Sheila Be Right, Mate! Trivia Quiz

Answer: She challenged the sitting Prime Minister for leadership of their party

Gillard was popular as Deputy Prime Minister in the first Rudd government, but the instability within the government that culminated in her assumption of the top job was controversial, to say the least. Leaving those divisive questions aside, there can be no disputing that Australia's first female Prime Minister had an eventful three years in the job. Julia Gillard led her party to the 2010 election and emerged with a minority government, which managed to shepherd significant legislative reforms including maternity leave, carbon pricing and a national disability insurance scheme through a hostile parliament.

Answer: Quentin Bryce

Bryce earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland, and later became the first female member of the university's law faculty. Before being named Governor General in 2008 she held a number of prominent roles including Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Queensland Director of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and Governor of Queensland.

Answer: First woman to lead an Australian state or territory government

Rosemary Follett was the leader of the Labor Party in the Australian Capital Territory, and became Chief Minister following the May 1989 elections. Her first term lasted less than a year, as Labor's control of the legislative assembly with a minority government was characterised by instability.

The opposition Liberal party took power in 1990, but Follett later returned to office and held her leadership position for another 4 years.

Answer: Australian Democrats

Haines was first appointed to the Australian Senate in 1977 to replace the retiring Steele Hall. She was elected in her own right in 1980 on a centrist Democrats' ticket, and was later elevated to leadership of the party when founder Don Chipp retired. Haines left the Senate in 1990 in order to contest a seat in the House of Representatives, and while she was not personally successful, that year the Democrats national vote hit its peak.

Answer: Bob Hawke

Gaudron became a Justice of the High Court of Australia at 44 years of age, at the time one of the youngest people in history to serve in this role. As a barrister she had argued the historic Equal Pay case before the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, of which she would later become Deputy President.

Other breakthroughs she achieved included being the youngest federal judge in Australia, the first female Queen's Counsel in NSW and the first female Solicitor-General in any Australian jurisdiction.

Answer: 1960s

Dame Roma Mitchell earned her place in history with several notable firsts. As well as being the nation's first female justice of the Supreme Court, she was its first female judge, Queen's Counsel, university chancellor (at the University of Adelaide) and state governor (South Australia).

Answer: Jessie Street

At the inaugural conference on the United Nations in 1945, Jessie Street was the sole woman in the Australian delegation. Two years later she was appointed Vice-President of the Commission on the Status of Women, which she had helped establish. She had also been an active participant in assemblies of the League of Nations, the UN's predecessor.

Street's activism extended beyond women's rights. She was instrumental in the campaign that eventually led to the 1967 referendum on the recognition of Indigenous Australians.

Answer: Wife of the Prime Minister

When Joseph Lyons suffered a fatal heart attack in 1939, the first Australian Prime Minister to die in office, he left behind a widow and 11 children. Four years later Enid Lyons won the election for her seat in the national parliament, representing the United Australia Party. For one year she held a cabinet position as Vice-President of the Executive Council, although as this role carried no ministerial responsibilities it was a largely honorary position.

Lyons retired from politics in 1951 and went on to a career in journalism. An electoral divisions is named in joint honour of Enid and Joseph Lyons.

Answer: Edith Cowan

Edith Cowan was an active social campaigner from an early age, with a focus on social justice, women's health and welfare. She founded the Children's Protection Society which advocated for a special children's court, and served on the court herself. In 1921 she successfully stood for election to the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, and during her single term in office was a strong advocate for women's rights.

As well as appearing on the polymer banknote since 1995, Cowan is also honoured with a university in Western Australia and a federal electorate in Perth.

Answer: The first woman in the British Empire to do so

Only one year after Australian women gained the right to vote at national elections, Vida Goldstein contested the Senate as an independent candidate. She received around 5% of the votes in Victoria, with more than 50,000 ballots cast in her favour. Still, this wasn't enough to secure a seat, and Goldstein unsuccessfully ran for parliament on another four occasions.

In 1984 an electoral division in Melbourne was named in her honour.