Women in Australian politics
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Government in Australia is elected by universal suffrage and Australian women participate in all levels of the government of the nation. In 1902, the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia became the first nation on earth to enact equal suffrage, enabling women to both vote and stand for election alongside menFirst women in parliament
Australian National Museum; online 30 June 2022
Women have been represented in Australian state parliaments since 1921, and in the Federal Parliament since 1943. The first female leader of an Australian State or Territory was elected in 1989, and the first female Prime Minister took office in 2010. In 2019 for the first time, a majority of members of the
Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
were women. At the time of its foundation in 1901, and again since 1952, Australia has had a female monarch as ceremonial Head of State, while the first female Governor of an Australian State was appointed in 1991, and the first female
Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...
, some of the self-governing British colonies of Australia had already enacted the right of women to vote or stand in elections. South Australian women achieved the right to stand for office in 1895 following the '' Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894'', which was the first legislation in the world to permit women to stand for election for political office. In 1897, Catherine Helen Spence became the first female political candidate for political office, unsuccessfully standing as a delegate to the Federal Convention on Australian Federation. Women won the vote in Western Australia in 1900, with some restrictions based on race. Indigenous Australian women could vote in some jurisdictions and circumstances from the outset, but did not achieve unqualified suffrage in all states and territories until 1962. Following Federation in 1901, the newly formed Parliament of Australia passed the ''
Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 The ''Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902'' was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which defined a uniform national criteria of who was entitled to vote in Australian federal elections. The Act established, in time for the 1903 Australian feder ...
'' allowing most women to both vote and stand at the 1903 Federal election. The states of New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria passed legislation allowing women to participate in government at the state and local levels soon after Federation. The first woman to be elected to any Australian parliament was Edith Cowan in 1921 (WA), but it was not until the 1943 election that Enid Lyons and Senator
Dorothy Tangney Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE (13 March 19073 June 1985) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1943 to 1968. She was the first woman elected to ...
became the first women to be elected to the Federal Parliament. The first female to lead a state or territory government was
Rosemary Follett Rosemary Follett (born 27 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the inaugural Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, serving in 1989 and again between 1991 and 1995. She was the first woman to become head of gove ...
serving in 1989 and again between 1991 and 1995 as chief minister of the ACT. The first female premier was Carmen Lawrence, leading Western Australia for three years until 1993. Joan Kirner was the first female premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. In the Northern Territory, Clare Martin became the first female chief minister in 2001 winning from opposition and was reelected in 2005 with an increased majority. In 2007,
Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In 2 ...
became the first female premier in Queensland after the retirement of Peter Beattie, and in 2009, Bligh became the first popularly elected woman premier. In NSW,
Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Represe ...
became the first female premier of the state in 2009 and was defeated at the 2011 state election. Lara Giddings was the first female Premier of the state of Tasmania between January 2011 and March 2014. In Queensland, in 2015, Annastacia Palaszczuk became the first woman to be elected premier from opposition and was the first female premier to be elected for a second term after winning the
2017 Queensland state election The 2017 Queensland state election was held on 25 November 2017 to elect all 93 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the unicameral Parliament of Queensland. The first-term incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Annastacia P ...
. Despite being the earliest state to grant voting rights and allow women to stand in parliament since 1895, South Australia has never had a female premier.
Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...
was
prime minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
from 24 June 2010 to 27 June 2013, the first and only woman to have held the position.


