What's next for Julia Gillard?

Julia Gillard gets emotional while listening to Independent MP Rob Oakeshott delivering his valedictory speech in the House of Representatives Chamber Parliament House in Canberra. Source: News Limited

AFTER being ousted from the top job just three years after she claimed it, Julia Gillard will leave office with a $200,000 pension and a private driver for life.

But at just 51 years old, retirement is hardly looming for the former prime minister.

She will have an office, staff, car and free travel for the rest of her life, but rather than becoming the "the most meddlesome great-aunt in Australian history" or investing more time in her knitting, there are plenty of options on the table for Australia's first female PM.

Ms Gillard's biographer Jacqueline Kent said the former prime minister won't be chasing ambassadorial or corporate roles like many former politicians do.

"I could see her working for some NGO, possibly in the area of education. That's where her heart lies," said Ms Kent, author of The Making of Julia Gillard.

"She was minister for education. Education and the importance of it is very much part of her DNA. She comes from a migrant Welsh family. She's always felt all through her life that having fairness and equality of opportunity for education is the absolute bedrock of a fair and civil society."

Ms Kent said Ms Gillard was likely to use the skills she gained in politics in a socially responsible way.

"She's not particularly status conscious. That's one of the nice things about her. I mean she has a very good sense of who she is but she is not chasing a title."

Ms Kent added that Ms Gillard, a trained lawyer, was unlikely to return to the profession.

"I think she may do something that law is connected with but I can't see her going back to it," she said.

"I think she's one of those people that does som

ething, gets to the top of that then thinks 'OK now what will I do?' She got to top of student politics, got to the top of [law firm] Slater and Gordon, got to top of the government, and will want to move on."

Former Labor strategist Adam Kilgour, who is now managing director of communications and government relations firm Diplomacy, said Ms Gillard was a relatively young former prime minster and will have a "pretty significant career" in the future.

"I would have thought Julia Gillard will probably sit back and have a decent holiday after the election and think about things in the cold light of day. That would be the sensible thing to do," Mr Kilgour said.

"But there will be plenty of positions open to her, she's shown she's a very good negotiator."

Mr Kilgour said a lot of former prime ministers find themselves writing books and on speakers circuits.

"Because there's genuine interest, once they're out of the confidentiality of the cabinet room, about how and why they made the decisions they did," he said.

Former Prime Minister John Howard signed with the Washington Speakers Bureau in January 2008 shortly after leaving office, an organisation which also includes former US secretaries of state Colin Powell and Madeline Albright on its roster.

Mr Kilgour said they can also serve useful roles in NGOs either as patrons or directors, such as Red Cross CEO Robert Tickner, who was Aboriginal affairs minister under the Keating government.

New Zealand's first elected female prime minister, Helen Clark, went on to chair the United Nations Development Group, after serving for nine years as prime minister.

Ms Gillard could even branch out into the sports world with her beloved Western Bulldogs AFL team, following in the footsteps of former New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally who now serves as CEO of Basketball Australia, or previous Victorian premier Jeff Kennett who served as president of Hawthorn Football Club.