Australian Women in Religion Archive

The women listed below are included in the Australian Women in Religion Project list and have had a new Wikipedia page created since this project commenced in late 2019. Many other women on the list have had their Wikipedia pages updated and improved. Our goal was to create at least 100 new Wikipedia pages in 2021 and to reach 200 new articles by the end of 2023.

Wikipedia has a grading scale for articles. Most articles that this project will deal with will be in the range Stub - Start - C-class - B-class. The articles highlighted as C or B-class in the list below are therefore examples of high quality articles.

DYK refers to that article also appearing on Wikipedia's main page in the Did You Know? section.

1. Alice Mofflin - Australian philanthropist and Methodist lay leader - New in 2022
2. Alphia Possamai-Inesedy -  Sociology of religion academic
3. Angela Coco - Sociologist and academic - New in 2022
4. Anita Monro - academic, feminist theologian and minister in the Uniting Church in Australia - New in 2022
5. Anna Halafoff - Sociologist and academic - C-class article
6. Anne Daly - Mother Mary Berchmans, superior general of the Sisters of Charity
7. Anne Elvey - Australian academic and poet
8. Anne Pattel-Gray - an Aboriginal Australian theologian and author - C-class article
9. Anne Philomena O'Brien - historian, author and professor at the University of New South Wales
10. Anne Syrett Green - welfare worker and evangelist - New in 2022
11. Annie Bright - Australian journalist and spiritualist
12. Annie Lynch - religious sister and nurse who was the first provincial of the Little Company of Mary in Australasia - B-class article
13. Annie Mackenzie Golding - teacher, suffragette and feminist activist
14. Aunty Jean Phillips - Australian Indigenous Christian leader - New in 2022
15. Ayya Nirodha - Australian Buddhist nun
16. Barbara Bell - Catholic educationalist who later became a religious sister and joined the Religious of the Sacred Heart
17. Bernadette Tobin - Catholic ethicist and professor of philosophy
18. Bernice Moore - educator and former Sister of the Good Samaritan - New in 2022
19. Bertha Chatto St George Smith - Australian author and philanthropist notable for her work as national president of the Country Women's Association of Australia
20. Bertha Porush - Jewish community leader
21. Bessie Anstice Baker - writer, philanthropist and social reformer - B-class article + DYK
22. Bridget Doyle - Mary of St Joseph Doyle, member of Sisters of the Good Shepherd and first Prioress of the Abbotsford Convent
23. Bridget Partridge - Presentation Sister, whose flight from her convent in 1920 led to a sectarian scandal - B-class article + DYK
24. Brigid Arthur - Australian Brigidine sister, co-founder of the Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project
25. Brigid McGuigan - school teacher and principal who became superior general of the Sisters of Charity - C-class article
26. Brooke Prentis - Australian Aboriginal Christian leader
27. Camille Agnes Becker Paul - feminist, moral theologian and activist
28. Carol Schwartz - Australian business executive and philanthropist - New in 2022
29. Carol Wagner - South-African born Australian Anglican bishop - C-class article
30. Caroline Ann Rowland - Ursuline nun, religious leader and teacher
31. Catherine Cecily O'Brien - Dominican sister and educationist
32. Catherine Coffey - Teacher of Catholic catechism in colonial Australia - New in 2022
33. Catherine Fitzpatrick - founder and first conductor of St Mary's Cathedral Choir in Sydney
34. Cathy Ross (missiologist) - New Zealand-born academic
35. Cecilia Downing - Baptist temperance and women's rights activist and leader
36. Cecily Maude O'Connell - trade unionist and religious social worker - C-class article
37. Charissa Suli - President-elect of the Uniting Church in Australia
38. Chi Kwang Sunim - Zen Buddhist nun
39. Chiara Porro - Australian diplomat
40. Claire Renkin - art historian and academic - C-class article
41. Clara Dunn - Teacher of the Baháʼí Faith in Australia and New Zealand in the first half of the 20th century - New in 2022
42. Clara Jane McLaughlin - Mary Berchmans, became superior general for the Sisters of the Good Samaritan
43. Clara Weekes - Australian suffragist, teacher, pacifist and trade unionist - New in 2023
44. Colleen O'Reilly - Anglican priest and Member of the Order of Australia
45. Constance Le Plastrier - Australian Catholic schoolteacher, botanist and writer who received the Cross of Pope Leo XIII (pro Ecclesia et Pontifice)
