Quentin Bryce

Her parents, Norman Walter Strachan and Edwina Naida Wetzel, had taken up residence at Ilfracombe in 1940.

Bryce—along with all of the children in her family—received home-schooling rather than attending the local State school.

Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, (née Strachan; born 23 December 1942) is an Australian academic who served as the 25th governor-general of Australia from 2008 to 2014.

Quentin Alice Louise Strachan was born in 1942 in Brisbane, the second of four daughters.

Her family left the area in 1949, initially relocating to Launceston, Tasmania, where they remained for approximately a year.

Returning to Queensland, her family moved to Belmont.

While living in Belmont she attended the Camp Hill State School, and there first met her future husband, Michael Bryce.

She was a member of Girl Guides Australia as a Brownie.

During the period that they were residing in Belmont, her father moved to Tenterfield, New South Wales.

In 1956, Quentin Strachan started attending boarding school at Moreton Bay College, Wynnum, Brisbane.

Upon graduating from high school, Quentin Strachan undertook studies at the University of Queensland, initially enrolling in a social work and arts degree, but transferring to law in her third year at the institution.

She graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Arts in 1962 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1965.

That year she became one of the first women to be admitted to the Queensland Bar, although she never practised professionally.

Quentin Strachan married Michael Bryce on 12 December 1964; the couple have two daughters and three sons.

Michael Bryce died on 15 January 2021, aged 82 years.

In 1968, Bryce became the first woman appointed as a faculty member of the law school where she had studied, and in 1978 she joined the new National Women's Advisory Council (later National Women's Consultative Council and then Australian Council for Women ).

After spending some time in London, Bryce returned to Australia and accepted a part-time tutoring position at the T. C. Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland in 1968, thus becoming the first woman to be appointed to the faculty.

In 1969 she took up a lecturing position at the law school, and she continued to teach at the university until 1983.

In 1978 the Fraser government formed the National Women's Advisory Council and Bryce was "vaulted to prominence" with her appointment to the council, taking on the role of convener in 1982.

In 1984 she became the first director of the Queensland Women's Information Service under the umbrella of the Office of the Status of Women and was appointed as the "women's representative on the National Committee on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation".

In 1987 she became the Queensland director of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC).

This was followed by appointment to a number of positions, including the first Director of the Queensland Women's Information Service, the Queensland Director of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner in 1988.

Her services to the community saw her appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988, and a Companion of the Order of Australia and Dame of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in 2003.

Over a five-year period (1988–1993) Bryce served as Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner during the time of the Hawke Labor government.

Her time in the role was a busy one, with around 2,000 complaints being handled by the commission each year and the work difficult and complex.

The period was also noted as being one of "galloping legal reform" for the rights of women, yet, as Sandra McLean described it, Bryce kept a firm grip on the "reins of change" during this time.

Nevertheless, concerns were raised when, in 1990, Alexander Proudfoot formally complained that the women's health centres in the Australian Capital Territory were operating in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act.

This culminated in 1994 when Bryce faced an HREOC hearing after being accused of discriminating against Proudfoot – and ended when the commission found in Bryce's favour and dismissed the complaint, stating that the behaviour in question "did not reflect on the way Ms Bryce discharged her duties".

After finishing her time as the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Bryce became the founding chair and chief executive officer of the National Childcare Accreditation Council, where she remained for three years before changing direction between 1997 and 2003 when she became the principal and chief executive officer of The Women's College within the University of Sydney, New South Wales.

She is the first and to date only woman to have held the position, and was previously the 24th Governor of Queensland from 2003 to 2008.

Born in Brisbane, Queensland, Bryce was raised in Ilfracombe, with her family subsequently living in a number of country towns around Australia.

She attended the University of Queensland, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws, becoming one of the first women accepted to the Queensland Bar.

Bryce was appointed Governor of Queensland in 2003.

However, on 13 April 2008, it was announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that Bryce was to become the next Governor-General of Australia.

The decision was generally well-received and on 5 September 2008 Bryce was sworn in, succeeding Major General Michael Jeffery and becoming the first woman to hold the office.

Bryce's tenure was not without criticism.

Although concerns were raised by some over her time in the office, her five-year term was going to be extended until 2009.

In 2011, Elizabeth II invested Bryce as a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order at Government House.

In an unprecedented move for an incumbent governor-general, Bryce made public comments in November 2013 widely interpreted as supporting an Australian republic and same-sex marriage.

She was succeeded by General Sir Peter Cosgrove as governor-general on 28 March 2014.