Julia Gillard as a child. Picture: Supplied

Ms Gillard as a 17-year-old student at Unley High School. She began working her way through the political ranks as chief of staff to then Victorian Labor leader John Brumby. Picture: Supplied

Ms Gillard on the campaign trail, contesting the federal seat of Lalor in 1998. She won, and gave her maiden parliamentary speech on November 11 that year. Picture: Greg Scullin

Ms Gillard poses after winning the seat of Lalor at the 1998 federal election. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Ms Gillard was among a number of Labor women at the launch of the book Party Girls in 2001. She can be seen with former MP Cheryl Kernot and current Health Minister Nicola Roxon. Picture: Michael Jones

Ms Gillard takes a seat behind former Labor leader Simon Crean after he beat Kim Beazley to head the Labor party in 2003. Picture: John Feder

Ms Gillard took on the high-profile role of Shadow Health Minister in July, 2003. Picture: Michael Jones

Ms Gillard with another former Labor leader, Mark Latham.

Ms Gillard was touted as a possible leadership candidate as early as 2005, when Kim Beazley successfully took on Mark Latham. Picture: John Krutop

Ms Gillard with Mr Rudd during the 2007 election campaign in which they took on then prime minister John Howard. Picture: Gary Ramage

Ms Gillard on election night as Labor recorded an emphatic victory over the Coalition at the 2007 federal election. Picture: Kym Smith

Ms Gillard settles in as Deputy Prime Minister in Canberra. She also took on three portfolios: Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for Education and Minister for Social Inclusion. Picture: Ray Strange

The first round of the Digital Education Revolution provided funding for more than 116,000 laptops to 896 secondary schools across the country. Picture: Sam Mooy

Ms Gillard became known as a fierce parliamentarian, and took the lead in bringing in Labor's Fair Work Bill to replace the ill-fated Work Choices. Fair Work officially took over as the nation's industrial relations system in July 2009. Picture: Kym Smith

But Ms Gillard was not all work and no play. She took time out to appear with Rove McManus on the show Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? / Channel Ten

Ms Gillard declared she would stand for the Labor leadership on June 23 2010 after Mr Rudd's popularity in the polls took a nosedive. Picture: Michael Dodge