46. Constance Mary Ternent Cooke - Indigenous rights activist
47. Coralie Ling - first Methodist woman ordained in the state of Victoria
48. Cristina Rocha - anthropologist working at the intersection between globalisation, marginalisation and religion.
49. Denise A. Austin - Pentecostal historian
50. Denise Mary Champion - first Aboriginal woman from South Australia to be ordained in any Christian denomination - C-class article
51. Di Nicolios - Anglican priest - New in 2022
52. Dorothy Edna Genders - charity worker and a deaconess in the Anglican Church of Australia - C-class article
53. Edith Amelia Kerr - teacher, headmistress and Presbyterian missionary
54. Eileen Healy - Sister (later Mother) Bonaventure, Sister of Mercy, school principal and educationalist - C class article
55. Elaine Lindsay -  Australian academic instrumental in the development of the Women-Church journal
56. Eleanor Sanderson - New Zealand Anglican bishop
57. Eliza Pottie - social reformer, and a leader in temperance and suffrage activities in New South Wales - C-class article + DYK
58. Elizabeth Brentnall - Australian suffragist and temperance activist
59. Elizabeth Galloway Bell - president of the Buddhist Society of Victoria for twenty years
60. Elizabeth Hindson - The first Aboriginal person elected as a member of the national Bahá'í governing body for Australia - New in 2022
61. Elizabeth Joyce Smith - Australian hymnist and Anglican priest - C-class article
62. Elizabeth Julia Reid - journalist and a lay leader in the Grail movement for Catholic women - C-class article
63. Elizabeth Laurie Rees - Australian WCTU organizer
64. Elizabeth (LIz) Boase - Old Testament biblical scholar - C-class article
65. Ella (Mary Dunstan Wilson) - educator and member of the Sisters of Charity of Australia
66. Ellen Arnold - Baptist missionary
67. Ellen Atkinson - Aboriginal community leader - B-class article
68. Ellen (Sister Mary Alphonsus) O'Doherty - religious who became the superior general of the Sisters of Charity of Australia - C-class article
69. Elsie Heiss - Australian indigenous elder and Catholic religious leader - C-class article
70. Emma Caroline Silcock - Sister (later Mother) Esther, Anglican religious sister and community worker 
71. Erin White - Feminist philosopher and theologian - New in 2022
72. Frances Barkman - Jewish community leader
73. Frances Margaret McGuire - New in 2022
74. Frances Perry - Philanthropist and community worker
75. Freer Helen Latham - schoolteacher and leader in the global Methodist women's movement - C-class article
76. Geraldine Scholastica Gibbons - founder and first superior of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan
77. Gertrude Amy Roseby - Congregationalist lay leader, school teacher, principal and school owner
78. Gertrude Healy - Musician and Sister of Mercy
79. Glenys Livingstone - Independent scholar and goddess practitioner - New in 2022
80. Gloria Shipp - Australia's first Indigenous woman Anglican priest - New in 2024
81. Grace Emily Munro - Founder of the Country Women's Association of Australia
82. Helen Plummer Phillips - Australian educator, missionary and philanthropist - New in 2022 -  B-class article
83. Hilary Carey - Australian religious historian
84. Hilda May Abba - Australian Congregationalist minister and academic
85. Isabel McCorkindale - Australian temperance, suffrage and women's rights activist
86. Isabella Goldstein - Australian suffragist, temperance advocate and social reformer - C-class article
87. Isabelle E Merry - Congregational minister and chaplain at Queen Victoria Hospital in Melbourne
88. Jane Macartney - Australian philanthropist, religious worker and teacher - C-class article
89. Janet Khan - Researcher, author and member of the Australian Bahá'í Community - C-class article - New in 2023
90. Janet Scarfe - Australian academic and historian involved with the Movement for the Ordination of Women - New in 2022
91. Janette Gray - Sister of Mercy theologian - C-class article
