Amazing Australian Women: Twelve Women Who Shaped History

Meet twelve amazing Australian women who have changed the world, in small ways and large.

Some of them are world famous, like Annette Kellerman and Nellie Melba. Some of them are famous in Australia, like Mary Reibey and Edith Cowan. All of them deserve to be famous and admired.

These women are the warriors who paved the way for the artists, business owners, scientists, singers, politicians, actors, sports champions, adventurers, activists and innovators of Australia today.

The featured women are:

Mary Reibey, convict and businesswoman

Tarenore, Indigenous resistance fighter

Mary Lee, suffragist

Nellie Melba, opera singer

Edith Cowan, politician

Tilly Aston, teacher, writer and disability activist

Rose Quong, actress, lecturer and writer

Elizabeth Kenny, nurse and medical innovator

Annette Kellerman, swimmer and movie star

Lores Bonney, aviation pioneer

Emily Kame Kngwarreye, artist

Ruby Payne-Scott, scientist