Millicent Bryant is significant in the history of Australian aviation as the first woman to obtain a pilot's licence in this country. Although Florence Taylor and Emma Schultz went aloft in the first free glider flights at Narrabeen in 1909, there is no record of a woman piloting an aircraft between 1909 and 1927. The aero club movement allowed women to achieve their private and commercial pilot's licences in 1927. Millicent Bryant was issued her licence, number 71, on the 23rd of March 1927. By the end of 1929 the number of women pilots had increased to 18 and when, in May 1930, Amy Johnson arrived in Australia after a solo flight from England, she inspired a further 10 women to qualify for their private licence.
In this period the bulk of licensed pilots receiving their training in the military during the First World War. The discrimination against women in aviation carried on during the Second World War, despite the considerable ability and flying experience of some Australian women pilots. After the war the discrimination did not abate significantly until Debbie Wardley's successful law suit against Ansett Airlines in 1980 brought it to public notice. Since then many more women have become commercial airline pilots.
Meanwhile many women pilots organised themselves into the Australian Women Pilots Association (AWPA) to further their aviation goals but, with the softening of discrimination, the goals of the AWPA have been modified to include roles external to the AWPA such as the Fear of Flying clinics and the support of Careflight.
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