The Crown

Australia has been governed as a Federated Constitutional Monarchy since 1901. There have been two female heads of state in the history of the Monarchy of Australia. Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901, and was the reigning monarch when the
Constitution of Australia The Constitution of Australia (or Australian Constitution) is a written constitution, constitutional document that is Constitution, supreme law in Australia. It establishes Australia as a Federation of Australia, federation under a constitutio ...
came into force, on 1 January 1901, after she gave it Royal Assent.
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
has reigned since 1952, and since 1973, she has been styled "Queen of Australia", to emphasise the separate constitutional status of the Australian Monarchy from the United Kingdom institution. Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 70th jubilee in 2022 – the longest serving monarch in Australian history. The Monarch is represented in Australia by Governors at a state level, and by the Governor-General at a Federal government level. There have been fifteen female state governors, since 1991 when Dame
Roma Mitchell Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell, (2 October 1913 – 5 March 2000) was an Australian lawyer, judge and state governor. She was the first woman to hold a number of positions in Australia – the country's first woman judge, the first woman to be a ...
became the 31st
Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...
. Dame Quentin Bryce became the first female Governor–General in 2008 and served until 2014.


Women's suffrage

During the 19th century, Britain's Australasian colonies were at the vanguard of achieving both male and female suffrage. Australia's first council elections were held with
male suffrage Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the slog ...
in 1840, while parliamentary elections were first conducted for the
New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...
in 1843, with voting rights (for males only) tied to property ownership or financial capacity. The ''Australian Colonies Government Act'', passed in 1850, granted representative constitutions to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania and the colonies enthusiastically set about writing constitutions which produced democratically progressive parliaments – through the constitutions generally maintained the role of the colonial upper houses as representative of social and economic "interests" and all established
Constitutional Monarchies A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
with the
British monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...
as the symbolic head of state. 1855 also saw the granting of the right to vote to all male British subjects 21 years or over in South Australia. This right was extended to Victoria in 1857 and New South Wales the following year. The other colonies followed until, in 1896, Tasmania became the last colony to grant universal
male suffrage Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the slog ...
. While the female descendants of the Bounty mutineers who lived on
Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...
could vote from 1838, and this right transferred with their resettlement to
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...
(now an
Australian external territory The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing po ...
) in 1856, women in mainland Australia and New Zealand were next in the world to achieve such historic gains. Following the successful establishment of voter rights for males, women's suffrage groups began to organise in Australia from the 1880s. The first was the Victorian Women's Suffrage Society, was formed by
Henrietta Dugdale Henrietta Augusta Dugdale ( Worrell; 14 May 1827 – 17 June 1918) was a pioneer Australian who initiated the first female suffrage society in Australia. Non-conformist, provocative and quick-witted, her campaigning resulted in breakthroughs ...
in 1884. The organisations involved in the suffrage movement varied across the colonies. A national body, the Australian Women's Suffrage Society, was formed in 1889, whose aims were to educate women and men about a woman's right to vote and stand for parliament. Key figures in the Australian suffrage movement included South Australians Mary Lee and Catherine Helen Spence, Western Australian Edith Cowan, New South Welsh
Maybanke Anderson Maybanke Susannah Anderson (nee Selfe and also known as Maybanke Wolstenholme; 16 February 1845 – 15 April 1927) was an Australian political reformer involved in women's suffrage and Australian federation. Early life Maybanke Selfe was bor ...
,
Louisa Lawson Louisa Lawson (née Albury) (17 February 1848 – 12 August 1920) was an Australian poet, writer, publisher, suffragist, and feminist. She was the mother of the poet and author Henry Lawson. Early life Louisa Albury was born on 17 February 1 ...
,
Dora Montefiore Dorothy Frances Montefiore (; 20 December 1851 – 21 December 1933), known as Dora Montefiore, was an English-Australian women's suffragist, socialist, poet, and autobiographer. Early life Born Dorothy Frances Fuller at Kenley Manor near Cou ...
and
Rose Scott Rose Scott (8 October 1847 – 20 April 1925) was an Australian women's rights activist who advocated for women's suffrage and universal suffrage in New South Wales at the turn-of-the twentieth century. She founded the Women's Political Educatio ...
, Tasmanians
Alicia O'Shea Petersen Alicia Teresa Jane O'Shea Petersen ( McShane; 2 July 1862 – 22 January 1923) was a Tasmanian suffragist and social reformer. Biography Alicia Teresa Jane McShane was born in Tasmania to Hugh and Jane ( Wood) McShane. She became interested ...
and
Jessie Rooke Jessie Spink Rooke (10 September 1845 – 4 January 1906) was a suffragette and temperance reformer in Tasmania, Australia, and one of the first Tasmanian women to gain recognition outside Tasmania. Life Jessie Rooke was born in London on Septe ...
