125 stories for 125 years

Elizabeth Grant

Elizabeth Grant graduated from the college in 1951 following an apprenticeship to her father, Leslie Blair Allen, who graduated from the college in 1925 and had been a well-known pharmacist in Mornington, later practising in Melbourne. She became very involved in the development of the profession, like her father, who had been president of the RSL Chemists Sub-Branch and was involved in the dedication of the college as a war memorial building. While studying and working for her father, Elizabeth represented Victoria at the Australian Swimming Championships and the Australian Indoor Lifesaving Championships.

In 1958, Elizabeth opened her own pharmacy in Briar Hill near Greensborough, and later served the Gippsland community as a private and hospital pharmacist. She married Howard Grant, an engineer. The early years of their marriage involved a lot of travel due to Howard’s work and they decided to sell the Briar Hill pharmacy in 1963. They first moved to Mt Gambier where Elizabeth became involved in a wide range of community groups and interests, and then to Traralgon. The Grants moved to Canberra in 1971, where Elizabeth continued as a locum pharmacist.

She became involved with the shaping of medical research policy following her appointment as ‘Eminent Laywoman’ representative on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in 1982 and served in this position until 1986. She also served on a range of NHMRC Committees including the Medical Research Ethics Committee 1982–91 and the Medical Research Committee 1982–present (now the Research Committee), and was Chair of the NHMRC Special Purposes Committee, Dental Standing Committee 1990–91. She has been closely involved in the development of the Australian Code of Practice for the use of animals in research and teaching and is currently chair of the NHMRC Animal Welfare Committee, of which she has been a member since 1985. She is a member of the Australian Defence Force Human Research Ethics Committee and the ACT Department of Health and Community Care Human Research Ethics Committee, of which she was appointed chairman in 1997.

Her breadth of knowledge and commitment has benefited many community enterprises over the past 25 years in sports, the arts and community service. These include the ACT Arts Development Board, ACT Parole Board, National Exhibition Centre Trust, YMCA Board of Directors, ACT Festivals Inc, ACT Centenary of Federation Committee, ACT Olympic Fundraising Committee, and the ACT Women’s Consultative Council. Elizabeth has always been generous with her expertise, acting as a business mentor. She is a past president of the ACT Division of Business and Professional Women. In addition, she represented her local community as an elected Member of the ACT House of Assembly 1979–82.

Still very active in business, she is a director of an information business, Commerce Management, and is a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, having maintained her passion for politics. Elizabeth is also a life member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (Victorian branch) and was appointed a Member in the Order of Australia in 1987. In 2005, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Monash for her work with research ethics in humans and animals and she delivered the occasional address at the 2005 May college graduation ceremony.

Although it has been some years since she practised as a pharmacist, she believes her work in the profession gave her a great grounding in the health sciences and knowledge of community needs so important for her later work.

‘Pharmacy is a way of life. Because of the hours, it really is part of your existence. It is so highly regarded. It involves you in the community in a great way. I loved it.’