Governors of The Australian States - Backgrounds of Governors

Backgrounds of Governors

In 1976 South Australia appointed Sir Douglas Nicholls as the first (and, to date, the only) Aboriginal governor of an Australian state.

South Australia was also the first state to appoint a woman as governor, when Dame Roma Mitchell took office in 1991. However, with the appointment of Penelope Wensley in July 2008, Queensland has had three female governors, more than any other state. Queensland is also the only state to have had two female governors in succession (Wensley succeeded Quentin Bryce). South Australia has had two female governors, and New South Wales one. Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania are yet to have their first female governor. The Northern Territory, the only mainland territory to have an Administrator, has had one female administrator (Sally Thomas).

Governors of non-Anglo-Australian background have been appointed in recent years. These include Doctor Ken Michael (Greek; Western Australia), Sir James Gobbo (Italian; Victoria), Professor David de Kretser (Sri Lankan; Victoria), Professor Marie Bashir (Lebanese; New South Wales) and Alex Chernov (Russian: Victoria).

John Landy, a former governor of Victoria, and Marjorie Jackson-Nelson, a former governor of South Australia, are former Australian Olympic medallists.