Dr Liz Constable was the first woman to be elected to State Parliament as an Independent, and she continues to scale new political heights.

By being appointed to the Cabinet of Premier Colin Barnett in 2008, Dr Constable became the first Independent to be appointed as a Minister of the Crown in Western Australia. She took on the roles of Education and Tourism Minister.

Dr Constable was the first woman Independent Member elected to the WA State Parliament on 20th July, 1991.

On 22nd July, 2010, she became the longest-serving female WA State Parliamentarian.

Dr Constable’s responsibilities as Education Minister mean more to her than milestones.

She is keen to make a difference in a field in which she has worked most of her life and feels passionately about.

Dr Constable was born in New South Wales and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in history and psychology and a Masters degree in clinical psychology. She later received a Diploma in Education from the University of New England.

She worked as a vocational guidance officer and taught immigrant children from inner-suburban Sydney before moving to Massachusetts and completing a Masters degree in child development at Harvard University.

Dr Constable arrived in Perth in 1975. She lectured in education and educational psychology at The University of Western Australia and, in 1985, was awarded a doctorate for her thesis on cognitive development in gifted children.

She was also the deputy principal of a major independent girls’ school for four years and was involved in the training of school psychologists at The University of Western Australia.

Now Education Minister after serving as Tourism Minister for two years, Dr Constable’s main objective is to provide a high-quality education to all young West Australians, no matter where they live.

She is particularly determined to improve educational services to regional and remote areas of the State and to increase general literacy and numeracy standards.

Dr Constable has presided over the implementation of the Independent Public Schools initiative, giving principals the autonomy to meet the needs of their individual school communities in important areas such as recruitment and budgeting.

Dr Constable is proud of the achievements of Western Australian students, and she looks forward with optimism to their future contribution to this State.