All Australians will be saddened by the death today of Dame Roma Mitchell.
Dame Roma will be remembered for her pioneering role in the legal profession
and her long and distinguished service to the Australian Community, especially
in South Australia, and to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.
Admitted to the bar in 1934, Dame Roma became Australia's first
woman QC in 1962. She was made a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia
in 1965, a post in which she served until 1983.
She was Governor of South Australia from 1991 1996 becoming the
first woman Governor in Australia when she took up the post.
Dame Roma also served as Chancellor of the University of Adelaide from
1983 1990 and was a member of the Council for the Order of Australia
from 1981 1990. She also served as Chairman of the Commonwealth
Human Rights Commission from 1981 1986 and was awarded a DBE in
1982 and an AC in 1991.
Dame Roma was recently made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
by The Queen.
I extend deepest sympathies on behalf of myself, my wife Janette and
the Federal Government to her loved ones.