THE lounge room at Kirribilli House is exactly as you might expect; plush armchairs, thick carpet, hues of cream and beige. But although the rooms appear formal at first glance, there are some distinct clues that the woman who lives here has her own way of doing things.

An exercise ball lies in the hallway. There's a half-drunk cup of tea in the study (with what look suspiciously like biscuit crumbs beside the saucer) and the open cupboard by the bathroom is home to a multitude of different coloured jackets, coats and cardigans.

When Prime Minister Julia Gillard enters the room, she gives me a warm smile and a firm handshake before inviting me to sit next to her by the fire. "There's no central heating downstairs," she says. "It's beautiful in the summer, but a bit chilly at this time of year."

As she has her make-up touched up for our photoshoot, she chats happily about everything from the hat she wore last night ("I was channelling my best Miss Marple") to President Obama ("He's exactly as you'd imagine. Amazing smile.") and even the weather ("It was very bumpy on the plane in from Canberra").

It's been two years since Gillard was sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia and became the first woman to lead the country. Since she took office on June 24, 2010, she's weathered a hung parliament, a leadership challenge from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and endless comments about her wardrobe.

Although the 50-year-old prefers to "spend time looking forward", the second anniversary of her leadership has prompted her to reflect on both her professional achievements and how her personal life has changed.

"The lifestyle is, well, hard to describe," she says. "The volume of work is obviously crazy, but living with the security and the way you get moved around... there are things about it that do strike you as absurd."

Not that security always manages to confine her. "I was at the NATO summit in Chicago recently, discussing our strategy in Afghanistan - so, a really serious reason," she confides. "They'd built a sort of movie set in this huge convention centre and somehow I found my way behind it. I wandered through a loading dock, then a kitchen," she laughs. "You spend a lot of time wrapped up in the things you're doing, which are important and change people's lives, but there's also that moment where you stop and think, with all the people I have around me telling me where to go next, how did I end up in the kitchen chatting to people?"

Being the first female Australian Prime Minister has secured Gillard's place in the history books, but some things particularly drive home the magnitude of her position. "I don't wake up every morning thinking, oh, I'm the first female PM. But there are moments that pull you up short," she says. "Little girls come and talk to you about it. Or you're approached by a dad who's desperate for a photo for his daughter. Then the significance of it strikes you. Perhaps there was less of a sense of that before me doing the job."

Being one of the few women in a boys' club has also caused some confusion. She recalls an incident at the Pacific Islands Forum in New Zealand last year: "It was all male leaders apart from me. There were two buses; one for the leaders and one for the spouses. I was shooed off the leaders' bus to board the spouses' bus," she chuckles. "There was me, saying, 'Hello, er, Australian PM!' and a pretty embarrassed bus driver!"

Her partner of six years, Tim Mathieson, is of course, in the opposite situation. "Tim is often the only bloke [among the spouses]. Fortunately, after a lifetime in hairdressing, he's used to hanging around with a lot of women." It's no wonder the self-named 'First Bloke' has been so well-received. "I think he's a hit," Gillard says, grinning. "It's unusual for there to be a man [at the spouses' events]. But he can dispense hairdressing advice at the same time."

Mathieson, 55, has spoken several times about how proud he is of his partner. Does it work both ways? "Definitely," she nods vigorously. "It's a big lifestyle change for me, but a huge lifestyle change for him, too - from being on the floor of a hair salon to doing some of the things he's called upon to do now. I'm proud of the work he's doing and how he's going about it."

The PM admits the extra attention has altered their relationship. "I think the main thing it changes - because we're in the public eye - is it makes our private time more precious and more private," she says. "When we were first going out, on Friday evening we'd meet at a bar in Williamstown [Melbourne] and have a few drinks looking out over the water. Now, of course, that wouldn't work quite the same. People are overwhelmingly lovely, but they want to come up and have a chat. So when we find some downtime now, we enjoy it in a truly private space. That changes the dynamics of your relationship."

She counts Mathieson as one of her most trusted advisors. "He doesn't offer advice in the sense of, 'Do it this way,' but he'll offer observations on what he thinks people are feeling or thinking," she says. "After working in such a people-intensive industry, he's quick to pick up on how people feel or what might be worrying them."

When the couple does manage to have time off together, their favourite thing is "home, a glass of red wine, dinner", but Gillard confesses her culinary skills aren't up to scratch. "Tim is the one that cooks. If we relied on me to do the cooking, we'd be eating a lot of takeaway or starving to death. He does an awesome lamb roast - potatoes, mint sauce, gravy, the lot. He does a good line in breakfasts, too - omelettes. We're not complicated eaters, we like simple food."

Mathieson doesn't just look after the Prime Minister, but also the people in her team. When they manage "very rarely" to spend time at their home in Melbourne's Altona, security has to stay in a caravan outside the house. "Tim runs across with coffee and chocolate biscuits for them," she laughs.