, Queenslander Emma Miller, and Victorians
Annette Bear-Crawford Annette Bear-Crawford (1853 – 7 June 1899) was a women's suffragist and federationist in Victoria. Early life Bear-Crawford was born in East Melbourne, her family was wealthy and she spent her childhood in Australia and England. She had t ...
, Henrietta Dugdale, Vida Goldstein,
Alice Henry Alice Henry (21 March 1857 – 14 February 1943) was an Australian suffragist, journalist and trade unionist who also became prominent in the American trade union movement as a member of the Women's Trade Union League. Henry Street in the ...
and
Annie Lowe Annie Lowe (1834–1910) was a suffragist in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. She and Henrietta Dugdale founded the Victorian Women's Suffrage Society (the suffragettes) in 1884, the first organisation of this kind to be established in ...
. In 1861 land-owning South Australian women had a vote in local elections. In 1894, the Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894 in South Australia followed New Zealand in extending the franchise to women voters – but went further than New Zealand and allowed women to stand for the colonial Parliament. South Australian women voted for the first time at the 1896 South Australian election. In 1897 Catherine Helen Spence became the first woman political candidate when she ran for election to the National Australasian Convention as one of ten delegates, but came 22nd out of 33 candidates. In 1899 Western Australian women achieved voting rights for colonial elections but not the right to stand for the colonial Parliament. Women from both South Australia and Western Australia voted at the 1901 election. On 12 June 1902 the ''Commonwealth Franchise Act'' came into effect, granting most Australian women the right to vote and stand in Commonwealth elections. Franchise of Indigenous Australians at the federal level was not universal until 1962, and voting by Indigenous Australians was not compulsory until 1984. The first election at which women used both the right to vote and stand for election was the 1903 election, held on 16 December. Following the inclusion of non-indigenous women in the 1903 election, many Australian women and the Australian government, led by Prime Minister
Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...
, used their experience to promote women's suffrage in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. 'Trust the Women Mother, As I Have Done', banner painted by
Dora Meeson Dora Meeson (1869–1955) was an Australian artist and an elected member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London, England. She was a member of the British Artists' Suffrage League. She was married to fellow artist George James Coates on ...
was carried at the head of the Australian and New Zealand Women Voters' Committee contingent in the Women's Suffrage Coronation March in London on 17 June 1911. New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria followed the lead of the other states in allowing women to vote, and later to stand for election. Victoria, the last state to grant women's suffrage, had briefly allowed women to vote when the ''Electoral Act'' 1863 enfranchised all ratepayers listed on local municipal rolls. Women in Victoria voted in the 1864
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. The legislative mistake was quickly repaired in 1865, and it took 19 private members' bills from 1889 until Victorian women gained the vote in 1908, and were able to exercise the vote in 1911. Women in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory were, as federal subjects, eligible to vote at the federal level from their establishment. By the time the territories achieved self-government in 1978 and 1989 respectively, they did not need to enact specific legislation to enable the women's vote. The right to vote in local government elections was granted later in most jurisdictions than it was at the state and federal levels. The right to vote in local elections was also not automatic, as property ownership qualifications limited the eligibility to vote and stand for local elections. Significantly from 2010 to 2011 the city of
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
was operating totally under female governance: from the Lord Mayor and State Member for Sydney
Clover Moore Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...
, to State Premier
Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Represe ...
, to State Governor Marie Bashir, to Federal Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek, to Prime Minister of Australia
Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...
, to Governor–General of Australia Quentin Bryce, and of course, to the Australian Head of State,
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
. The first women elected to Australian parliaments have generally been members of the non-Labor (i.e., conservative) parties. This was the case in every state except for Tasmania, where an independent,
Margaret McIntyre Margaret Edgeworth David McIntyre, (28 November 1886 – 2 September 1948) was the first woman elected to the Parliament of Tasmania, representing the seat of Cornwall in the Legislative Council. Life and career McIntyre was born in Maitlan ...
, was the first woman elected to parliament. The Labor Party first began to regularly nominate female candidates to parliament in the 1950s, generally only to the upper houses at first. Since 2015, 12 Indigenous women have been elected to state, territory or commonwealth parliaments, with 5 of whom having been ministers in a government starting with
Marion Scrymgour Marion Rose Scrymgour (born 13 September 1960) is an Australian politician and the current MP for Lingiari. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the electorate of Arafura. She was th ...
in 2007.


