Since 1901 a dedicated parliamentary service has supported the operation of the Parliament of Australia and the custodianship of Parliament House. For many years, all the senior positions of the parliamentary service agencies were held by men. However, over time, more and more women have taken leadership roles, overcoming the barriers to what were previously perceived as male-dominated responsibilities.

There are currently five agencies that provide this support: the Department of the Senate, the Department of the House of Representatives, the Department of Parliamentary Services, the Parliamentary Budget Office, and the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service. For many years, all the senior positions of the parliamentary service agencies were held by men. The Trailblazers display celebrates nine trailblazing women who were the first to hold key positions in these vital roles in the parliamentary service.

Lyn Simons

In 1984, Lyn Simons was appointed Serjeant-at-Arms, an office with ceremonial, security and corporate roles, and the custodian of the Mace, the symbol of the authority of the House and the Speaker. She was the first woman to hold this office not only in an Australian Parliament but in any Westminster Parliament. Lyn joined the Department of House of Representatives in 1972 in the Committee Office, leaving in 1990 after many years of service to the Parliament. Since Lyn’s historic appointment, the majority of Serjeants appointed in the Australian Parliament have been women.

 

Anne Lynch AM

Geraldine (Anne) Lynch had an eminent career serving the Senate for 32 years, paving the way for other women to also make their mark in this historically male-dominated profession. Commencing in 1973 as a research officer for the legendary Clerk of the Senate, JR Odgers, Anne became the first woman appointed to a senior executive position, holding all three Clerk Assistant positions before becoming Deputy Clerk in 1988. She was particularly known for her role as Secretary to the powerful Senate Privileges Committee over 17 years as Deputy Clerk. Anne became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006 for her service to the Senate and for assisting Pacific Island parliaments.

Robyn McClelland

Promoted to the Department in October 1991 as Assistant Secretary, Corporate Services, Robyn McClelland was the first female senior executive in the Department of the House of Representatives. She went on to hold a number of senior executive roles in the Department, including Serjeant-at-Arms (a senior executive position since 2002). Robyn had previously worked in the Australian National Audit Office, the National Library of Australia, and the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal. She retired in 2017 after 40 years of service in the public sector.

 

Andrea Griffiths

Andrea Griffiths was the Senate’s Usher of the Black Rod from 2001 to 2008, the first woman appointed to this position. The role derives from fourteenth century England and its modern responsibilities include assisting the President of the Senate in relation to order, security, and ceremonial matters, and providing administrative support to senators and the Senate Department. Over her significant 26-year Senate career, Andrea worked in the Table Office before being appointed Deputy Usher of the Black Rod and was also a committee secretary. As Usher of the Black Rod, she oversaw openings of Parliament and other ceremonial activities including the swearing-in of new senators and Governors-General.

Hilary Penfold PSM KC

Hilary Penfold was appointed Secretary of the newly-formed Department of Parliamentary Services in 2004, becoming the first woman to head a parliamentary department. This was but one of many ‘firsts’ in a trailblazing career. She was the first woman in Australia to hold the position of Commonwealth First Parliamentary Counsel — the principal provider of legislative drafting and publishing services for the Commonwealth, for which she was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2000. In 2001 she became the first woman appointed a Commonwealth Queen’s Counsel. Appointed the first resident woman judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory in 2008, she retired in 2018.

Roxanne Missingham OAM

Roxanne Missingham was appointed the Commonwealth Parliamentary Librarian in 2005, the first woman to hold that office. Leaving the parliamentary service to take up the position of University Librarian (Chief Scholarly Information Services) at the Australian National University in 2012, her portfolio includes libraries, archives, press, privacy, copyright, and digital scholarship. She has been President of the Australian Library and Information Association and is on the Executive of the Council of Australian University Librarians. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2021 for her service to the library and information sciences.

Dr Rosemary Laing

Dr Rosemary Laing was appointed Clerk of the Senate in 2009, the first woman to be principal adviser to all senators on practice and procedure, and secretary of the Senate Department. Her distinguished parliamentary career began in 1990 and over her 27 years of service she held many senior positions including all three Clerk Assistant positions, overseeing the Procedure, Table and Committee offices, and Deputy Clerk. Rosemary made an immeasurable contribution to the practice and scholarship of the Senate, editing the 13th and 14th editions of Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice and the Annotated Standing Orders of the Australian Senate, and writing widely on Senate practice, procedure, and history.

Jenny Wilkinson PSM

Jenny Wilkinson was appointed Parliamentary Budget Officer in 2017, providing independent and non-partisan Budget and fiscal analysis to the Australian Parliament. She began her career at the Reserve Bank of Australia and had previously worked as an economist across many public policy areas, including in the Departments of the Treasury, Climate Change, and Prime Minister and Cabinet. She was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2021 for outstanding public service in the development of fiscal policy, particularly in the economic response to COVID-19. In 2022 she was appointed Secretary of the Department of Finance.

Claressa Surtees

Claressa Surtees became Clerk of the House of Representatives in 2019, the 17th in the House’s history and the first woman to hold the position. The Clerk is the principal adviser to the Speaker and members on procedure, parliamentary privilege, and other parliamentary matters. Claressa has worked in the Parliament since 1993. Prior to her appointment as Clerk, she had been the first female Deputy Clerk of the House and before this served as Clerk Assistant (Committees), Clerk Assistant (Table) and Serjeant-at-Arms. Before joining the House of Representatives, Claressa worked at the Attorney-General’s Department and (very briefly) in the Senate.