Sam Mostyn is a new kind of governor-general in more ways than one

Samantha Mostyn is accustomed to being the first. 

Two decades ago, she was the first woman to join the AFL Commission. The league was such a 'boys club' that it had to change its rules to facilitate her appointment. Three clubs objected. 

But Ms Mostyn was undaunted. She told then-footy chief Ross Oakley: "There is enormous honour in being the first, but I'll feel a failure if I'm the last or the only."

She wasn't to be the last. And as governor-general, the job she will now take up, she won't be the first. That trail was blazed by Quentin Bryce, appointed by the Rudd government in 2008.

But in other ways, Sam Mostyn is a new type of governor-general.

For starters, there's her resume. Governors-general are traditionally drawn from a small pool: of the last 10, we've had five lawyers, three army men, a politician and an archbishop.

Ms Mostyn's CV — which includes law but also spans the corporate sector, the community sector, sport and the arts — stands out.

For another thing, there's her history as a strong advocate for causes she believes in.

"Success for me is … the opportunity not just to give back but to be part of the change I think our community needs," she told Kurt Fearnley on the ABC's One Plus One in 2020.

What changes are they?

More diversity in leadership, for starters: "You've got to be purposeful about your decision to be inclusive … Not because it meets some diversity quota [but] because it makes decision making much, much better and it forces us all to actually put our own interests to one side and listen."

Reconciliation, for another: "Black Lives Matter is teaching us about what it means to have privilege, and I think that rests very heavily in Australia … The education that [I] had didn't tell us about the 60,000-year rich history of Indigenous ownership of the land, which was never ceded but which was then taken by the occupiers that came to create the nation we now call Australia."

And perhaps most interestingly, the idea that Australia should become a republic.

In a 2020 speech, she said of her former boss prime minister Paul Keating: "[He] was a prime minister of our country actually able to articulate his ambition for the country. And they were things that I really cared about. He wanted a republic, clearly. He wanted a fully evolved Australia but that was linked to his desire for a lasting reconciliation with First Nations and First Peoples of this country. His commitment was absolute."

She would not be the first republican governor-general – former Labor leader Bill Hayden was another.

But whether she plans to continue her advocacy, and to shake up the traditionally staid role of governor-general, remains to be seen.

If she does, she may find a friend in King Charles III, who has famously used his own role for advocacy and is also open to an Australian republic.

Whatever her plans, those who have worked with Ms Mostyn universally emphasise her warmth and empathy.

Like Ms Mostyn, King Charles III is known for using his platform to advocate social change.(Reuters: Jane Barlow/Pool)

In 2022, Ms Mostyn was made chair of the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce, convened by the minister for finance and women, Katy Gallagher.

Senator Gallagher told the taskforce to "be bold" with its ideas. In her final report, Ms Mostyn was blunt.

"Despite some progress over recent years, Australian women still face deep and broad-ranging gender inequality … [their] essential contributions are often undervalued and underpaid, perpetuating economic inequality.

"They are tired of waiting for action to feel safe and valued and have equal access to economic prosperity."

Three of the recommendations of that taskforce have since been adopted: boosting the single parenting payment, extending paid parental leave, and paying super on the leave payments.

Danielle Wood, now chair of the Productivity Commission, sat with Ms Mostyn on the taskforce.

"What struck me was not only is she an incredible communicator, she's a great listener, and her empathy and warmth really shine through in her interactions," Ms Wood said.

"She likes meeting and engaging with people from all walks of life."

Ms Wood said her appointment showed "a different face of Australia … she's younger, she's a woman, she's a change maker."

Danielle Wood of the Productivity Commission said Ms Mostyn was "a great listener" and "incredible communicator".(Peter Drought, ABC News. )

Kate Carnell, deputy chair of Beyond Blue under Ms Mostyn, called it "just an amazing appointment."

"She brings together exactly the skill-set I think we want in a governor-general," said Ms Carnell, who was also ACT chief minister and chief of business group ACCI.

"We've got somebody who is an astute businesswoman. But she is also a huge advocate for women, domestic violence, equity … climate change and Indigenous Australians.

"Whoever she deals with, she deals with as an equal, as somebody she cares about. She listens and importantly she acts on things that are important to her."

Kate Carnell, who works with Ms Mostyn at Beyond Blue, said the appointment was "fantastic".(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

In the 1990s, Ms Mostyn worked briefly as an adviser for Paul Keating and two Labor ministers in his government.

She has described the period as "one of the luckiest of [her] professional life", but also said she found an unappealing culture at the highest levels of politics.

"It was a punishing life, it was very masculine, very macho, it wasn't a healthy life. I would look around at the parliamentarians and think, 'this isn't where you make good decisions or have a good life.'

"I'm not a member of a political party, never have been, but I believe in the power of good government. But I don't think it was a place that women felt excited to go to give up what is required to live that life."

In a statement, Mr Keating said Ms Mostyn would bring "much credit to the office" of governor-general.

"Ms Mostyn has given much service to public life as she has to both community and business life. This service marked her out as a distinguished communitarian with a complex range of interests. And with those interests, experience," he said.

"Accordingly, that experience and those interests additionally qualify her beyond her innate ability, values and sense of the world for such an exalted position."

Ms Mostyn worked for Paul Keating as PM, remembering it fondly but criticising the "macho" culture of politics in that era.

Ms Mostyn served 11 years as an AFL commissioner, a period that included the first steps towards the establishment of the AFLW. AFL chief Andrew Dillon said she was "a driving force in the establishment of an elite pathway for women and girls in the game."

She told the ABC's One on One the key to the AFLW's momentum was convincing the league's male leadership "gender was irrelevant," recalling a pivotal moment when she took chief executive Gillon McLachlan and chair Mike Fitzpatrick into the women's change rooms after an exhibition game.

"They got that sense – 'they're just like us' … they saw the raw engagement with the game I had felt and seen and never had the chance to be a part of."

Ms Mostyn was instrumental in establishing the AFLW, which reached its eighth series last year.(Getty Images: Michael Willson)

Ms Mostyn even said she would have wanted to play the game herself if given the opportunity.

"I can't get enough of it. I want to be able to leap, I want to be able to mark, to kick, and most of all I want to be able to tackle."

She played netball, basketball, tennis, swimming and rowing as a kid, but said all felt "quite genteel compared to the rough and tumble of an Aussie Rules game."

"I would have loved to be told as a girl that we want you to use your body in that way."