From a very young age, Dawn Fraser loved to swim. And swim she did! Like no other before her or since. Born in 1937 as the youngest of eight children growing up in working-class Balmain in Sydney, money was scarce. Swimming was fun, cheap and Dawn was a natural at it. Her talent was spotted by a local coach, Harry Gallagher, who began the coaching process that would take her to greatness. She became a legend to not only Australia, but the World.

Born Kathleen Ruska on her people’s traditional land of North Stradbroke Island, working as a domestic servant and then in the Australian Women’s Army Service during WWII, Kath Walker was an unlikely poet. At this time and in this country being aboriginal meant you were not an Australian citizen – officially your legal status was that you had never existed in Australia, in fact the Australian constitution still states that Australia was empty of human beings when the British arrived.

Elizabeth Kenny dared to challenge the wisdom of the Australian medical fraternity in the early part of the 20th century. Her deep determination, clinical powers of observation and unrelenting purpose to cure her patients drove her to forcefully advocate her new method to treat polio. Consequently, Sister Elizabeth Kenny succeeded in eliminating the spectre of a being bedridden for life and reducing the agony experienced by thousands upon thousands of polio sufferers around the world.

In the early part of the 20th century, Dymphna Cusack challenged the dominant perceptions (maps) of Australian society. Putting pen to paper in her first published novel Jungfrau (1936), Dymphna stripped back the veneer of women’s lives and forced previously hidden truths out into the street. Introducing her three female characters, she pioneered discussion on the taboo topics of abortion, sexuality, female aspirations, and the role of women in Australian society.

Fanny Durack, an Australian icon who defied societal norms and embraced the concept of being at cause. From her decision to pursue swimming to her historic triumphs, Fanny epitomised resilience and determination. Despite facing external obstacles, she remained steadfast in following her internal truth, shaping her own destiny, and taking responsibility for her outcomes.

Louisa Lawson (1848 – 1920) is the person to whom every Australian woman owes a debt of gratitude, for it is because of her mastery over both the means and the mode of communication that we secured the right to vote as equals.