Women in politics


Commonwealth government

; Early Parliamentary Candidates In 1902, Australia became the first nation in the world to introduce equal federal suffrage with the enactment of the ''
Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 The ''Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902'' was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which defined a uniform national criteria of who was entitled to vote in Australian federal elections. The Act established, in time for the 1903 Australian feder ...
'', which enabled women to both vote and stand in federal elections. However, it would be four decades before female candidates were elected to serve in the Federal Parliament of Australia. Nevertheless, four women stood for election at the 1903 federal election. They were
Mary Moore-Bentley :For the Arkansas politician, see '' Mary Bentley.'' Mary Ann Moore-Bentley, also known as Mary Ling (6 January 1865 – 1 September 1953), was an Australian writer and parliamentary candidate. Born in Braidwood to English-born Methodists ...
and Nellie Martel from New South Wales, and Vida Goldstein from Victoria, all of whom stood for the Senate, and Selina Anderson who contested the Sydney House of Representatives seat of Dalley. All failed to get major party endorsement and stood as independents, and all were unsuccessful. Goldstein stood for the Senate again in 1910, 1913, 1914 and 1917, all without success. Eva Seery contested Labor Party preselection for the Senate in 1916 but was unsuccessful. She and Henrietta Greville were endorsed Labor candidates at the 1917 federal election, though for safe conservative seats. Though unsuccessful they were the first women to stand for the Australian Parliament with major party endorsement. ; First Members, Senators & Ministers At the 1943 federal election, two women were elected to Parliament - Dame Enid Lyons and
Dorothy Tangney Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE (13 March 19073 June 1985) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1943 to 1968. She was the first woman elected to ...
. With Australian Labor Party endorsement, Tangney was elected to the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
representing Western Australia, an office she held until 1968. With the backing of the United Australia Party, Lyons was elected to the House of Representatives as the member for the Division of Darwin, which was located in Tasmania. In 1949 she became the first female member of cabinet, when Liberal Prime Minister
Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
appointed her Minister without Portfolio to enable her appointment to the honorary office of Vice-President of the Executive Council, an office she held until her retirement from parliament in 1951. Dame
Annabelle Rankin Dame Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin DBE (28 July 190830 August 1986) was an Australian politician and diplomat. She was the first woman from Queensland elected to parliament, the first woman federal departmental minister, and the first Australian ...
won election for the Liberal Party representing Queensland at the 1946 Election and became Australia's second female Senator. She served as Government Whip from 1951 to 1966 in the Menzies Government, and was appointed Minister for Housing in the Holt Government in 1966, the first woman to head a government department. In 1975, Liberal Senator Dame Margaret Guilfoyle became the first female cabinet minister with a portfolio, following her appointment as Minister for Education in the Fraser Government. Agnes Robertson was elected as the fourth female Senator in 1949, and was elected as the first Country Party (now National Party) Senator at the 1955 election, after losing endorsement for the Liberals and switching allegiance. She went on to be appointed as the first female member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1956. ; Further milestones In 1983 Labor MP Ros Kelly became the first woman to give birth while an MP.
Florence Bjelke-Petersen Florence Isabel Bjelke-Petersen (née Gilmour; 11 August 1920 – 20 December 2017) was an Australian politician and writer. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1981 to 1993, and was the wife of the longest-serving Premier of Queensl ...
became Deputy Leader of the National Party in the Senate in 1985 and remained in the role until 1990. In 1986 there were two firsts,
