Businesswoman, gender equality advocate and former AFL commissioner Sam Mostyn has been sworn in as Australia’s 28th Governor-General.

Mostyn was sworn in at a ceremony in Canberra on Monday, becoming the second woman to take on the role.

The new Governor-General was welcomed to Parliament House with military fanfare and an Indigenous smoking ceremony, before being sworn in on the floor of the Senate by High Court chief justice Stephen Gageler.

At her official swearing-in in a rare double sitting of the House and Senate, Mostyn said it was a “great honour and privilege” and thanked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for her appointment.

She said she met him, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and state governors after her appointment was announced.

“I have had to ask myself many questions about the role and impact of the office of Governor-General in 2024,” she said.

“I decided there was only one way to answer these questions, to get on the road and listen to people. Listen carefully to those with unique experiences and insights.

“My first priority was to meet with all five living former governors-general, including my immediate predecessor, General David Hurley. I congratulate and thank General and Mrs Hurley for their very fine service to our country over so many years.”

Mostyn said she also met the King in London, and spent time speaking with Australians across the country.

“Every day I met impressive Australians who do not hold high office or any office at all. I listened to them in airports, shopping centres, on the boundaries of sporting grounds, in theatre foyers and galleries and just often on the street,” she said.

“Women and men and often children stop me regularly to talk about this country they love. Across a wide range of backgrounds, life experiences and opinions, all of them wished for a brighter future for Australia.”

Mostyn said she would aim to bring a sense of modernity to the position as the King’s representative.

“These testing times call for an unstinting focus on kindness, on care and on respect,” she said after being sworn in.

“I will be an optimistic, modern and visible governor-general, committed to the service and contribution that all Australians expect and deserve from the holder of this office.”

Albanese said Australia began a new chapter with Mostyn’s appointment.

“In Sam Mostyn, our nation has the right leader. You are a person of intelligence and compassion, of loyalty and integrity. You have clear eyes and a big heart and both have shaped your vision of who and what we can be as a nation,” he said.

“You have always been ready to put yourself forward for others. They are the qualities that she will bring to representing our nation as governor-general.”

Australia, meet your new Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC. pic.twitter.com/g1eWZRtR1p

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 1, 2024

Who is our new Governor-General?

Born the eldest of four sisters in Canberra to an army officer father, Mostyn began her professional life as a lawyer, working as an associate in the NSW Supreme Court of Appeal.

She briefly worked as a communications adviser to former prime minister Paul Keating in the 1990s before serving on the boards of companies such as Transurban, Virgin Australia and Citibank Australia.

In 2005, she was appointed as the first female commissioner of the AFL and was a driving force behind establishing the code’s women’s league.

She has also served on non-profit boards including the Climate Council, Beyond Blue and the Sydney Theatre Company, and spent time leading the Women’s Economic Taskforce.

Mostyn was appointed to the position following the Prime Minister’s recommendation to the King.

Serving as the representative of the monarch in Australia, the governor-general usually serves a five-year term.

She has taken over from David Hurley, who was governor-general from 2019.

-with AAP