After training as a research psychologist and lecturing in a number of Australian universities, Carmen Lawrence entered Western Australian state politics in 1986. She served as Education Minister and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs before becoming Australia's first woman premier and treasurer in 1990. She shifted to federal politics in 1994 and was appointed Minister for Human Services & Health and Minister assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. In opposition, Dr Lawrence has held several shadow portfolios including the Environment; Industry, Innovation and Technology; Reconciliation, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Affairs; the Arts; and Status of Women. Dr Lawrence became the first popularly elected president of the Australian Labor Party in 2004.