Joan Child Joan Child, AO (3 August 192123 February 2013) was an Australian politician. She was the first woman to be Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives. Up until the election of Anna Burke on 9 October 2012, she was the only female Spea ...
became the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives and
Janine Haines Janine Winton Haines, AM (née Carter; 8 May 1945 – 20 November 2004) was an Australian politician who was a Senator for South Australia from 1977 to 1978 and again from 1981 to 1990. She represented the Australian Democrats, and served as t ...
became the first woman to lead a parliamentary party when she became head of the Australian Democrats. Margaret Reid became the first female
President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...
in 1996.
Nova Peris Nova Maree Peris (born 25 February 1971) is an Aboriginal Australian athlete and former politician. As part of the Australian women's field hockey (Hockeyroos) team at the 1996 Olympic Games, she was the first Aboriginal Australian to win an ...
and Jacqui Lambie were the first two
indigenous women Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
to enter federal politics in 2014. Kathy Sullivan was the first woman to have served in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. ; First Woman Prime Minister On 24 June 2010,
Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...
became the first woman to lead one of the major political parties at the federal level as Leader of the Australian Labor Party, as well as the first female Prime Minister of Australia. However, as it became clear that her government was headed for a heavy defeat, she was deposed by her own party in June 2013 in favour of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whom she had replaced in a similar coup. ; Ongoing developments
Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Curtin ...
had become the first female Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in 2007, and with the election of the Abbott Government in 2013, became Australia's first female Minister for Foreign Affairs. The National Party also had its first female Deputy Leader over the period in
Fiona Nash Fiona Joy Nash (née Morton; born 6 May 1965) is a former Australian politician. She served as a Senator for New South Wales from 2005 to 2017, representing the National Party. She was the party's deputy leader from 2016 to 2017 and was a ca ...
, who held the position from 2008 to 2017. In December 2014, Liberal MP
Bronwyn Bishop Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop (née Setright; born 19 October 1942) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of federal parliament for almost 30 years, the longest period of service by a woman. A member of the Liberal Party, she was a mi ...
eclipsed Kathy Sullivan's earlier record of 27 years to become the longest-serving female Member of the Australian Federal Parliament. She was nominated Speaker of the House of Representatives by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and served in the role from 2013 to 2015. Following the
2016 Australian federal election The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It ...
there were 73 women members of both Houses of the Australian Parliament, representing 32% of all seats in the Senate and House of Representatives. At the 2019 federal election, of the 68 members of the Labor Party in the House of Representatives 28 were women (41.2%). In the Liberal Party, of the 61 members, 13 were women (21.3%). For the Nationals, it had 2 women among 16 members (12.5%). Of the Independents there were 3 women among 6 members (50.0%). Overall, there were 45 women among 151 members (29.8%). The Liberal–National Government's Second Morrison Ministry reached an historic high of seven women in Cabinet, including Foreign Minister
Marise Payne Marise Ann Payne (born 29 July 1964) is an Australian politician who served in the Morrison Government as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022 and as Minister for Women from 2019 to 2022. She has been a Senator for New South Wales sin ...
, who previously served as Australia's first female Defence Minister, and became the longest-serving female senator in Australian history, as well as the longest current serving female member of federal parliament in 2022. Following the
2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth conse ...
, the Albanese Government surpassed the record set by the Morrison Government with the appointment of ten women parliamentarians to cabinet. This election also saw a number of female " teal independents" elected to parliament.


