13 Facts About Rosemary Follett

Rosemary Follett was born on 27 March 1948 and is an Australian former politician who was the first Chief Minister of Australian Capital Territory, serving in 1989 and again between 1991 and 1995.

Rosemary Follett was the first woman to become head of government in an Australian state or territory.

Rosemary Follett was born in Sydney in 1948, and moved with her family to Canberra in 1952.

Rosemary Follett joined the Australian Public Service after leaving school, and travelled to Darwin and Sydney.

Rosemary Follett returned to Canberra with the public service, but was required to resign when she married.

Rosemary Follett studied stenography, and worked as a secretary for various politicians over the next ten years.

The 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government inspired Rosemary Follett to join the Ginninderra branch of the Labor Party, serving as its president between 1983 and 1984.

Preselected to lead Labor in the period before the 1989 inaugural general election, Rosemary Follett was elected to the inaugural ACT Legislative Assembly and, on 11 May 1989, was elected by the Assembly as the inaugural Chief Minister.

Rosemary Follett continued to lead the ALP until the following year 1996.

Rosemary Follett then resigned from the ACT Legislative Assembly in December 1996.

Since leaving politics, Rosemary Follett has been Deputy Vice-chancellor at the University of Canberra; Chair of the Vocational Education and Training Authority; a member of the University of Canberra Council; member of the Sentence Administration Board and chair of the board of Senior Secondary School Studies.

Rosemary Follett led a trade mission to Japan and was instrumental in bringing about the ACT's sister-city relationship with Nara and was a member of the Milk Authority of the ACT in 1996, and the Canberra Labor Club, Canberra Tradesmen's Club and the Australian Fabian Society.

On 14 April 2014, Rosemary Follett received an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra.