Greens Victoria\|Greens]	Western Metropolitan	25 November 2006 - 8 February 2018
29	Jan Kronberg	Liberal	Eastern Metropolitan	25 November 2006 - 29 November 2014
29	Sue Pennicuik	Greens	Southern Metropolitan	25 November 2006 - 24 November 2018
29	Donna Petrovich	Liberal	Northern Victoria	25 November 2006 - 1 July 2013
29	Inga Peulich*	Liberal	South Eastern Metropolitan	25 November 2006 - 24 November 2018
29	Jaala Pulford	Labor	Western Victoria	25 November 2006 -
29	Gayle Tierney	Labor	Western Victoria	25 November 2006 -
36	Jennifer Huppert	Labor	Southern Metropolitan	3 February 2009 - 27 November 2010
37	Georgie Crozier	Liberal	Southern Metropolitan	27 November 2010 -
38	Amanda Millar	Liberal	Northern Victoria	22 August 2013 - 29 November 2014
39	Marg Lewis	Labor	Northern Victoria	11 June 2014 - 29 November 2014
40	Rachel Carling-Jenkins	DLP/Conservatives/Independent	Western Metropolitan	29 November 2014 - 24 November 2018
40	Samantha Dunn	Greens	Eastern Metropolitan	29 November 2014 - 24 November 2018
40	Margaret Fitzherbert	Liberal	Southern Metropolitan	29 November 2014 - 24 November 2018
40	Fiona Patten	Sex Party/Reason	Northern Metropolitan	29 November 2014 -
40	Harriet Shing	Labor	Eastern Victoria	29 November 2014 -
40	Nina Springle	Greens	South Eastern Metropolitan	29 November 2014 - 24 November 2018
40	Jaclyn Symes	Labor	Northern Victoria	29 November 2014 -
40	Mary Wooldridge*	Liberal	Eastern Metropolitan	29 November 2014 - 8 December 2019
48	Melina Bath	National	Eastern Victoria	16 April 2015 -
49	Samantha Ratnam	Greens	Northern Metropolitan	19 October 2017 -
50	Huong Truong	Greens	Western Metropolitan	21 February 2018 - 24 November 2018
51	Catherine Cumming	[Derryn Hinch's Derryn Hinch's Justice Party\|Justice Party\|Justice]	Western Metropolitan	24 November 2018 - 26 November 2022
51	Jane Garrett*	Labor	Eastern Victoria	24 November 2018 - 2 July 2022
51	Tania Maxwell	Justice	Northern Victoria	24 November 2018 -
51	Bev McArthur	Liberal	Western Victoria	24 November 2018 -
51	Ingrid Stitt	Labor	Western Metropolitan	24 November 2018 -
51	Nina Taylor	Labor	Southern Metropolitan	24 November 2018 - 26 November 2022
51	Sonja Terpstra	Labor	Eastern Metropolitan	24 November 2018 -
51	Kaushaliya Vaghela	Labor	Western Metropolitan	24 November 2018 - 26 November 2022
59	Sheena Watt	Labor	Northern Metropolitan	13 October 2020 -
60	Cathrine Burnett-Wake	Liberal	Eastern Victoria	2 December 2021 -

