Our Old Girls

Abbotsleigh's vision is for each girl to be empowered to be a courageous, constructive and compassionate world citizen, who embraces diversity and has a will to serve others. Our Old Girls' lives, careers and adventures demonstrate the reality of this vision and we are proud to share some of their stories. Below are Old Girls whose stories we know you will enjoy; we celebrate their successes and know you will too. Please visit this page from time to time, as we will share other stories to illustrate the breadth of our Old Girls' achievements and contributions to the community. You can read The Loom newsletter and more Old Girl news here. As one of the oldest student unions in the country, founded in 1908, we celebrated 110 years of existence in 2018. We invite Old Girls to share their stories with us.

Larissa Pasternatsky (2009)

Larissa Pasternatsky (2009): Larissa Pasternatsky loves to run. Her athletics career has seen her progress from the Little Athletics arena to the world stage at the Commonwealth Games.

Sally Auld (1989)

Sally Auld (1989): Dr Sally Auld joined J.P. Morgan in September 2008 and is Chief Economist and the Head of Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange Strategy for Australia and New Zealand.

Jill Colebourn (2013)

Jill Colebourn (2013): Jill Colebourn (2013) is an Australian biathlete. She was the first Australian woman in Biathlon to finish an International Top 30 Mass start Biathlon Race.

Kate Dennis

Kate Dennis: Emmy-nominated Director Kate Dennis has worked on many successful Australian and overseas TV series and telemovies including The Handmaid’s Tale, Offspring, Rake and The Secret Life of Us.

Kiana Elliott (2014)

Kiana Elliott (2014): Kiana Elliott took silver in the Snatch at 94kg and Bronze overall at 204kg in the 2016 International Weightlifting Federation Junior World Championships at Tbilisi Georgia. Her lifting career has bee ...

Meredith Burgmann AM (1964)

Meredith Burgmann AM (1964): Meredith Burgmann is actively involved in the local and global community and was an early feminist and anti-racism activist, an academic and MP. She attended Abbotsleigh and then Sydney University wh ...

Sue Fear OAM (1980)

Sue Fear OAM (1980): Mountain Climber and Abbotsleigh Old Girl, the late Sue Fear was the first Australian-born woman to climb Mt Everest. Sue was introduced to adventure through her involvement with the Duke of Edinburgh ...

Denise Anderson (Annetts, 1981)

Denise Anderson (Annetts, 1981): At school Denise Anderson was involved in athletics, cricket and hockey and was Captain of the Cricket 1st XI and Hockey 1st XI, and Vice-Head Prefect. Whilst at school she was selected for the Junior ...

Belinda Murrell (Humphrey, 1981)

Belinda Murrell (Humphrey, 1981): Belinda Murrell is a bestselling, internationally published children's author with a legion of loyal fans. After studying Literature at Macquarie University, Belinda worked as a travel journalist, edi ...

Karen Simmer AO (1973)

Karen Simmer AO (1973): Karen Simmer was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia in 2015 for distinguished service to medicine in the field of paediatrics, particularly neonatal and perinatal nutrition and to medical educa ...

Pauline Griffin AM (1942)

Pauline Griffin AM (1942): Pauline Griffin was a Commissioner of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (Industrial Relations Commission) from 1975 to 1990 and a member of the Australian National University Coun ...

Kate Forsyth (Humphrey, 1984)

Kate Forsyth (Humphrey, 1984): Kate Forsyth is an internationally bestselling and award-winning author of over 40 books, ranging from picture books to poetry to novels for both adults and children. She was voted one of Australia's ...

Sally Begbie AO (Marr, 1968)

Sally Begbie AO (Marr, 1968): Sally Begbie is co-founder of Crossroads, an NGO based in Hong Kong that gathers and sends humanitarian aid in Hong Kong and throughout the world. Sally and her husband, Malcolm, (a Barker graduate) h ...

Jill Ker Conway AC (Ker, 1951)

Jill Ker Conway AC (Ker, 1951): Jill Ker Conway is an Australian-born American scholar, whose research as a historian focused on the role of feminism in American history. Jill was appointed an Honorary Companion of the Order of Aust ...