South Australian equal opportunity trailblazer Mary Beasley dies aged 87

Australia’s first Commissioner for Equal Opportunity and the first female state ombudsman died at the age of 87 “peacefully and in no pain”, her partner said.

Chairwoman of the Women's Suffrage Centenary steering committee, Mary Beasley, with the Light Square statue of suffragist Catherine Helen Spence in Adelaide, 1994.

South Australia’s first Commissioner for Equal Opportunity, Mary Beasley, has died at the age of 87.

Beasley was also the first person in Australia to hold the role when appointed in 1975, and a decade later became its first female state ombudsman.

Her partner of 44 years, author Susan Mitchell, said Beasley died on Monday night, “peacefully and in no pain”.

Former SA government official Mary Beasley.

Beasley also became a commissioner on the Public Service Board in 1978, and was the first woman appointed to the board of Qantas in 1983.

Deputy Premier Susan Close said Beasley was a “trailblazer” in many fields and “a person of great strength and tenacity”.

“Mary Beasley was many firsts as a South Australian … paving the way for many other women to represent their communities and hold positions of leadership,” Ms Close said.

Born in Glenelg in 1937, Beasley was educated at St Peter’s Girls School and got her first job in the marketing department of the Vacuum Oil Company, now Mobil.

At 19, she was married and moved to Sydney, before separating and returning to Adelaide with her son Richard, now a lawyer and novelist.

She was later appointed by premiers of both major parties in roles as commissioner for consumer affairs, chief executive of the Industrial Relations Department, and executive officer for the Information Technology Workforce Strategy Office.

Beasley also was chairwoman of Adelaide based Australian Dance Theatre in the 1990s, and chaired the committee to celebrate 100 years of women’s suffrage in SA.

After an unsuccessful attempt to join the then all-male board of Port Adelaide Football Club, Beasley became a founder of its Women In Power group.

In 2004, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to the public sector and the community.

Originally published as South Australian equal opportunity trailblazer Mary Beasley dies aged 87