Women and government in Australia

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From the turn of the 20th century, women have participated in government in Australia. Following federation, the government of the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia passed the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 allowing most women to both vote and stand in the federal election of 1903. The crown colonies of South Australia and Western Australia granted women the vote before federation, and the states of New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria also passed legislation allowing women to participate in government at the state and local levels following federation. Indigenous Australian women did not achieve suffrage at all levels of government and in all states and territories until 1962.

Although Australia was the first country to allow women to stand in elections, women were not successful at a federal election until 1943. In general women have been slow to enter all levels of politics in Australia. Most states are yet to have a female Premier and neither of the main political parties has had a parliamentary female leader.


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[edit] Women in government

[edit] Commonwealth government

In most countries, women entered parliament soon after gaining the right to stand. The first women successfully elected to the Commonwealth government were both elected in 1943, 40 years after they were able. The major Australian political parties did not support any female candidates until the Second World War, until this time all female candidates were independent or backed by minor political parties. In 1943 and with major party backing, Enid Lyons was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the member for the Division of Darwin, Tasmania and Dorothy Tangney was elected to the Australian Senate representing Western Australia. In 1949 Enid Lyons became the first woman in federal cabinet, however she had no portfolio; Senator Annabelle Rankin became the first woman with a federal portfolio when she became Minister for Housing; Senator Margaret Guilfoyle was the first female cabinet minister with a federal with a portfolio in 1975. Senator Ros Kelly was the first woman to give birth while an MP in 1983. In 1986 there were two firsts, Joan Child became the first female Speaker and Janine Haines became the first woman to lead a parliamentary party when she became head of the Australian Democrats. Joan Child was the first woamn to hold the position of Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives and Margaret Reid became the first female President of the Senate in 1996. Kathy Sullivan is the longest serving female parliamentarian.

In the Forty-First Parliament of Australia there are 23 female senators and 37 women in the House of Representatives.

[edit] Commonwealth Public Service

The Commonwealth Public Service Act 1902 stated that every female officer was "deemed to have retired from the Commonwealth service upon her marriage", 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 rule. In 1966 Australia became one of the last democratic countries to lift the ban on married women in the public service.

[edit] State government

The first woman elected to a state government was Western Australian Edith Cowan when she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1921. Millicent Preston-Stanley was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1925, Irene Longman was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly 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 was elected in 1959. Both the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 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..

In 1988 Rosemary Follett became the first female head of government in Australia, as Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. Carmen Lawrence was the first female premier of an Australian state when she took office in February 1990, she was followed by the appointment of Joan Kirner as Premier of Victoria in 1990. Clare Martin has been Chief Minister of the Northern Territory since 2001.

[edit] Local government

The first woman elected to a local government in Australia was Grace Benny, she was elected to the Brighton Council in South Australia in 1919. Mary Rogers was elected to Richmond City council, Victoria in 1920 and Elizabeth Clapham was elected to Western Australia's Cottesloe Town council. Queensland's first female councilor was Dr Ellen Kent-Hughes, elected to Kingaroy shire in 1925. In 1928 to Newtown municipal council, New South Wales' first female alderman was Lilian Fowler, later to become Australia's first woman mayor. New South Wales also produced Australia's first female Lord Mayor, Her Worship Alderman Joy Cummings when elected to Newcastle City Council in 1974. Dorothy E Edwards, Tasmania's first alderman, was elected to Launceston City in 1950.

In 1951 the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) was formed. Unique in the world, it 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, Councilor Evelyn H. Parker of Subiaco and Dr Ella Stack of Darwin City respectively.

In the 1980s women began to hold the position of Lord Mayor in the capital cities for the first time, including Sallyanne Atkinson (Brisbane 1985-91), Doone Kennedy (Hobart 1986-96), Lecki Ord (Melbourne 1987-88) and Winsome McCaughey (Melbourne 1988-89), Lucy Turnbull (2003-04) and Clover Moore (2004-).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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