Gillard might be in charge of the country, but as far as her parents, John and Moira, are concerned, she's still their little girl. When she was rushed to her car amid fears for her safety during Australia Day celebrations this year, the first thing she did was call home.

"I contacted them immediately to make sure they knew I was all right," she says. "I speak to them regularly. Mum will say, 'I saw you on Question Time last night, you're obviously tired,'" she laughs. "Thanks, Mum. Yep, early night, on it!' None of that's changed in 30 years since I first left Adelaide."

Although sleep isn't something the PM gets a lot of, when her head hits the pillow she sleeps soundly. "The only way of managing it is to relax into it quickly," she says. "You have to create a bit of space where your mind isn't whirring 100 miles an hour through a million problems. I don't wake up at 2am going, 'National disability insurance scheme!', then at 2.30am, 'School funding!', then at 3am, 'Budget surplus!' If you try to work 24/7, the quality of what you're doing goes down."

Gillard winds down at the end of the day by knitting. "It takes enough of your attention that your mind can't be racing ahead, but not so much of it that it's switched on. It's rhythmic and repetitive, so it helps you slow down."

The PM also relishes spending time with her big sister Alison's adult children, Jenna and Tom. A photo of Jenna's wedding holds pride of place in the living room of Kirribilli House, and Gillard was recently given a sneak peek of Tom's new pad. "Last time I was in Adelaide, he wanted to show it to me, but it was still in the settlement period, so he had to ask the real-estate agent to let us in," she recalls. "He said, 'My aunty's in town and wants to have a look.' When the agent turned up, there were police officers, the government cars and all the rest of it," she laughs. "She said she wouldn't have worn her tracksuit if she'd known it was going to be me! That's the delightful thing about family - there aren't any of the pretensions.

One pretension she's had to get used to is the focus on what she wears. "I've never really thought of myself as having a personal style," she says. "[Years ago] the extent to which I thought of personal style was, you have a responsible job so you put on a suit, you go to work, then you come home and take off your suit."

But after leaving her job as a lawyer and entering parliament, people started to take an interest in how she looked. "It ramped up," she says. "First as a backbencher, then there was a bit more focus as a shadow minister. Then a big step up when I became deputy opposition leader, a huge step up when I became deputy PM, and a mountain to climb when I became PM."

She sighs: "I obviously have to worry about it more than I used to. But you can never get it right. The office receives emails saying, 'Why didn't she have a necklace on? Why did she have a necklace on? How come her hair's shorter? I like it longer.' On and on it will go. But I get dressed, hope it looks OK and that's enough for me. I can't be bothered fidgeting and fussing about it all day."

Most of the time, someone chooses clothes for her, but she enjoys buying her own items when she can. "Very occasionally, I get to go out and shop for myself," Gillard says. "Tim and I were in Melbourne a few weeks ago and had breakfast with friends. We ran into a shop and I managed to buy a pair of shoes in about three minutes." Although she's previously refused to give any weight to Germaine Greer's maligned comments over her "ill-fitting" jackets, today the PM's happy to talk about the effect it had on her. "You can't let it worry you or distract you," she shrugs. "What I want to do and achieve as Prime Minister isn't to have people endlessly write 'Doesn't she look nice today?' I want to make a difference for the future. On the day I do that, the thing I'll remember is that lives have been changed, not whether people liked the jacket I was wearing."

THE MAKING OF A PRIME MINISTER

1961 - Born in Barry, Wales, to Moira and John Gillard.

1966 - Moira, a cook, and John, a psychiatric nurse, move the family to Australia after doctors advise a warmer climate will help their youngest daughter's recovery from bronchopneumonia.

1986 - Graduates from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws.

1990 - Made a partner at law firm Slater & Gordon.

1998 - Elected as the Australian Labor Party's federal member for Lalor, in Melbourne's western suburbs.

2001 - Appointed as Shadow Minister for Population and Immigration.

2003 - Promoted to Shadow Minister for Health.

2006 - In opposition, Kevin Rudd launches a campaign for the leadership of the ALP. Gillard successfully challenges for the deputy leadership. She also starts dating Tim Mathieson.

2007 - The ALP wins the federal election and Gillard becomes the first female Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.

2010 - Challenges Rudd for the ALP leadership and wins, becoming the first female Prime Minister of Australia.

2012 - The PM faces a leadership challenge from Rudd and wins the caucus ballot, 71 to 31 votes.

POLITICS OF FASHION

Julia Gillard's passion for coloured jackets has made almost as many headlines as her policies, with the electorate also weighing in on her style.

JULIA ON...

WATCHING TV

"I like British crime shows such as Spooks. I was a huge devotee of The Bill; I've been in mourning ever since it finished. And I never recovered from the loss of Tom Barnaby in Midsomer Murders."

EXERCISE

"I try and travel with a yoga mat and I use a Bosu ball. I stand on it and do burpees with it. I'm working on [my core], but it's not as good as I'd like!"

THE BEST WAY TO SPEND A SUNDAY

"I often have to get up to go to work! But if I'm not working, we read the newspapers and have breakfast in bed."