Sallyanne Atkinson AO (born 23 July 1942, Kerr) is an Australian former politician who served as

Lord Mayor of Brisbane The Lord Mayor of Brisbane is the chief executive of the City of Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland, and the head of the Brisbane City Council. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner of the Liberal National Party was sworn in o ...

from 1985 to 1991 in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. She is the only woman to have held the position. As of 2017, she was Chairman of the

Museum of Brisbane The Museum of Brisbane (MoB) is a history and art museum in Brisbane, Australia. The museum explores contemporary and historic Brisbane through a program of art and social history exhibitions, workshops, talks, guided tours, and children's activi ...

, President of the Council of The Women's College at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

and chair of the advisory board of the

Queensland Brain Institute The Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) is an Australian neuroscience research institute, located in Brisbane at the St Lucia campus of The University of Queensland (UQ). Founding director Professor Perry Bartlett established the QBI in 2003 wit ...

at the University of Queensland.

Early life

Atkinson was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

.Sallyanne Atkinson
Our House, ninemsn.com.au She attended Bishop's College and the Royal Naval School in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Sri Lanka and completed her secondary education at

St Hilda's School St Hilda's School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for girls, located in Southport, a central suburb of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Established in 1912, St Hilda's has a non-selective enrolment policy and curre ...

's Gold Coast. In 1960 she began an Arts degree at the University of Queensland, before becoming a journalist on the

Brisbane Telegraph ''The Telegraph'' was an evening newspaper published in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first published on 1 October 1872 and its final edition appeared on 5 February 1988. In its day it was recognised as one of the best news pictorial n ...

from 1960 to 1962, the Sydney Telegraph from 1962 to 1963, and the Courier Mail from 1963 to 1964. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967, majoring in History and Political Science. After joining the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in the early 1970s, Atkinson worked as a research assistant to the Hon Jim Killen, Minister for Defence, from 1975 to 1978, before being elected as Alderman for Indooroopilly in the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

in 1979. She also wrote a number of books, including ''Sallyanne Atkinson's Brisbane Guide'' which was released in 1985.UQ Alumni
Sallyanne Atkinson AO, former Brisbane Lord Mayor

Lord Mayor of Brisbane

Sallyanne Atkinson was elected Lord Mayor in 1985, after defeating the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

incumbent Roy Harvey. She became the first female Lord Mayor of Brisbane, as well as the first from the

. She was eventually defeated in 1991 in a narrow upset election win by

Jim Soorley James Gerard Soorley (born 8 April 1951) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician. He served as Labor Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1991 to 2003. A laicised Catholic priest, Soorley has a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in psychology, from Mac ...

, who received preferences from the Greens candidate

Drew Hutton Peter Drew Hutton (born 1947) is an Australian activist, academic, campaigner and past political candidate. Hutton co-founded the Queensland Greens (in 1990) and Australian Greens (in 1991) and ran in elections in Queensland and Australia at ...

Subsequent career

After leaving the position as

, she became the first woman on the boards of several major companies, including Caltex, She unsuccessfully ran as the Liberal candidate for the federal seat of Rankin at the 1993 election. Atkinson was then Australia's Senior Trade Commissioner to France from 1994–1997. Her role was to promote Australian exports and encourage investment in Australia. She was also Australia's representative to the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. ICC represents over 45 million businesses in over 170 countries who have interest ...

. While a representative of the

Australian Olympic Committee The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...

, she supported the Olympic bids of many cities around Australia, including the Brisbane bid for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

and the successful Sydney 2000 Olympics Bid. In France she was the European Representative for the Sydney Olympic Committee. She was subsequently made the

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

of the athletes' village. Atkinson was awarded Australian Catholic University's (ACU National) highest honour, Doctor of the University (honoris causa), at the Brisbane Campus graduation ceremony held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 2 April 2004. ACU National Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Sheehan AO, said the award recognises Ms Atkinson's extraordinary contribution to Australia's international reputation as a location for sporting events, and her contribution to government and the community. "Through her many years of generous service, in particular her work on the Olympic bids for Brisbane and Sydney and as Deputy Mayor of the Olympic Village at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Ms Atkinson has contributed to Australia's eminent status in world sport. In 1993 Ms Atkinson was created an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for service to local government and the community, and in 2001 she was awarded a

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

for service to local government and to business. Professor Peter Sheehan AO stated during an ACU Graduation Address in 2004, "Sallyanne Atkinson is a most distinguished Australian, an eminent Queenslander, and has brought great credit to the city of Brisbane." She was also awarded Honorary Doctorates from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

and the University of Queensland. In the early 2000's Sallyanne served as a board member and then chairperson of Binna Burra Lodge, in

Lamington National Park The Lamington National Park is a national park in the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border in Australia. From Southport, Queensland, Southport on the Gold Coast, Australia, Gold Coast the park is to the southwest and Brisbane ...

. Sallyanne Atkinson was chairman in Queensland for

Barton Deakin Barton Deakin is an Australian and New Zealand government relations and lobbying firm. The firm is openly partisan and works primarily with Coalition governments and oppositions in Australia and the National Party in New Zealand. It employs staf ...

Government Relations, providing strategic advice to businesses and not-for-profits on working with government from 2012 to 2015.

Honours and awards

* 1993 –

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

* 2001 –

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

* 2001 –

Atkinson has been honoured by

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

, is an Honorary Fellow for the

Australian Institute of Management The Australian Institute of Management Education and Training Pty Ltd, commonly known as AIM or AIMET, is an Australian education provider. Its courses include business, management and leadership. AIM offers short courses, nationally accredited q ...

, and is an honorary Life Member of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. The French Government made her a Chevalier of the

Ordre National du Merite A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to f ...

. She served as founding member of the board of the United Nations'

International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI, originally International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) is an international non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable development. ICLEI provides technical consult ...

, a role in which she chaired the first meeting at the UN in New York, and was the founding co-president with Sir

Gustav Nossal Sir Gustav Victor Joseph Nossal (born 4 June 1931) is an Austrian-born Australian research biologist. He is famous for his contributions to the fields of antibody formation and immunological tolerance. Early life and education Nossal's family w ...

of Sustainable Development Australia. In 2014, Atkinson was a recipient of the

Queensland Greats Awards The Queensland Greats Awards recognise outstanding Queenslanders for their years of dedication and contribution to the development of the state and their role in strengthening and shaping the community in Queensland Queensland ( , common ...

Published works

* * (autobiography)

References

External links

Sallyanne Atkinson digital story and oral history
- State Library of Queensland
Sallyanne Atkinson Collection, State Library of Queensland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Sallyanne 1942 births Living people Mayors and lord mayors of Brisbane Women mayors of places in Queensland Fellows of the Australian Institute of Management Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians Australian lobbyists 20th-century Australian women politicians Queensland Greats