- 2000: Queensland born Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic flame and won gold in the 400m track event at the Sydney Olympics.
- 2001: Queensland Parliament attained the highest proportion of women representatives of any Australian parliament and one of the highest proportions in the world with 33 of the 89 elected members being women.
- 2002: Queensland architect Brit Anderson was the first woman to receive the annual Gold Medal from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.
- 2003: Queensland Government released the State's first 5-year plan for Queensland women, the Women in Smart State Directions Statement 2003–2008.
- 2004: Ms Loris Williams became Queensland's first Indigenous archivist.
- 2007:
- Gardasil—immunisation against cervical cancer—was made available for young women and girls.
- Anna Bligh was appointed as the first female Premier of Queensland.
- 2008: Her Excellency Quentin Bryce AM was sworn in as Australia's 25th Governor-General and was the first woman to take up the office.
- 2009:
- Anna Bligh became the first female Premier in Australia to be popularly elected.
- The Queensland Government's Strategy to Reduce Domestic and Family Violence was released.
- 2010:
- Australia's first female Prime Minister, the Honourable Julia Gillard MP was elected.
- Queensland-born Megan Davis was the first Indigenous woman to be elected to a UN body (United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues).
- 2011: Australia's first national Paid Parental Leave scheme commenced.
- 2015:
- Annastacia Palaszczuk was sworn in as the second female Premier of Queensland.
- Queensland Government set gender diversity targets: 50% of all appointments to government bodies to be women and 50% of appointees to government bodies to be women by 2020.
- Catherine Holmes was appointed as Queensland’s first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, having served as a judge of the Queensland Court of Appeal from 2006.
- Leeanne Enoch, Member for Algester, became the first Aboriginal woman elected to the Queensland Parliament.
- Cynthia Liu, Member for Cook in far North Queensland, was the first Torres Strait Islander elected to any Australian parliament.
- 2016:
- First Queensland Women’s Week held to celebrate Queensland women’s achievements, as an expansion of International Women’s Day.
- Queensland Government released the Queensland Women’s Strategy 2016–21 and its Community Implementation Plan.
- Women’s Budget Statement for 2016/2017 produced (produced each year since).
- The annual Queensland Women in STEM Prize was introduced to recognise achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as part of the World Science Festival Brisbane.
- Jane Pires became the first female appointed as the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland.
- Linda Burney was the first Indigenous woman to be elected into the Australian House of Representatives.
- Kate du Preez, a mining engineer, was the first woman appointed as Queensland’s Commissioner for Mine Safety and Health.
- Karen Norton, cadastral surveyor, was the first woman appointed to the Surveyors’ Board of Queensland.
- 2017:
- Susan Kiefel, Queensland’s first female Queen’s Counsel, became Australia’s first female Chief Justice of High Court.
- Queensland born Ashleigh Barty won the Newcombe Medal and was named Australia’s outstanding tennis player of 2017.
- Seven of the 19 new Queensland electorates were named after exceptional Queensland women: Oodgeroo (an Indigenous poet, artist and activist), Bonney (the first Australian woman to hold a commercial pilot's licence), Cooper (the first female doctor in Queensland), McConnel (founded Brisbane’s first and Australia’s second children’s hospital, the Royal Children’s Hospital), Miller (a trade union organiser and suffragette), Hill (Australia’s first female professor) and Jordan (the first woman elected to Ipswich City Council).
- The Women’s Australian Football League was launched in Melbourne with 8 teams including Brisbane Lions.
- 2018:
- Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk made history as the first woman in Australia to be elected for 2 terms as premier of a state.
- The Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018 was passed by the Queensland Parliament to ensure termination of pregnancy is treated as a health issue rather than a criminal issue, bringing Queensland in line with other Australian jurisdictions.
- The Inaugural Australian Women in Music Awards were held in Brisbane, recognising the value, contribution and ongoing participation of women in the Australian music industry.
- Jackie Huggins, a proud Bidjara Central Queensland and Birri-Gubba Jura North Queensland woman, activist, author and historian was appointed as co-chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.
- The Australian Parliament voted to end gender-based role restrictions (such as combat roles) on women in the Australian Defence Force with the removal of the Defence exemption in the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth).
- Leanne Kemp, the founder and chief executive officer of Everledger, was appointed Queensland’s first female Chief Entrepreneur.
- The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games were the most diverse Games of all time, with an equal number of women’s and men’s medal events for the first time in the history of a major multi-sport games.
Achievements and milestones for Queensland women
International Women's Day (IWD) is recognised globally on 8 March each year. This iconic international day is the most significant annual event for the women's sector in Australia and is an ideal platform to celebrate the achievements of ordinary women in creating a society that is fair to all and the issues that many women still face, both here and around the world.
The year 2011 marked the centenary of IWD and provided an opportunity to reflect on the achievements for women during the past 100 years and the challenges that remain as barriers to their full participation in society.
The IWD Everyday women, extraordinary lives online tribute gallery was launched as part of 2011 IWD celebrations to recognise everyday women's extraordinary contributions to communities in Queensland.
The women featured in the tribute gallery follow a long line of women who have worked hard for other women and their communities and who have advocated for women's rights throughout the past 100 years. As a result, there have been many significant achievements for and by Queensland women.