Commonwealth Public Service

The ''Commonwealth Public Service Act 1902'' provided that every female officer was "deemed to have retired from the Commonwealth service upon her marriage", with the exception of women working in agencies transferred from a state to the Commonwealth. The very great majority of women were effectively blocked from non-secretarial positions in the Commonwealth Public Service. In 1949 women were allowed into the clerical division of the service but they remained restricted by the marriage bar. In November 1966, Australia became the last democratic country to lift the legislated marriage bar which had prevented married women from holding permanent positions in the public service.


State and territory governments

The first woman elected to a state parliament was Edith Cowan, when she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1921.
Millicent Preston-Stanley Millicent Preston-Stanley (9 September 1883 – 23 June 1955) was an Australian feminist and politician who served as the first female member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. In 1925, she became the second woman to enter government ...
was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1925,
Irene Longman Irene Maud Longman (; 24 April 1877 – 29 July 1964) was an Australian community worker and politician. She was Women and government in Australia, the first woman elected to the Parliament of Queensland, representing the Queensland Legislative ...
was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in 1929 and Millie Peacock was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1933. Ironically, South Australia as the first state to allow women to sit in state parliament, was also the last to have a female sitting member when
Joyce Steele Joyce Steele (29 May 1909 – 24 September 1991) was an Australian politician and one of the first two women elected to the Parliament of South Australia, the other being Jessie Cooper. Steele was elected to the House of Assembly and Coop ...
and
Jessie Cooper Jessie Mary Cooper (née McAndrew; 29 June 191428 December 1993) was elected as a Liberal and Country League representative to the South Australian Legislative Council at the 1959 election. She was one of the first two women elected to the Parl ...
were elected on the same day in 1959. Both the
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...
and Northern Territory Legislative Assembly had women in their inaugural Parliaments. Women were not elected to the upper house of state parliaments until after World War II; no woman was elected to the Victorian upper house until 1979, when Gracia Baylor (Liberal) and
Joan Coxsedge Joan Marjorie Coxsedge (born 5 January 1931) is an Australian artist, activist, and a former politician. She was one of the first two women elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in 1979. Born Joan Rochester, she is a native of Ballarat. Af ...
(ALP) were elected. In 1989
Rosemary Follett Rosemary Follett (born 27 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the inaugural Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, serving in 1989 and again between 1991 and 1995. She was the first woman to become head of gove ...
became the first female head of government in Australia, as
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory The chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party with the largest number of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usu ...
. Carmen Lawrence was the first female premier of an Australian state when she took the office of Premier of Western Australia in February 1990. She was followed by the appointment of Joan Kirner as Premier of Victoria, in which position she served from 1990 to
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, when her party was swept from office by
Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, and currently a media commentator. He was previously the president of the Hawthorn Football Club, serving ...
's conservatives. Clare Martin was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
to 2007.
Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In 2 ...
became Premier of Queensland in 2007 when Peter Beattie retired. In
