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Susan Ryan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Susan Maree Ryan Law AO (b. October 10, 1942) is an Australian educator and served as a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Her legislative contributions to the Australian political landscape include the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Affirmative Action (Equal Opportunities in Employment) Act 1986.
Ryan was born in Sydney, she graduated from the University of Sydney in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts and worked as a school teacher. From 1966 she was a residence officer at the Australian National University in Canberra while studying and tutoring in English literature. In 1969 she helped to establish the Australian Labor Party club in Belconnen. She graduated with a Master of Arts in English Literature from the ANU in 1972. Following graduation she served as a delegate to the ACT ALP from 1973 to 1976.
In 1974 she was elected to the ACT Advisory Council (predecessor to the ACT Legislative Assembly). In 1975 she was elected as one of the first two Senators for the ACT and was the first woman and Labor Senator for the ACT. When the Hawke Labor Government was elected in March 1983, Ryan was appointed the Minister for Education and Youth Affairs and as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women. She was Minister for Education in the second Hawke Ministry and Special Minister of State in the third Hawke Ministry. Ryan resigned on December 16, 1987.
Ryan had a strong focus on gender equality in politics, a private members bill written by her in 1981 was crucial to the development of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986, the Public Service Reform Act 1984 and the Equal Employment Opportunity (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987. She was also a founding member of the Women's Electoral Lobby ACT branch.
Following her resignation from politics she has worked as an editor and as an advisor to industry. She was awarded the Order of Australia in 1990.