Early Milestones & Establishment

• 1899 – Women served as nurses in the Boer War (first official military involvement).
• 1902 – Formation of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (initially the Australian Army Nursing Service).
• World War I (1914–1918) – Over 2,000 Australian women served as nurses with the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS).
• World War II (1939–1945) – Women’s auxiliary services formally established:
  • 1941 – Formation of the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF).
  • 1942 – Formation of the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS).
  • 1942 – Formation of the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS).

Post-War & Integration

• 1951 – Re-establishment of WRANS and WAAAF following World War II.
• 1952 – WAAAF replaced by the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF).
• 1975 – First female cadets admitted to the Royal Military College, Duntroon.
• 1977 – WRAAF integrated into the Royal Australian Air Force.
• 1979 – Women achieved equal pay status in the Australian Defence Force.
• 1983 – WRANS integrated into the Royal Australian Navy.
• 1984 – Australian Women’s Army Corps disbanded; women integrated into the Army.

Policy Reforms & Access to Roles

• 1984 – Sex Discrimination Act (Cth) passed, influencing Defence policy on gender equality.
• 1990 – Women allowed to serve on Royal Australian Navy ships.
• 1992 – Combat-related roles progressively opened to women (excluding direct combat roles).
• 1998 – Royal Australian Navy becomes the fourth navy in the world to permit women to serve aboard submarines.
• 2011 – Announcement to remove all gender restrictions in the ADF, including combat roles.
• 2013 – Women permitted to apply for all combat roles.
• 2014 – All roles in the ADF, including special forces, opened to women.
• 2016 – All ADF roles officially open to women without restrictions.

Notable Firsts – Army, Navy & Air Force

• 1987 – LCDR Robyn Walker becomes the first female Commanding Officer of an Australian warship.
• 1999 – First female deployed to a combat zone in a non-medical role (INTERFET, East Timor).
• 2011 – Air Commodore Margaret Staib becomes the first woman to command an operational unit in the RAAF.
• 2011 – Major General Simone Wilkie becomes the first woman to command a combat brigade (1st Signal Brigade).
• 2012 – Rear Admiral Robyn Walker appointed as the ADF’s first female Surgeon General.
• 2015 – Lieutenant General Natasha Fox becomes the first woman to command a service (Army).
• 2017 – Women Veterans Australia established as a leading not-for-profit in support of women veterans.
• 2019 – Major General Cheryl Pearce appointed as Force Commander of a United Nations mission—the second woman globally to do so.
• 2021 – Natasha Fox promoted to Chief of Personnel, the first woman in the ADF to hold a three-star rank