Queensland Governor Quentin Bryce is the next Governor-General of Australia.
She is set to take over the position and become Australia's 26th — and first female — Governor-General when Major General Michael Jeffery, the incumbent Governor-General, retires in September.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced Governor Bryce's succeeding General Jeffery on April 13, 2008, after consultations with the Queen, Elizabeth II, and Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Lawyer, academic, activist
Governor Bryce is a former Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner and the founding chair of the National Childcare Accreditation Council.
She is a lawyer, an academic and women's activist.
Education and career
She was educated at Brisbane's Moreton Bay College and, later, the University of Queensland where she graduated with the degrees of bachelor of arts and bachelor of laws.
In 1965, she was one of the first Queensland women to be admitted to the Queensland Bar.
She taught in the Faculty of Law in the University of Queensland until 1983 and followed this with a distinguished career in government, education and the public service.
Recognition
She was named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988 in recognition of her work with the community, particularly with women and children; and elevated to Companion of the Order of Australia in 2003.
She was appointed Governor of Queensland in 2003 and reappointed for another term in January 2008. A new Governor for Queensland is to be appointed later in the year.
Family
Governor Quentin Bryce is married to architect Michael Bryce, with whom she has two daughters, three sons and five grandchildren.
