Ryan was born on 10 October 1942 in Camperdown, New South Wales. She was the daughter of Florence Ena (née Hodson) and Arthur Francis Aloysius Ryan;[2] her mother worked as a sales assistant and her father was a public servant. Ryan grew up in the suburb of Maroubra and attended the Brigidine Convent. She enrolled at the Sydney Teachers' College in 1960, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1963. In the same year she married future diplomat Richard Butler.[3]
Ryan worked as a schoolteacher until the birth of her first child in 1964, later running a small business, the Living Parish Hymn Book Publishing Company, from her home in Cremorne. In 1965 the family moved to Canberra for her then husband Richard Butler's career. She enrolled as a postgraduate at the Australian National University (ANU), studying English literature. In 1966 the family moved to Austria, where Butler was second secretary at the Australian embassy in Vienna. They returned to Australia in 1969 and Ryan resumed her studies at ANU, also tutoring part-time at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. In 1970 they moved to New York for another of Butler's diplomatic postings; however, the marriage broke down and Ryan returned to Australia the following year. They divorced in 1972.[3]
Ryan had a strong focus on gender equality in politics. A private member's bill introduced by her in 1981 was crucial to the development of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986, the Public Service Reform Act 1984 and the Equal Employment Opportunity (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987. She was also a founding member of the Women's Electoral Lobby ACT branch.[6]
As Minister for Education Ryan was responsible for steering through the government's adoption of the National Policy on Languages in 1987, Australia's first explicit language policy, which she had commissioned Joseph Lo Bianco to prepare. In 2016 she participated in the 30th anniversary celebrations of this breakthrough, held at the RJ Hawke Centre, University of South Australia.
After politics
Ryan at the 2013 Human Rights Awards
Following her resignation from politics, Ryan worked as an editor and in the insurance, plastics and superannuation industries.[8] In November 1998 Ryan was appointed one of the first two pro-chancellors of the University of New South Wales,[9] a position she held until 2011. She was president of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees from 2000 to 2007. Ryan campaigned for an Australian bill of rights[6] and was deputy chairman of the Australian Republican Movement from 2000 to 2003.[3] In 1999 Ryan published a political autobiography, Catching the Waves: life in and out of politics.[10]
In July 2011, Ryan was appointed as Australia's inaugural Age Discrimination Commissioner with the Australian Human Rights Commission for a 5-year term.[11] She was also the Disability Discrimination Commissioner, from 2014 to 2016.[12][13]
In April 2018 Ryan was awarded the Australian National University's Alumni of the Year award.[15]
Death
Ryan died on 27 September 2020 in Sydney, aged 77.[16][17] She had fallen ill after going for a swim on 25 September, and had been in intensive care at Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick since then.[18]
Paying tribute, former Prime Minister Paul Keating said Ryan's greatest achievement in politics had been as Education Minister helping lift Australian high school retention from a rate of three children in 10 to nine children in 10. Incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison also paid tribute, calling her a "ground breaker" as the first Minister for Women. ACT senator Katy Gallagher said Ryan campaigned that a woman's place was in "all the places where decisions were being made".[16]
^ abcdefLangmore, Diane (2017). "Ryan, Susan Maree (1942–2020". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Vol. 4. Department of the Senate.