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, she became the first woman in Australia to be elected Premier, though she subsequently suffered a landslide loss to
Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is a former Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Quee ...
's LNP in
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
. On 4 December 2009,
Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Represe ...
replaced Nathan Rees to become the first female Premier of New South Wales. As
Carmel Tebbutt Carmel Mary Tebbutt (born 22 January 1964) is an Australian former politician. She was the Labor Party Member for the former seat of Marrickville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly until the 2015 election and was Deputy Premier of New ...
retained the role of
Deputy Premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
, Keneally also led the first executive in Australia to be led by two women. However, Keneally would also go on to suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of Barry O'Farrell in
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
. In 2011 Lara Giddings became the first female Premier of Tasmania, serving until
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
when she likewise suffered a crushing loss to conservative leader
Will Hodgman William Edward Felix Hodgman (born 20 April 1969) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who has been the High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore since February 2021. He was the 45th Premier of Tasmania and a member for the Division ...
. This again leaves South Australia as the only state or territory not to have had a female head of government.
Marion Scrymgour Marion Rose Scrymgour (born 13 September 1960) is an Australian politician and the current MP for Lingiari. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the electorate of Arafura. She was th ...
is to date the highest ranked Indigenous woman in a government in Australia when she was Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 2007 until 2009. Prior to Labor's massive loss in 2012 the Legislative Assembly of Queensland had the highest female parliamentary representation in Australia and the third highest in the world, with 30 out of 89 Members having been women. However, the next state election resulted in Annastacia Palaszczuk becoming the first woman to become
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
from opposition. The subsequent government would become the second in Australia to be headed by two women and the first ministry in Australia to have a female majority. On 3 March 2018, Australia passed another milestone when, at the 2018 Tasmanian election, Tasmanians elected a majority of women to the Tasmanian House of Assembly, with 13 women and 12 men. Seven of the ten Labor members are women, four of the 13 Liberals and both of the Greens. As at 27 November 2018, following the
2018 Victorian state election Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...
, 50% of Ministers in the second Victorian Andrews Government were female, and following cabinet changes on 23 March 2020, a majority of the cabinet was female. Dame
Roma Mitchell Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell, (2 October 1913 – 5 March 2000) was an Australian lawyer, judge and state governor. She was the first woman to hold a number of positions in Australia – the country's first woman judge, the first woman to be a ...
was made the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia in 1965, at the recommendation of Don Dunstan, South Australia's 38th Attorney-General. She was still the only female judge in South Australia when she retired 18 years later in 1983 although Justices Elizabeth Evatt and
Mary Gaudron Mary Genevieve Gaudron (born 5 January 1943), is an Australian lawyer and judge, who was the first female Justice of the High Court of Australia. She was the Solicitor-General of New South Wales from 1981 until 1987 before her appointment to ...
had been appointed to federal courts by the
Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
Government. It was not until 1993 that the second woman was appointed to the court, Mitchell's former student, Margaret Nyland.


