Margaret Whitlam AO (1919–2012), social worker and writer, grew up in Sydney and was a champion swimmer as a young woman, competing at the 1938 Empire Games. She married future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1942 and in 1943 began work with the Family Welfare Bureau. Having attained a degree in social work from the University of Sydney, she was a hospital social worker during the 1960s while also undertaking many duties in Whitlam's south-western Sydney electorate. Described as 'one of the most outspoken and forthright women' to have occupied the Lodge, she was an active member of the Labor Party Women's Conference and maintained a high profile as a speaker and columnist during Whitlam's term as Prime Minister. Later, she worked with bodies such as the International Women's Year Advisory Committee, Commonwealth Hostels, the Sydney Dance Company, the National Council for International Literacy Year, the ACT Council of Social Services, Opera Australia, Musica Viva and the State Library of NSW. She published the memoir My Day (1973) and wrote of her extensive overseas travels in My Other World (2001).
Whitlam reportedly considered this portrait by Kim Spooner to be the best of the several portraits painted of her. The work was Spooner's entry for the 1998 Archibald Prize and was hung in the Salon des Refusés that year.
Gift of the artist 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Kim Spooner
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