Kay Christine Lesley Patterson AO (born 21 November 1944) is a former Australian politician.

Over the next few years, she occupied a number of portfolios in relation to health, aged care and social policy.

The following year, Patterson led the Australian delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

[1] Following the retirement of Michael Wooldridge at the 2001 election, Patterson was appointed as the Minister for Health and Ageing.

[2] and a Professorial Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (2016-2020), in this role she was the vice chairman of the advisory board to the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) (1999–2019) and an ARMI Ambassador (2019-2026), and is a member of the Monash Centre for Human Anatomy Education Advisory Board.

She was a Commissioner on the National Mental Health Commission (2014–2016) and a member of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (2014–2016).

She has also been involved in Capacity Building Workshops for female candidates for election in Laos (UN Workshop – 2006), Australian National University Centre for Democratic Institutions capacity building programs – Solomon Islands (2008), Canberra (2009), Canberra (2013).