First woman to chair a Senate committee
Senator Marie Breen became the first woman to chair a Senate committee when she was appointed chair of the Printing Committee on 30 March 1965. The Printing Committee was a largely administrative committee, tasked with recommending to the Senate which papers tabled in parliament should be incorporated into the Parliamentary Papers Series.
Clerk of the Senate JR Odgers studies the United States committee system
Establishment of the Committee of Privileges
Women had been active members of Senate committees since September 1943, when Dorothy Tangney was sworn in the Senate and appointed within a week to the Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances and the Printing and Library committees.
Marie Breen was the sixth woman elected to the Senate, serving as a Liberal Party senator for Victoria from 1962 to 1968. She served as chair of the Printing Committee until 1968 and also as a member of the Library Committee (1962–68) and the Select Committee on the Metric System of Weights and Measures (1967).
Senator Marie Freda Breen, National Archives of Australia, A1200, L40927
Marie Breen, Senator for Victoria, 1962–68
Before joining the Senate, Marie Breen was state vice-president of the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party and an active member and officeholder of many women’s, social welfare and advocacy organisations including the Australian Women’s National League and the National Council of Women.
Senator Marie Freda Breen, National Archives of Australia, A1200, L40927