92. Janina Hiebel - academic and Biblical scholar - C-class article
93. Jean Gledhill - Australian feminist church leader - New in 2023
94. Jean Skuse - Methodist church official, also held leadership positions with Australian Council of Churches and World Council of Churches 
95. Jo Inkpin - Australia’s first openly transgender Anglican priest - C-class article + DYK
96. Joan Nowotny - professor of philosophy and first woman to lead a theological institution in Australia
97. Julia Kindt - academic and author specialising in ancient Greek history and religion
98. Kate Prowd - Anglican bishop
99. Katharine Massam - Church historian
100. Kathleen Kemarre Wallace - Eastern Arrernte artist, author, custodian and cultural leader
101. Kathleen Mary Burrow - Australian physiotherapist, businesswoman and Catholic lay leader - New in 2022
102. Kathleen McPhillips - Sociologist of religion and gender - C-class article
103. Kathleen Williams (theologian) - Sister of Mercy and academic - C-class article
104. Kim Power - Academic, church historian and feminist theologian - New in 2022
105. Laura Francis (missionary) - Australian Methodist church worker
106. Lilian Scholes - Australian Methodist preacher and theologian - C-class article
107. Lilian Wells - First moderator of the New South Wales Uniting Church Synod - C-class article - New in 2022
108. Linda Cassell - Former professional Australian tennis player, now member of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan - New in 2022
109. Louisa Angelina (Lena) Santospirito - community worker who aided Italian immigrants during and after World War II - C-class article
110. Louise Grimes - Australian musician and teacher, first woman organist at St John's Cathedral - C-class article
111. Lynne Hume - anthropologist of religion - New in 2022
112. Majella Franzmann - Professor at University of Sydney and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities - New in 2022
113. Margaret Dixson - Early follower of the Bahá'í Faith in Australia - New in 2022
114. Margaret Holmes - Australian ecumenist and NGO leader, known for refugee resettlement
115. Marie Louise Uhr -  biochemist and leader in the movement advocating for the ordination of women in the Catholic Church
116. Marion Knowles - journalist, poet, writer and Catholic charity worker
117. Marion Macfarlane - first woman to be ordained in the Anglican Church in Australia - C-class article + DYK
118. Marita Munro - Church historian and first woman to be ordained in the Baptist Church in Australia
119. Marjorie Liddy - Catholic Indigenous elder and artist - New in 2022
120. Martha Mary O'Neill - Mother Patricia, became superior general for the Australian Union of the Sisters of Mercy - C-class article
121. Martha Turner - Unitarian minister, and the first woman to work as a Christian minister in Australia - C-class article
122. Mary Baptist De Lacy - Irish-born Sister of Charity, and one of the first religious sisters to come to Australia - C-class article
123. Mary Catherine Bruton - Australian Sister of Charity
124. Mary Cover Lawry - Pioneer missionary to Tonga - New in 2022
125. Mary Dunne - Sister Regis Mary Dunne, Sister of Mercy nun and biochemist
126. Mary Gertrude - born Anne Greene, nurse, provincial superior, and member of the Sisters of St John of God
127. Mary Healy - Mother Gertrude, Sister of Charity & hospital administrator
128. Mary Kate Barlow - Catholic lay leader, philanthropist, editor, and women's advocate - C-class article + DYK
129. Mary L. Coloe - religious sister and New Testament biblical scholar who specializes in the Gospel of John - C-class article
130. Mary Maria Andrews - Anglican Deaconess, missionary and church leader
131. Mary May Scollen - religious Sister of Mercy who was notable for her nursing and hospital administration - C-class article
132. Mary Paul Mulquin - Irish-born Roman Catholic nun and educationist
133. Mary Schleicher - first deaconess in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney
134. Mary Ursula Grachan - Presentation Sister
135. Maryanne Confoy - Sister of Charity and academic - C-class article
136. Maureen Flood - Australian religious sister from Servants of the Blessed Sacrament order - New in 2022
137. Melissa Brickell - Indigenous Australian welfare worker - New in 2022
138. Meredith Lake - Australian author, historian of religion and broadcaster - C-class article
139. Minnie Lindsay Carpenter - Australian writer and an officer in The Salvation Army in Australia - C-class article + DYK
140. Miriam Fink - Jewish community worker - New in 2023
141. Mother Mary Xavier Dooley - Presentation Sister
142. Muriel Stanley - an Indigenous Australian Anglican home missionary
143. Norah Martin - later known by her religious name Mother Mary Bernard, superior general of the Little Company of Mary for 12 years - C-class article
144. Patricia Fox - member of the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion
145. Patricia Madigan - Australian religious academic and Dominican sister
146. Penny Magee - scholar of religion specialising in feminist studies and Eastern Religions - New in 2022
147. Peta Sherlock - Anglican priest ordained in 1992 and the first woman Dean of an Anglican diocese in Australia - New in 2023
148. Phyllis Le Cappelaine Burke - English-born Australian market researcher, social reformer and housing commissioner - B-class article + DYK
149. Robina Fordyce Cowper - women's rights activist, magistrate and temperance advocate
150. Rosa MacGinley - Australian Presentation sister, academic and historian of women religious - New in 2022
151. Rose Hanigan - Mercy sister and hospital administrator - C-class article
152. Rosemary Crumlin -  Sister of Mercy, art historian, educator and exhibition curator - C-class article + DYK
153. Ruby Sophia Rich - Jewish community leader, feminist and pianist - New in 2023
154. Sandra Levy - Jewish television producer
155. Sarah Jane Lancaster - Australian Pentecostal leader - C-class article
156. Sister Irene O'Connor - Australian Roman Catholic nun from the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary order and a musician
157. Sister Mary Vincent Shelverton - teacher and Sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
158. Sophie McGrath - historian and religious Sister of Mercy - New in 2022
159. Subhana Barzaghi - First female Zen Roshi teacher in Australia
160. Susanna Pain - Australian Anglican priest - New in 2023
161. Thea Gaia - first female ordained within the Congregational Church of Australia in Queensland - New in 2022
162. Theresa (Cissie) McLaughlin - Catholic religious sister and leader of Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor
163. Tracey Rowland - Roman Catholic theologian and professor  - C-class article
164. Una Porter - Australian psychiatrist and philanthropist, active in the YWCA - New in 2022
165. Veronica Willaway - Indigenous Australian and Benedictine religious sister - C class article
166. Wendy Solling - a sculptor and Anglican Franciscan nun- C-class article + DYK
167. Yeshe Khadro - Ordained Buddhist nun
168. Magdalene (newsletter) - Australian Christian feminist magazine (1973-1987) - New in 2022
169. Women-Church journal - Australian feminist theology journal (1987-2007) - New in 2022
170. Movement for the Ordination of Women (newsletter) - New in 2023
171. Preachers, Prophets and Heretics (book) - New in 2023
172. Towards a Feminist Theology - publication based on first national ecumenical feminist theology conference held in Australia - New in 2023
173. Women Authoring Theology - publication based on national ecumenical feminist theology conference held in 1991 - New in 2023
174. Women and the Australian Church - ecumenical religious organisation founded in 1984 - New in 2023
175. List of the first women ordained as priests in the Anglican Church of Australia in 1992 - New in 2023
176. Dangerous Memory - publication based on national ecumenical feminist theology conference held in 1995 - New in 2023