Quentin Bryce has 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 Australia.

Her 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. On 25 March 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that Ms Bryce had become a Dame in the Order of Australia.

On 5 September 2008 Quentin Bryce was sworn in as Australia’s twenty-fifth Governor-General, the first woman to take up the office. Her term concluded in March 2014. Fifteen Honorary Doctorates have been conferred on her by universities in Australia.

Across her career she has worked with women, families and young people while extending her influence across broad and diverse spectrums, including the rural, regional, aged, indigenous, migrant, and disability sectors. Ms Bryce remains a pioneer in contemporary Australian society, with more than forty five years of experience in reform, community building and leadership.