This is a list of women who served as governors of states and territories of Australia.
As of January 2020, ten women have served or are serving as the governor of an Australian state. The governors are the representatives of Australia's monarch in each of Australia's six states. The governors are the nominal chief executives of the states, performing the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national or federal level. The state governors are not subject to the constitutional authority of the governor-general, but are directly responsible to the monarch.
Two women have served as Administrator of the Northern Territory, an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory who performs functions similar to those of a state governor. However, the Administrator is not the direct representative of the Monarch in the Territory as territories are not sovereign in the same way as states.
The first female governor in Australia was Dame Roma Mitchell in South Australia in 1991. To date, Australia has had two female Governor-general, Dame Quentin Bryce (2008-2014), who previously served as Governor of Queensland, and Sam Mostyn, in office since July 2024.
Since 1 February 2023, all state governors excluding Western Australia (5 in total) are female, which is unprecedented in Australian history.
List of female state governors
PortraitNameState Term start Term end DurationReference The Honourable Dame Roma Mitchell 31st Governor of South AustraliaThe Honourable Leneen Forde 22nd Governor of Queensland Professor The Honourable Dame Marie Bashir 37th Governor of New South WalesThe Honourable Marjorie Jackson-Nelson 33rd Governor of South AustraliaThe Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce 24th Governor of QueenslandThe Honourable Penelope Wensley 25th Governor of QueenslandThe Honourable Sally Thomas 18th Administrator of the Northern Territory The Honourable Kerry Sanderson 32nd Governor of Western Australia Professor The Honourable Kate Warner 29th Governor of Tasmania Her Excellency The Honourable Linda Dessau 29th Governor of VictoriaHer Honour The Honourable Vicki O'Halloran 20th Administrator of the Northern TerritoryHer Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley 39th Governor of New South WalesIncumbent Her Excellency The Honourable Barbara Baker 30th Governor of Tasmania Incumbent Her Excellency The Honourable Frances Adamson 36th Governor of South Australia Incumbent Her Excellency The Honourable Jeannette Young 27th Governor of Queensland Incumbent Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Gardner30th Governor of Victoria Incumbent
See also Women and government in Australia
References