Helen Mayer  Dorothy Helen Mayer (7 September 1932 – 7 February 2008) was an Australian politician. Born in Kaniva, Victoria, she was educated at Swinburne Institute of Technology in Melbourne and then Toorak Teachers' College, after which she became a teacher. In 1983, she was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Chisholm, defeating Liberal MP Graham Harris. It was actually her third try for the seat; she had previously stood in 1977 and 1980, and on the second occasion slashed the Liberal majority from a fairly safe eight percent to a very marginal two percent. She held the seat until her defeat in 1987. Mayer died in 2008.