Catherine McGregor undertook gender transition in the midst of two male dominated environments-the Army and global cricket. Along the way she has had cause to reflect on the nature of being male and female in our society. She has wide experience in politics the media and the ADF and is currently the senior transgendered military officer in the world. Catherine will deliver the second keynote address for Women in Media – Canberra.
Catherine McGregor entered the Royal Military College Duntroon on 14 January 1974. She graduated to the Royal Australian Infantry having completed an honours degree in Arts and being awarded the C.E.W. Bean Prize in Military History in 1977. Over the intervening forty years she held a wide variety of appointments inside the Australian Army.
Catherine has been deployed on operations to Timor Leste on three occasions, commanding the Australian Army Training Team in East Timor and served as the political adviser and translator for the Commander of Australian Forces during the crisis in 2006. She is a Tetum linguist.
Catherine was the speech writer to every Chief of the Army since 2001. She was the Director of the Land Warfare Studies Centre in Canberra, in which capacity she was the editor in chief of the Australian Army Journal and the LWSC Strategy monograph series. In 2008 she was a Visiting Fellow at the Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War at Oxford University. For her exceptional contribution to Army strategic policy she was awarded the Order of Australia in the Military Division on 26 January 2012.
For a number of years she was a civilian during which time she worked in politics and the media. She served on the staff of the Honourable Bob Carr Leader of the News South Wales Opposition and later Premier. She was an official of the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Labor Party and also worked for the Federal Liberal Party in 1993 and 1994.
Catherine wrote a weekly column in the Australian Financial Review and The Australian newspapers between 1994 and 2000. In addition she was a regular expert commentator on Australian politics on all major television and radio networks, as well as commenting on Australian politics for the BBC, CNN and CNBC Asia.
Catherine is a published author (under her previous name Malcolm McGregor) having written a biography of Paul McLean in 1985and Indian Summer-Reflections on Australia’s Summer Game in 2012. She has written on Cricket for The Australian Financial Review and The Spectator Magazine and the ABC Drum and was part of the ABC Grandstand broadcast team over the past summer.
Catherine commenced gender transition in June 2012 and since the 8th of July 2012 has been known as Catherine McGregor.
Catherine is a Vice President of Australian Service Cricket Association responsible for Women’s ADF cricket and is the Prime Minister’s delegate to the Cricket Australia National Selection Panel for the PM XI. She is an active player and coach and brand Ambassador for My Coach Cricket and TNF.
Catherine is currently the Director of Research and Analysis in the Office of the Chief of Air Force. She is the highest ranking transgendered military officer in the world.
