Deborah Lawrie

Quick Facts

Full Name	Deborah Lawrie
Occupation	Aircraft Pilot
Date Of Birth	May 14, 1953(1953-05-14)
Age	71
Birthplace	Sydney
Country	Australia
Birth City	New South Wales
Horoscope	Taurus

Deborah Lawrie Biography

Deborah Lawrie is one of the most popular and richest Aircraft Pilot who was born on May 14, 1953 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Deborah Jane Lawrie AM (born 14 May 1953) also often referred to by the name of Deborah Wardley while married, was the first women to become an airline pilot for an important Australian airline following the victory of the landmark case of sex discrimination with Ansett Airlines. The first was Christine Davy with Connellan Airways.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity Board ruled that Ansett’s decision not to hire Wardley was unlawful. The board awarded the plaintiff the plaintiff $14,500 in damages and directed Ansett to incorporate her into the next pilot program for training. Ansett put off its training intake and then appealed to the Supreme Court of Victoria but the appeal was denied. Ansett challenged against the Supreme Court decision to the High Court of Australia in October 1979. However, they hired Wardley until 5 November in anticipation of an outcome in this appeal.

The High Court dismissed Ansett’s appeal in March 1980. The case is still used as a precedent. However, simply removing the most formal of exclusionary practices did not dissolve barriers, and so continuing prejudices and obstacles mean that female commercial airline pilots are still rare in Australia.

When classroom training was completed in December 1979, she was not assigned to training aircraft despite the male trainees progressing to flight training. Ansett Airlines had been taken over by Peter Abeles and Rupert Murdoch in late

1979. Wardley had previously trained Murdoch’s brother in law, John Calvert- Jones, to fly. She telephoned Calvert-Jones in early January 1980 informing him of the situation. Two days later Rupert Murdoch issued a memo directing that she was to be treated the same as the male pilot candidates. She commenced flight training immediately and made her first commercial flight co- piloting a Fokker F27 from Alice Springs to Darwin on 22 January 1980.

Lawrie first made an application at Ansett Airlines in the year 1976 and continued to submit applications for the next two years. In that time the flight instructors got accepted to The Ansett pilot program. The interview was conducted in 1978, but she was denied. She appealed the decision to the newly formed Victorian Equal Opportunity Board under the direct discrimination provisions in the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 1977 and challenged the decision of Ansett in the context of recently passed equal opportunity legislation.

Deborah Lawrie Net Worth

Deborah Lawrie is one of the richest Aircraft Pilot from Australia. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Deborah Lawrie 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

She was granted an individual pilot license in the year 1971 (aged at 18) and commercial pilot license in 1973. She completed 2600 flying hours before becoming an aviation general flying instructor also a charter flight pilot, in the year.

Deborah Lawrie was born in Sydney and her family later relocated to Melbourne. She earned a bachelor’s diploma in science at Melbourne’s University of Melbourne in 1974 and also received an education degree in education from Rusden State College in 1975. She taught mathematics in high schools and science from 1975 until 1977.

Reg Ansett denied the allegation of discrimination but admitted that it was his strong personal view that women were not suited to be airline pilots. This led to public demonstration marches in August 1979, and a successful ‘girl- cot’: businesses were encouraged by women to transfer their travel accounts from Ansett to Qantas and, in the first six months, Ansett lost more than 50 per cent of its business travel and a lot never returned. In a letter to the secretary of the Women’s Electoral Lobby, the general manager of Ansett wrote:

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Deborah Lawrie height Not available right now. Deborah weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Deborah Lawrie Dating?

According to our records, Deborah Lawrie is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Deborah Lawrie’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Deborah Lawrie. You may help us to build the dating records for Deborah Lawrie!

Lawrie was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours in recognition of her “significant service to aviation as a commercial pilot, and to women in the profession”.

Facts & Trivia

Deborah Ranked on the list of most popular Aircraft Pilot. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Australia. Deborah Lawrie celebrates birthday on May 14 of every year.