member of the House
Which position did Joan Child hold from May 1974 to Dec 1975?
Joan Child Joan Child , AO ( 3 August 192123 February 2013 ) was an Australian politician . She was the first woman to be Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives . Up until the election of Anna Burke on 9 October 2012 , she was the only female Speaker of the lower house . Early life . Gloria Joan Liles Olle was born in Yackandandah , Victoria in 1921 , daughter of Warren Olle , a postmaster , and his wife Hilda née Seedsman . She attended Camberwell Girls Grammar School . She married Hal Child , a business manager who was dismissed for stealing while working in Tasmania ; but he died suddenly in the mid-1960s , leaving her a widow with five sons ( Peter , Andrew , Geoff , Gary and Roger ) to raise , the eldest of them 17 years old and the youngest only seven . To keep the family fed and clothed , she worked in factories , shops , as a cleaner and as a cook . When the youngest boy left school , she joined the entourage of future Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns , first as a campaign volunteer and then as a liaison officer . Career . A member of the Australian Labor Party , Child was elected to the House for the seat of Henty , in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne , in 1974 , having narrowly failed to win the seat in 1972 . She was the first female Labor member of the House , and only the fourth woman elected to the House in its history . After less than two years , she was defeated in the landslide Liberal victory in 1975 . Her attempt to regain the seat in 1977 failed , but she won it back in 1980 and continued to hold it until her retirement in 1990 . During the second term of Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke , Child became Speaker on 11 February 1986 as the sole nominee of the ALP , and was elected by 78 votes to 64 over her opponent , Allan Rocher . She was re-elected Speaker after the 1987 election , winning against Don Dobie . She was liked and respected by MPs from both sides of the Chamber , but she found the notorious rowdyism of Australian parliamentary conduct difficult to deal with , and her health suffered under the strain . In August 1989 she resigned from the role . Among the most notable events of her term in office was when the Provisional Parliament House was closed and the new Parliament House was opened in June 1988 . Some discussion took place as to whether the old Speakers Chair , which had been a gift from the Parliament of the United Kingdom , should be installed in the new building ; but Child , as Speaker , refused to move the chair . She left the House of Representatives at the 1990 election , when the seat of Henty was abolished . In the Queens Birthday Honours of June 1990 , Child was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia . She enjoyed an active retirement , her activities including membership of the Patrons Council of the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria . In February 2013 , aged 91 , she died . A state funeral was held on 5 March . Other sources . - Gloria Joan Child in the Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in the Twentieth Century