Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce,
Governor General of Australia

Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, AC Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia BA. LLB (Qld). Hon LLD (Macquarie). Hon DLitt (Charles Sturt). Hon DUniv (Griffith). Hon DU (QUT). Hon LLD (Qld) Quentin Bryce was born in Brisbane in 1942 and spent her early years in Ilfracombe, a small town in Central Western Queensland. In 1965, she graduated with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from The University of Queensland and, in the same year, was admitted to the Queensland Bar. She has since enjoyed a rich and distinguished career as an academic, lawyer, community and human rights advocate, senior public officer, university college principal, and vice-regal representative in Queensland, and now Australia.

Ms Bryce’s former roles – some, among firsts for women in this country – include:

• Lecturer and Tutor in Law, The University of Queensland, 1968-1983 • Convenor, National Women’s Advisory Council, 1982-1984 • Inaugural Director, Queensland Women’s Information Service, Office of the Status of Women, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 1984-1987 • Director, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Queensland, 1987-1988 • Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1988-1993 • founding Chair and CEO, National Childcare Accreditation Council, 1993-1996 • Principal and CEO, The Women's College, University of Sydney, 1997-2003 • Governor of Queensland, 2003-2008

Quentin Bryce’s contribution to advancing human rights and equality, the rights of women and children, and the welfare of the family was recognised in her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988 and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2003. Also in 2003, she was invested as a Dame of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. Ms Bryce was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Macquarie University (New South Wales) in 1998, an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Charles Sturt University (New South Wales) in 2002, and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by The University of Queensland in 2006. She was conferred with the degrees of Honorary Doctor of the University by Griffith University (Queensland) in 2003, and Queensland University of Technology in 2004. In her civic role as Governor of Queensland, Ms Bryce continued her work with women, families and young people while extending her influence across the State’s broad and diverse spectrum, including the rural, regional, aged, indigenous, migrant, and disability sectors. As a mother and grandmother, Quentin is a role model and mentor to women at every stage of their lives. She values and encourages women’s capacity to form strong and enduring bonds of friendship, intellectual and emotional enrichment, and mutual support in their roles within the family, workplace and community.

On 5 September 2008 Quentin Bryce was sworn in as Australia’s twenty-fifth Governor-General. As the first woman to take up the office, she remains a pioneer in contemporary Australian society, and yet one who brings more than forty years of experience in reform, community building and leadership to the role.

Quentin Bryce and her husband, Michael, were married in 1964. They have two daughters and three sons, and five grandchildren.

John Howard, Former Prime Minister of Australia

Howard, John Winston, 1939–, Australian political leader and prime minister (1996–), b. Sydney. A graduate of Sydney Univ., a conservative lawyer, and a member of the Liberal party, he was elected to parliament in 1974 and served as minister for business and consumer affairs (1975–77) and treasurer (1977–83) in the government of Malcolm Fraser. As head of the party (1985–89; 1995–), he has been an advocate of economic deregulation, smaller government, and other free-market reforms. He became prime minister in 1996, leading a Liberal-National party coalition and promising sweeping economic and labor reforms. He retained power after the 1998, 2001, and 2004, elections, becoming the third Australian prime minister to win four terms. He strongly supported retention of the British monarch as head of state in the 1999 referendum, has opposed a formal national apology for Australia's mistreatment of the aborigines, and has increased Australia's involvement in the Asia-Pacific region.