Local government

The first woman elected to a local government authority in Australia was
Grace Benny Susan Grace Benny, née Anderson, (1872–1944) of Seacliff, South Australia, generally referred to as Grace Benny or S. Grace Benny, was the first woman elected to local government in Australia when she was elected to the Brighton Council in 1 ...
, who was elected to the Brighton Council in South Australia in 1919. In 1920
Mary Rogers Mary Cecilia Rogers (born c. 1820 – found dead July 28, 1841) was an American murder victim whose story became a national sensation. Rogers was a noted beauty who worked in a New York tobacco store, which attracted the custom of many distingui ...
was elected to Richmond City Council, Victoria and
Elizabeth Clapham Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...
was elected to Western Australia's Cottesloe Municipal Council. Queensland's first female councillor was Dr Ellen Kent-Hughes, elected to Kingaroy Shire Council in 1923. New South Wales' first female alderman was
Lilian Fowler Elizabeth Lilian Maud Fowler MBE, JP (; 7 June 1886 – 11 May 1954) was an Australian politician. She was Australia's first female mayor, serving as mayor of Newtown, New South Wales, from 1937 to 1939. She later represented the seat of Newto ...
, elected in 1928 to Newtown Municipal Council; she was later to become Australia's first woman mayor. Dorothy Edwards, Tasmania's first female alderman, was elected to Launceston City Council in 1950 and became the first female mayor of an Australian city in 1955. Australia's first female lord mayor, Joy Cummings, was elected to Newcastle City Council in 1974. In 1951 the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) was formed. The ALGWA is an association of local government women helping other women to join them. In 1975 Western Australia and the Northern Territory elected their first women mayors, Councillor Evelyn H. Parker of the
City of Subiaco The City of Subiaco is a local government area in Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 7 km² in inner western metropolitan Perth and lies about 3 km west of the Perth CBD. The City includes the historically working- ...
and Dr
Ella Stack Ellen Mary Stack (4 May 1929 – 19 May 2023) was an Australian medical doctor and the first female Lord Mayor of an Australian capital city. She was the mayor of the City of Darwin, Northern Territory, from 1975 to 1979, and lord mayor from ...
of the City of Darwin respectively. In the 1980s women began to hold the position of Lord Mayor in the capital cities for the first time, including: * Adelaide – Wendy Chapman (1983–85) * Brisbane –
Sallyanne Atkinson Sallyanne Atkinson AO (born 23 July 1942) was Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1985 to 1991 in Queensland, Australia. She is the only woman to have held the position. As of 2017, she was Chairman of the Museum of Brisbane, President of the Council ...
(1985–91) * Hobart – Doone Kennedy (1986–96) and
Sue Hickey Susanne Lynnette Hickey (born 25 July 1958) is an Australian politician. She represented the electorate of Denison (later re-named Clark) from the 2018 state election until her defeat at the 2021 election, sitting with the Liberal Party until ...
(2014–18) * Melbourne – Lecki Ord (1987–88),
Winsome McCaughey Winsome McPherson McCaughey (; born 23 October 1943), was Lord Mayor of Melbourne from 1988 to 1989. She was the second woman to hold that position after succeeding Alexis Ord. Early life Winsome Howell was born and raised on a property at Ba ...
(1988–89) and
Sally Capp Sally Anne Capp is an Australian politician who is the 104th lord mayor of Melbourne, elected on 18 May 2018 and sworn in on 24 May 2018. She is also the former executive director of the development lobbying group the Property Council of Victori ...
(2018–) * Sydney – Lucy Turnbull (2003–04) and
Clover Moore Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...
(2004–) * Perth –
Lisa Scaffidi Lisa-Michelle Scaffidi (; born 12 February 1960) is a former Lord Mayor of Perth, Western Australia. The first female Lord Mayor of Perth, Scaffidi became mayor following the October 2007 council elections, after the retirement of her predeces ...
(2007–2018)


Other milestones

In 2010, Australia had female leaders occupying every major political office, with
Clover Moore Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...
as Lord Mayor,
Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Represe ...
as Premier of New South Wales, Marie Bashir as Governor of New South Wales,
Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...
as Prime Minister, Quentin Bryce as
Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia.


See also

* Women in Australia *
Women in the Australian House of Representatives There have been 153 women in the Australian House of Representatives since the establishment of the Parliament of Australia. Women have had the right to both vote and sit in parliament since 1902. The first woman to run for the House of Representa ...
*
Women in the Australian Senate There have been 121 women in the Australian Senate since the establishment of the Parliament of Australia. Women have had the right to stand for federal parliament since 1902, and there were three female candidates for the Senate at the 1903 fe ...
* 2021 Australian Parliament rape allegations **
2021 March 4 Justice The 2021 March 4 Justice (also styled Women's March 4 Justice) took place on 15 March 2021 across Australia. The protest included a series of events in major Australian cities including the nation's capital Canberra. Protests occurred in 40 cities ...


References

*Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women. 2002
Our Centenary of Women's Suffrage
*Haines, J. 1993. ''Suffrage to Sufferance''. Allen and Unwin. *Parliament of New South Wales
Women in Parliament
*Sawer, M. 2001
Women and government in Australia
In ''Year Book of Australia'', 2001, Australia Bureau of Statistics, Catalogue #1301.01 *Sawer, M. and Simms, M. 1993. ''A woman's place''. Allen and Unwin. *Scott, M. 2003
How Australia led the way: Dora Meeson Coates and British Suffrage
Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women *Walsh, K. Ed. 2004
One Hundred Years of Women's Suffrage in Australia
Papers on Parliament No. 41. Department of the Senate


External links


''Why politics is toxic for Australia’s women'' by Frances Mao, BBC News, May, 16, 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Women And Government In Australia Political history of Australia *