William (Bill) George Hayden was born in Brisbane, Queensland and educated at Brisbane State High School, Queensland Secondary Correspondence School and the University of Queensland. He was later employed in the Queensland Public Service (1950-52) and Queensland Police Force (1953-61).

Bill Hayden was elected to the House of Representatives in 1961, representing the Federal Division of Oxley (Qld). He held the seat for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) through the next 11 general elections until his resignation in 1988.

Early in his Parliamentary career, Hayden was a member of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party Opposition Executive (1967-72) and served on the House of Representatives Select Committee on Pharmaceutical Benefits (1970-72). During the Whitlam Government he was Minister for Social Security (1972-75) and Treasurer (June-November 1975). Hayden succeeded Whitlam as Leader of the ALP and Leader of the Opposition (1977-83). As a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry during the Fraser Government, he was spokesman on defence (1976-83) and on defence and economic management (1977). Replaced by R J (Bob) Hawke as ALP Leader a few weeks prior to the March 1983 general election, Hayden subsequently became Minister for Foreign Affairs (1983-87) and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (1987-88) in the Hawke Government. During this period he made several official visits overseas.

In February 1989, Bill Hayden was sworn in as Australia's 21st Governor-General. His term ended in 1996. He has since been Australian Humanist of the Year (1996), Chairman of the Editorial Committee for 'Quadrant' (1998) and maintains cattle interests in Queensland. He was made a Companion within the Order of Australia (AC) and a Knight in the Order of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ) in 1989, was a recipient of the Centenary of Federation Medal in 2003 and has received honorary degrees from several Queensland universities and other awards.

The Honourable Bill Hayden AC KStJ died in Queensland on 21 October 2023.

Sources:
Parliamentary Handbook, 24th ed (1988) and 25th ed (1991)
Parliamentary Library website, 19 Dec 1997
Who's Who in Australia 2004, p 944