Television From 1973, McQuade had early guest roles in
Matlock Police,
Division 4,
Ryan and
Homicide, before landing a regular ongoing role as Gail Bennet in ABC soap opera
Bellbird in 1974. She went on to star as Christine Clayton in another soap opera,
Certain Women from 1975 to 1976, before making further guest appearances in
Alvin Purple,
Bluey and
Love Thy Neighbour in Australia. McQuade's next television credit of note was
Crawford Productions soap opera
Skyways, in which she starred as Faye Peterson, partner of security chief, Peter Fanelli (played by
Bill Stalker), from 1979 to 1980. Roles in several miniseries followed during the 1980s, including playing Kitty in ABC Depression-era period drama
Palace of Dreams in 1985 The role won her a
Penguin Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also appeared as Shirley in the 1991 biographical miniseries
Rose Against the Odds, telling the story of Australian Indigenous boxer
Lionel Rose. From 1991 to 1992, McQuade's next significant credit was
Boys from the Bush, in which she played the role of Delilah, before playing the first of two recurring roles, 'Loony Laura' Brennan, a retired professional runner, in long-running soap opera
Home and Away in 1993. She played Gillian in sci-fi series
Return to Jupiter in 1997. She then went on to play the lead role of Professor Pip Cartwright in comedy series
Supernova from 2005 to 2006. McQuade joined the main cast for prison drama series
Wentworth in late 2012, as crime matriarch and prison top dog Jacqueline 'Jacs' Holt. She featured in the entire first season of the show, before the character was killed during the finale. and from 2016, she also featured in the cast of comedy series
Rosehaven, alongside
Celia Pacquola and
Luke McGregor, playing the role of Barbara for the show's entire run. In 2023, McQuade appeared in black comedy crime series
Deadloch. That same year, she was announced as part of the cast for the second season of
The Twelve, opposite
Sam Neill and
Brendan Cowell. On 20 November 2025, McQuade was announced to appear in upcoming ABC drama series
Treasure & Dirt. McQuade's other television credits include episodes of
Punishment (1981),
Scales of Justice (1983),
A Country Practice,
The Flying Doctors,
The Last Resort (1988),
Wildside,
Grass Roots,
Blue Heelers, and
Stingers.
Film McQuade's early film roles include 1973
Ozploitation sex-comedy classic
Alvin Purple, in which she played Samantha alongside
Graeme Blundell and a young
Jacki Weaver. The following year, she appeared in the film's sequel,
Alvin Rides Again. She also appeared in 1977 short film
The Love Letters from Teralba Road, playing estranged wife Barbara opposite
Bryan Brown. Appearances in two of her early films, as Mrs Goodwood in
Fighting Back (1982) and as Stella in
Buddies (1983), saw McQuade nominated for
Australian Film Industry Awards for Best Supporting and Best Actress respectively, scoring a win for
Fighting Back. The following year, she acted in
Jane Campion's directorial film debut
Two Friends, earning an
AFI Award nomination for Best Actress. McQuade was recognised with further AFI Award nominations for her roles in 1993 drama film
Broken Highway starring
Aden Young and 2000 romantic comedy
Better Than Sex, in which she appeared opposite
David Wenham and
Susie Porter. McQuade played Gwen Maloney in 2001
David Caesar film
Mullet, appearing alongside
Ben Mendelsohn. She then had a role as family matriarch, Ellen Kelly in
Gregor Jordan’s 2003 historic drama
Ned Kelly, a retelling of the story of Australia's famed
bushranger of the same name, with
Heath Ledger and
Orlando Bloom. She played Mrs McAnsh in 2007 Australian drama film
December Boys, starring
Daniel Radcliffe. More recently, McQuade has appeared in the 2017 post-apocalyptic thriller
Cargo, in which she appeared with British actor
Martin Freeman as the character of Etta. She also had a supporting role in martial arts fantasy film
Mortal Kombat (2021).
Harvest of Hate (1979),
Lonely Hearts (1982),
Goodbye Paradise (1983), ''
Billy's Holiday (1995), Subdivision (2009) and Holding the Man'' (2015).
Theatre McQuade has also appeared in numerous theatre productions, beginning with ''
The Beggar's Opera with NIDA in 1971. She returned to Adelaide in 2015, to lead the cast in the world premiere season of The Aspirations of Daise Morrow'', adapted from a short story by Australian playwright,
Patrick White. ==Filmography==