Australia's most inspiring women

Dr Samimi is the Group Leader of Ovarian Cancer Research at the Garvan Institute Sydney. 1300 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year and 90% will die of the ‘silent’ disease. Dr Samimi and her team are developing the world's first early detection test for ovarian cancer, offering a lifeline of hope to all Australian women and millions of women around the world.

Sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia on June 24th, 2010, Julia Gillard, 51, made history as our first ever female PM. Yew! More recently, Gillard made international headlines last year when her slamming speech to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott (accusing him of being sexist) went viral. Whether you're for or against her, she's certainly made women - both in Oz and overseas - sit up and take notice.

Despite being born with cerebral palsy diplegia, which restricts movement of her legs and body, Jacqueline set herself the goal of one day being a competitive swimmer. Looks like she can check that one off the to-do list: she smashed all records to bag eight gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympics.

Her performance made her the most successful athlete at the Games and the most successful athlete at a single Games ever. She was also awarded with the Prime Minister’s Women in Sport Award in 2012 for her outstanding achievements.

This porcelain beauty rules the international silver screen, having played everything from royalty in Queen Elizabeth to a Soviet agent in Indiana Jones.

Catherine Hamlin is an Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist famous for her work with poor, abandoned Ethiopian women suffering from the devastating childbirth injury, obstetric fistula. The condition often results in a stillbirth and is catastrophic for women, rendering them incontinent. These women are mostly young, poor and abandoned by their families. Hamlin co-founded the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital with her late husband in 1974 pioneered a surgical technique over 40 years ago that is still used today. Over 35,000 patients have benefited from her care which is given free.

Former world number one, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 61, is one of Australia's most successful tennis players, with seven Grand Slam singles to her name. These days Goolagong Cawley spends her time encouraging young Indigenous Australians to try their hand at tennis through the Learn Earn Legend! initiative.

The current chief exec of Westpac (who was born in South Africa) is one of Australia’s highest paid women, as well as being mum to triplets. We know, right

One of Aussies most acclaimed wave riders, this blonde bombshell has been crowned ASP Women's World Champion a whopping five times. Cowabunga dudes.

Former editor of Australian Women's Weekly and 2013 Australian of the Year, Ita Buttrose, 71, is now officially a national treasure. Buttrose uses her profile for a ton of worthy causes including raising awareness for breast cancer, HIV/AIDS and prostate cancer as well as being the national president of Alzheimer's Australia and the vice-president emeritus of Arthritis Australia.

Director of Burn Service Service of Western Australia at Royal Perth Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Wood received an Order of Australia gong for her work with Bali bombing victims. She is also Western Australia's only female plastic surgeon and a mother of six. Wow.

Australia’s most successful female pro golfer, the unstoppable Webb has 38 wins on the LPGA tour under her belt and now has her clubs set on the 2016 Olympics. Amazing stuff.

One of Australia's most loved cooks, Maggie Beer, 68, is the granny we all wish we had. With seven books about food and cooking, a range of specialty gourmet foods (hello burnt fig, honeycomb and caramel ice cream!) and her TV show The Cook and the Chef, Beer has inspired a host of generations to get in the kitchen and have fun.

The former pro-surfer and seven-time world champ now puts her name to a female only annual surf comp and mentors girls and women across Australia to ride out their ambitions.

One of Australia's famous political faces, Wong currently flaunts South Australia's senator and Minister for Finance and Deregulation on her CV. We also high five this new mum's efforts advocating gay rights.

When we launched the I Support Women In Sport iniative in 2011, it seemed only fitting that our first female Governor –General should attend. The former governor of Queensland was the first woman to be a faculty member of the law school at the University of Queensland. The mother of five has also held the positions of Queensland director of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and Federal Sex Commissioner. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 1988 for her contribution to advancing human rights and equality, the rights of women and children and the welfare of the family.

She boasts the tag of World No. 2 surfer, Fitzgibbons is taking on the surfing world after claiming the Breaka Burleigh Pro title in Feb this year.

Canadian-Australian model-turned-author Tara Moss is an intriguing mix of brains and beauty. Her best-selling novels span Australia to Europe and South America and she is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She’s also a UNICEF Australia Patron for Breastfeeding for the Baby Friendly Heath Initiative (BFHI) which advocates better support for breastfeeding mums in hospitals, the workforce and general community. On top of this, she’s also a private investigator and she holds a CAMS race driver licence.

When she’s not whipping the The Biggest Loser house members into shape, Bridges is passionately kicking the rest of our butts into losing weight through her personal training empire, which includes books, magazine columns and her uber successful 12-Week Body Challenge.

Related: Life Lesson from High Profile Aussie Women