Formerly the publicity officer, Gillian Semple is the organisation’s new secretary, while Anna Appleton has taken over from Sue Pegler as treasurer.

Tammie Irons and Louise Martin remain vice presidents, as does assistant secretary Kim Donaldson.

Committee members include former secretary Kate Twist, Wendy Henning, Jacqui Beale, Kylie Camp, Kelly Ostwald, Louise Winten and Edwina Hick.

One vacancy remains on the committee.

Ms Hughes was elected at the 45th annual Isolated Children's Parents Association state conference held last week in Alpha.

Ms Hughes said the work of the Alpha branch, in staging a conference for over 250 attendees in the middle of Queensland in a town with virtually no motel rooms and very little in the way of food outlets had been “nothing short of heroic”.

She congratulated the branch on the huge amount of work it had put in.

Between all members on the convening committee, 37 children had been or still were being schooled and had benefited directly from the work of ICPA, convenor Kristy Sparrow said.

“The committee took time off from that work for this. I think we took over the town for a whole week, and we’re all a little saddle-weary, but it has been worth it,” she said.

The equine reference was in relation to the conference theme, Mustering the Opportunities.

It included a tent city known as the Stock Camp.

Ms Hughes has lived with her husband and three children on ‘Harrogate’, a cattle property west of Richmond in north-west Qld for almost 15 years.

Her three children were educated via Charters Towers SDE and then Mountt Isa School of the Air and are currently boarding at The Cathedral School in Townsville.

Ms Hughes became a member of ICPA 13 years ago when her oldest daughter started year one and held executive positions as Publicity Officer and Secretary.

She joined State Council at the Rockhampton Conference in 2011 and has held the Distance Education and Specific Needs portfolios, and now leads the Curriculum portfolio.

She was a Vice President for three years before being elected President at the 2015 Cloncurry Conference.

Ms Hughes said raising the ICPA profile and encouraging the next generation of members were a priority, as well as using all available outlets to champion rural and remote education and the families ICPA represent.