Successful people you didn’t know had arts degrees: Julia Gillard (Bachelor of Arts/Law, University of Melbourne)

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Christina Voss

Julia Gillard has achieved a lot since she graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. She is Australia’s first female prime minister and has been in office since the 24 June 2010. Gillard’s interest in politics began during her early university years; without her Bachelor of Arts she may never have become prime minister.

Julia Gillard delivers the 2008 Sir Robert Menzies Oration (Image courtesy Melb Uni)

Since graduating from the University of Melbourne, Julia Gillard has made her way up the political ladder, with a number of significant appointments and achievements, including the following:

  • Chief of Staff to the Victorian opposition leader, John Brumby
  • Minister for Education
  • Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
  • Deputy Prime Minister
  • Leader of the Labor Party and;
  • Australia’s first and only female prime minister

Julia Gillard began her political career  at the University of Adelaide, where the daughter of the State Labor Minister in Adelaide introduced her to politics. Through this meeting she joined the Labor Club and became involved in their campaign to fight federal education budget cuts.

In 1983, Julia was elected National Education Vice President of the Australian Union of Students (AUS) and moved to Melbourne to complete her Bachelor of Arts/Law degree at the University of Melbourne. Later that year she was elected as President of the Australian Union of Students, becoming their second female president. During her time in Melbourne she also kept up her relationship with the Labor party and was President of the Carlton branch of the ALP.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts/Law in 1987, Gillard joined the law firm Slater and Gordon and began working as a solicitor in industrial law. Only three years later, at the age of 29, she was admitted as a partner of the firm. After pursuing her legal career, Gillard moved her sights to politics.

In an interview Julia commented on the value of her university degree:

Not only was it the foundation stone of eight happy years of practicing the law, it was also a qualification that gives you general skills in researching, thinking logically and structuring arguments, skills which still come in handy to this day.

Gillard’s university studies and her legal past have ultimately given her the tools and qualifications for such a successful career in politics.

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