1939 - 2018

Ann Burley was born in Murwillumbah in 1939, the first of five children and only girl. She became a teacher after training at Armidale Teachers College and moved to Sydney in 1960, working at various public schools until starting at Bronte Public School in 1962. There she taught twins whose father was widowed – Maurice Symonds – marrying him in 1965. She went to London in 1966 with Maurice and his 3 children and spent a year exploring Europe.

On returning to Australia, Maurice wrote to Waverley Council about the establishment of a local library, and after successfully petitioning for it, was asked by the mayor to join the Labor Party.

Ann was also actively involved with the Labor Women's Committee, especially regarding the issues of children’s services, and women, extending from her own experiences finding pre-school for her own daughter born in 1968. In 1975, while an alderman for Waverley Council, she had a son.

In 1977, she became the first female Deputy Mayor working with Mayor David Taylor. She didn't run again.

In December 1977, the family returned to London for another sabbatical. On returning to Australia, Ann ran for the 1981 NSW Legislative Council. At position 9 on the ticket, she wasn't voted in, but in the last 18-months of the parliamentary term, due to another member’s departure, she was able to take up the position in September 1982, retiring in April 1998. Again, she was a huge advocate for women and children, and importantly, drug law reform, being a major contributor to the setting up of the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Kings Cross, which has saved countless lives.

In 2015, she was awarded an Order of Australia (AM) for her services to Social Justice and drug law reform to the NSW Government. In November 2018 Ann died at St Vincent’s Hospital, where, from her bed, she was still advocating for women in need.

Courtesy the Symonds family.