On 24 June 2010, Julia Gillard became Australia's 27th Prime Minister and the first woman to hold the office. She was elected unopposed by the Parliamentary Labor Party.

Before becoming Prime Minister, she served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 in Kevin Rudd's Labor government, where she was Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for Education, and Minister for Social Inclusion.

On 26 June 2013, Gillard was defeated in a leadership ballot by Rudd, who was sworn in as Prime Minister the following day, 27 June. She announced that she would not contest her seat at the forthcoming election and retired from politics on 5 August 2013.

She was the federal Member for Lalor (Vic) and was first elected to Parliament in 1998.

Did you know?

Julia Gillard:

• was born in Barry, Wales, in 1961
• migrated to Australia with her family in 1966
• was prominent in student politics, becoming the second female to lead the Australian Union of Students in 1983
• had a successful legal career before she entered politics, becoming the youngest partner at the firm of Slater and Gordon in 1991.