Lady Primrose Potter AC was born in Sydney in 1931 and lives in Melbourne. The wife of Sir Ian Potter, she has contributed greatly to the artistic and social development of Australia over the course of more than four decades. Lady Potter has held many important roles, including Director and Victorian Chairman of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust 1989-91; Director of the Bell Shakespeare Company 1990-91; Trustee of American Friends of the National Gallery of Australia since 1989; National President of the Australian Ballet Special Events Committee 1993; member of the Howard Florey Institute; member of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research; Director of the Ian Potter Museum of Art from 1999; and Life Governor of the Ian Potter Foundation. She has also been founding Honorary Patron of the Melba Foundation, Founding Patron of the Victorian Opera Company, and Patron of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art; Patron-in-Chief of The Solomon Foundation; and has raised funds for The Smith Family, the St Vincent de Paul Society, and the Victorian AIDS Council.
In the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1988, Lady Potter was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the arts and the community. In 2003 she was promoted to Companion of the Order for leadership and for encouragement of critical community growth through fundraising and philanthropy in the arts, sciences, education and social welfare. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from Australian Catholic University, and Monash University. Lady Potter is a Member of the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, and in 2003 she was appointed a Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, for her work promoting Italian culture in Australia. In February 2010 The Australian Ballet named its headquarters in Southbank, Melbourne, the Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre, to honour her 35 years of service to the organisation.