Timeline

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DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1975 till:2025
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1975
Colors =
id:LP value:blue legend: Liberal Party of Australia
id:AL value:red legend: Australian Labor Party
id:NP value:teal legend: National Party of Australia
id:AG value:brightgreen legend: Australian Greens
id:SX value:yellow legend: Australian Sex Party/Reason Party
id:DL value:orange legend: Democratic Labour Party
id:AC value:skyblue legend: Australian Conservatives
id:JP value:darkblue legend: Derryn Hinch's Justice Party
id:ID value:gray legend: Independent
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barset:MLCs2
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barset:MLCs3
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width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift: anchor:till
barset:MLCs
from:1979 till:1985 color:LP text:"Gracia Baylor "
from:1979 till:1992 color:AL text:"Joan Coxsedge "
from:1982 till:1999 color:AL text:"Caroline Hogg "
from:1982 till:1988 color:AL text:"Judith Dixon "
from:1982 till:1988 color:AL text:"Joan Kirner "
from:1985 till:1992 color:AL text:"Maureen Lyster "
from:1985 till:1999 color:AL text:"Jean McLean "
from:1985 till:1999 color:LP text:"Rosemary Varty "
from:1987 till:1992 color:LP text:"Marie Tehan "
from:1988 till:1996 color:AL text:"Licia Kokocinski "
from:1992 till:1999 color:LP text:"Louise Asher "
from:1992 till:1999 color:LP text:"Sue Wilding "
from:1993 till:2006 color:AL text:"Monica Gould "
from:1996 till:2002 color:LP text:"Maree Luckins "
from:1996 till:2002 color:NP text:"Jeanette Powell "
from:1996 till:2002 color:LP text:"Wendy Smith "
from:1999 till:2014 color:AL text:"Candy Broad "
from:1999 till:2006 color:AL text:"Elaine Carbines "
from:1999 till:2014 color:LP text:"Andrea Coote "
from:1999 till:2014 color:AL text:"Kaye Darveniza "
from:1999 till:2006 color:AL text:"Dianne Hadden "
from:1999 till:2020 color:AL text:"Jenny Mikakos "
from:1999 till:2006 color:AL text:"Glenyys Romanes "
from:1999 till:2006 color:AL text:"Marsha Thomson "
from:2002 till:2006 color:AL text:"Lidia Argondizzo "
from:2002 till:2006 color:AL text:"Helen Buckingham "
from:2002 till:2006 color:AL text:"Carolyn Hirsh "
from:2002 till:2022 color:LP text:"Wendy Lovell "
from:2006 till:2018 color:AG text:"Colleen Hartland "
from:2006 till:2014 color:LP text:"Jan Kronberg "
from:2006 till:2018 color:AG text:"Sue Pennicuik "
from:2006 till:2013 color:LP text:"Donna Petrovich "
from:2006 till:2018 color:LP text:"Inga Peulich "
from:2006 till:2022 color:AL text:"Jaala Pulford "
from:2006 till:2022 color:AL text:"Gayle Tierney "
from:2009 till:2010 color:AL text:"Jennifer Huppert "
from:2010 till:2022 color:LP text:"Georgie Crozier "
from:2013 till:2014 color:LP text:"Amanda Millar "
from:2014 till:2014 color:AL text:"Marg Lewis "
bar:CarlingJenkins
from:2014 till:2016 color:DL text:"
from:2016 till:2017 color:AC text:"
from:2017 till:2018 color:ID text:"Rachel Carling-Jenkins "
barset:MLCs2
from:2014 till:2018 color:AG text:"Samantha Dunn "
from:2014 till:2018 color:LP text:"Margaret Fitzherbert "
from:2014 till:2022 color:SX text:"Fiona Patten "
from:2014 till:2022 color:AL text:"Harriet Shing "
from:2014 till:2018 color:AG text:"Nina Springle "
from:2014 till:2022 color:AL text:"Jaclyn Symes "
from:2014 till:2019 color:LP text:"Mary Wooldridge "
from:2015 till:2022 color:NP text:"Melina Bath "
from:2017 till:2022 color:AG text:"Samantha Ratnam "
from:2018 till:2018 color:AG text:"Huong Truong "
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from:2018 till:2019 color:JP text:"
from:2019 till:2022 color:ID text:"Catherine Cumming "
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from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Jane Garrett "
from:2018 till:2022 color:JP text:"Tania Maxwell "
from:2018 till:2022 color:LP text:"Bev McArthur "
from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Ingrid Stitt "
from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Nina Taylor "
from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Sonja Terpstra "
from:2018 till:2022 color:AL text:"Kaushaliya Vaghela "
from:2020 till:2022 color:AL text:"Sheena Watt "
from:2021 till:2022 color:LP text:"Cathrine Burnett-Wake "
barset:skip

Proportion of women in the Council

Numbers and proportions are as they were directly after the beginning of Council terms and do not take into account deaths, resignations, appointments, defections or other changes in membership.