Julia Eileen Gillard is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013.
She was the first and only woman to hold the office of prime minister or deputy prime minister in the country’s history.
Born on 29 September 1961 in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, she is the daughter of John Oliver Gillard, a psychiatric nurse, and Moira Gillard, who worked in a Salvation Army nursing home.
After suffering from bronchopneumonia as a young child, her parents were advised that a warmer climate would benefit her health.
In 1966 the family emigrated to Australia under the assisted passage migration scheme, settling in Adelaide, South Australia.
They became Australian citizens in 1974.
Gillard attended Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School before studying at the University of Adelaide and later the University of Melbourne, where she earned degrees in arts and law.
Siblings
Julia has one sibling, an older sister named Alison Gillard, who was born in 1958.
Alison is three years older than Julia.
The two sisters emigrated together with their parents from Wales to Australia in 1966, when Alison was seven and Julia was four.
They grew up in Adelaide, attending the same primary school, Mitcham Demonstration School, and later Unley High School.
Career
Gillard’s professional life began in law and student politics.
After moving to Melbourne in 1982, she became involved with the Australian Union of Students and later graduated from the University of Melbourne.
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She joined the law firm Slater and Gordon in 1987, specialising in industrial and employment law, and became a partner in 1990.
Her work focused on advocating for workers’ rights, including underpaid clothing trades outworkers.
She entered politics formally when elected to the House of Representatives for the seat of Lalor in 1998.
She held various shadow portfolios before becoming Deputy Leader of the Labor Party in 2006 and Deputy Prime Minister in 2007 under Kevin Rudd, with responsibilities for education, employment and workplace relations, and social inclusion.
On 24 June 2010 she replaced Rudd as Labor leader and was sworn in as Prime Minister.
Her government navigated a minority parliament and introduced major reforms, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, education funding changes, an emissions trading scheme, tobacco plain packaging, the National Broadband Network, and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
She served until June 2013.
After leaving politics she has held senior roles including Chair of the Wellcome Trust, founding Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, and former Chair of Beyond Blue.
Accolades
Gillard has received significant recognition for her public service and advocacy.
On Australia Day 2017 she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for her eminent service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly as Prime Minister, and for her contributions to education, social inclusion, and gender equality.
She has been awarded multiple honorary doctorates from universities including the University of Adelaide and the University of Wollongong.
Her 2012 parliamentary speech addressing the treatment of women in public life, often called the “misogyny speech,” drew international attention and remains a landmark moment in discussions of gender and politics.
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