CANBERRA: Lawyer, academic, women's activist and grandmother Quentin Bryce was sworn in as Australia's governor general Friday, the first woman to act as the British queen's representative Down Under.

Bryce, 65, is the only woman to take on the vice-regal position, which includes becoming the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, in its 107-year-history.

Her appointment was announced earlier this year after Queen Elizabeth II approved Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's recommendation that Bryce, then governor of Queensland state, take the post.

Speaking to a packed parliamentary chamber as she pledged her allegiance to the British monarch, Bryce said she would carry out her duties with "solemnity, impartiality, energy and a profound love for the country we share."

"I feel deeply the gravity of the role bestowed on me today," she said.

The appointment of Bryce, who grew up in a small outback Queensland town and went on to become a lawyer, academic, women's activist and sex discrimination commissioner, has been well received here despite an ongoing debate over whether Australia should become a republic.

Addressing the chamber, Bryce said that Australians were savvy participants in their democratic system and careful scrutinisers of its performance and values.

"We are informed and not afraid to question," she said. "Equally, we embrace change as a natural and necessary consequence of our evolution.

"Our growing capacity to balance tradition with renewal is a sure and uplifting sign of our standing as a sophisticated and highly functional civilised society and member of the global community."

Bryce promised to "do my very best to observe, sustain and uphold the principles, convention and rule of law that are our foundation."

"I promise to be open, responsive and faithful to the contemporary thinking and working of Australian society," she added.

"Australians, you have entrusted a great deal to me, I will honour your trust wholeheartedly."

Queen Elizabeth is formally queen of Australia despite the country's independence from Britain and the governor general acts as the monarch's representative in Australia.

Although they perform largely ceremonial roles, the governor general can appoint a prime minister in the event of a hung parliament after an election, or dismiss the leader if they lose the confidence of the parliament or act unlawfully.

The governor general is nominally the commander-in-chief of the armed forces but in practice they act on the advice on the government.

In 1999, a national referendum to remove the queen as head of state was defeated.

- AFP/yb