Elizabeth Anne Reid

Elizabeth Anne Reid (born 3 July 1942) is an Australian development practitioner, feminist, and academic. She has had a distinguished career in and made significant contributions to national and international public service, including in Iran, Papua New Guinea, and various African countries. She is known for her development work and advocacy in the area of HIV/AIDS, both at home and abroad. Reid was appointed the world's first adviser on women's affairs to a head of government by the Australian Labor government of Gough Whitlam in 1973, during a period in which she was known for her advocacy of women's issues in Australia. She later founded, established, and worked with a number of pioneering and specialised United Nations institutions, government agencies, and non-governmental organisations. She retired from field work in 2015. The Elizabeth Reid Network (ERN) was established in 2016, with the aim of supporting women advisers in the Labor Party to participate in the political process.

Early life and education Elizabeth Anne Reid was born on 3 July 1942 in Taree, New South Wales, the daughter of Jim and Jean Reid, both teachers, and both members of the Australian Labor Party.

She went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours at ANU in 1965. during which time she undertook much research.

Politics (1973–1975) In 1973, Reid was appointed the world's first adviser on women's affairs to a head of government by the Whitlam government, having felt a "moral obligation" to apply for the role. She was active in the women's movement in Australia at the time, and (later described as "an idealistic pragmatist") brought women's needs and perspectives to government. She was focused both on improving things like childcare, women's health services, and protection from violence against women, as well as cultural change, that would give women more opportunities in life. From 2003, Reid was senior adviser to the Collaboration for Health in Papua New Guinea (CHPNG), a public-private partnership, which is ongoing .

Reid retired from field work in 2015,

Recognition and impact Reid was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 1996.

In 2001, Reid was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia "for service to international relations, particularly through the United Nations Development Program, to the welfare of women, and to HIV/AIDS policy development, both in Australia and internationally".

Also in 2001, Reid was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, during the Centenary of Federation.

She is also a fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (FAIIA).

Reid was included in the Signature Quilt project by the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame in 2013. This commemorated Australian women who were first in their field, by collecting and patching together their signatures across two quilts. Reid was included because of her role as the first Federal Government adviser to the Prime Minister on women's affairs, as described against her signature patch. One of the quilts is held at the Women's Museum of Australia.

Reid was invited to give an address in the "Landmark Women" series by the Australian National Museum, which she did on 18 October 2013.

She was interviewed for and features in Catherine Dwyer's 2020 documentary feature, Brazen Hussies, and talked about her involvement in the early period of second-wave feminism in Australia at the Q&A session after a screening of the film by the National Film and Sound Archive in December 2020.

The National Library of Australia in Canberra holds a collection of Reid's papers, mostly relating to her period as Special Advisor on Women's Affairs.

Publications Reid has published widely, including the books: (born while Reid was studying in Oxford ), lived with her father as a young child. Reid, after working abroad for years after 1975, returned to be with Kathryn during her final year at Hawker College in Canberra.

Reid's second husband, Bill, whom she met in 1980, drew her into working with HIV. After their marriage, they moved to Zaire, where Bill had been appointed director of the US Peace Corps, in the middle of the HIV epidemic sweeping Africa. He was previously director of the African Studies Program at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Bill, who lived with haemophilia, received blood transfusions after being evacuated first to Johannesburg. After a period in Washington, D.C., they returned to Zaire with their baby son, John, who had been born in Canberra. Bill eventually died in Woden Valley Hospital, Canberra, after being moved to Australia in 1986.

Reid was step-mother to Marisa, who had been adopted by Bill, and also cared for many other children as part of an extended family in various countries, in particular the children of Terry, the head of the Kenyan Women's Bureau, who became a friend after meeting in 1978. She took care of an HIV-infected child named "Little Elizabeth" in Nairobi, from 1995, from a distance after leaving Kenya, until Elizabeth's death.

After retiring from field work in 2015, Reid settled in Canberra. In December 2020, Reid revealed that she had advanced Parkinson's disease.