Milestones for women in Australian parliaments
(Source: Australian Parliamentary Library)
1894
Women in the colony of South Australia win both the right to vote and stand for the colonial parliament
1899
Women in the colony of Western Australia win the right to vote; they win the right to stand for state parliament in 1920 and the first woman is elected in 1921 (Edith Cowan)
1902
The Commonwealth Franchise Act is passed, enabling all women (with the exception of Aboriginal women in some states) to vote for the Commonwealth Parliament. From this time, women are also able to sit in the Commonwealth Parliament; the first women are elected in 1943 (Dorothy Tangney and Enid Lyons)
Women in New South Wales win the right to vote; they win the right to stand for the state Legislative Assembly in 1918
1903
Four women are candidates for the Commonwealth election—Nellie Martel, Mary Ann Moore Bentley and Vida Goldstein for the Senate, and Selina Anderson for the House of Representatives
Women in Tasmania win the right to vote
1905
Women in Queensland win the right to vote
1908
Women in Victoria win the right to vote
1918
Queensland women win the right to stand for state parliament
1921
Edith Cowan (Nationalist) becomes Australia’s first female parliamentarian when she is elected to the WA Legislative Assembly
1922
Women in Tasmania win the right to stand for state parliament
1923
Victorian women win the right to stand for state parliament
1925
Millicent Preston-Stanley (Nationalist) is the first woman appointed to the NSW Legislative Assembly
1926
Women in NSW win the right to stand for the Legislative Council
1929
Irene Longman (Progressive Nationalist) is the first women to be elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly
1931
Ellen Webster (ALP) and Catherine Green (ALP) become the first women appointed to the NSW Legislative Council
1933
Lady Millie Peacock (UAP) is the first woman to be elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly
1943
Enid Lyons (UAP, later LIB) and Senator Dorothy Tangney (ALP) are the first female parliamentarians to be elected to the Commonwealth Parliament
1944
Lillian Fowler is elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly seat of Newtown after serving as the first female Mayor in Australia (1938–9)
1947
Senator Annabelle Rankin (LIB), becomes Opposition Whip in the Senate becoming the first woman in the Commonwealth Parliament to hold that office
1947
Florence Cardell-Oliver (Nationalist; elected to the Western Australian Parliament in 1936) becomes Australia’s first female Cabinet minister
1948
Margaret McIntyre (IND) is the first woman elected to the Tasmanian Legislative Council
1949
Enid Lyons (LIB) becomes Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Liberal-Country Party coalition ministry of Prime Minister Robert Menzies
1951
Senator Annabelle Rankin (LIB) becomes Government Whip
1954
Ruby Hutchinson (ALP) is the first woman to be elected to the WA Legislative Council
1955
Millie Best (LIB) and Mabel Miller (LIB), are the first women to be elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly
1959
Joyce Steele (LCL) and Jessie Cooper (LCL) are the first women elected to the South Australian Parliament: Joyce Steele to the SA Legislative Assembly and Jessie Cooper to the SA Legislative Council
1966
Senator Annabelle Rankin (LIB) is appointed as Minister for Housing, becoming the first woman minister in the Commonwealth Parliament with portfolio responsibility
1970
Dame Senator Ivy Wedgwood (LIB) chairs one of the first of the Senate’s new legislative and general purpose standing committees, the Health and Welfare Committee
1976
Senator Margaret Guilfoyle (LIB), who was appointed Minister for Education and Minister for Social Security in 1975, becomes the first woman to be appointed to Commonwealth Cabinet and administer a government department; she is made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979
Joy Mein (LIB) becomes the first woman state president of a major political party when she becomes the state president of the Liberal Party of Australia Representation of women in Australian parliaments 2014
1978
The NSW Legislative Council is popularly elected for the first time, and four women win places: Virginia Chadwick (LIB), Marie Fisher (ALP), Deirdre Grusovin (ALP), and Dorothy Isaksen (ALP)
1979
Gracia Baylor (LIB) and Joan Coxsedge (ALP) are the first women to be elected to the Victorian Legislative Council
1980
Senator Margaret Guilfoyle (LIB) becomes the first woman to hold an economic portfolio as Minister for Finance
1981
Shirley McKerrow becomes the first female national president of an Australian political party (The Nationals)
1983
Senator Susan Ryan (ALP) is the first female Labor minister in the Commonwealth Parliament. As the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women, Senator Ryan introduces the Sex Discrimination Act 1984
1986
Mrs Joan Child (ALP) becomes the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives
Senator Janine Haines becomes the first woman to lead an Australian political party (Australian Democrats)
1989
Rosemary Follett (ALP) becomes Australia’s first female head of government and first female Chief Minister of the ACT
1990
Carmen Lawrence (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of an Australian state (Western Australia)
Joan Kirner (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of Victoria
Senator Janet Powell (IND) becomes the first woman member of either house to have a private bill passed by both houses, the Smoking and Tobacco Products Advertisements (Prohibition) Act 1989
Carolyn Jakobsen (ALP) is elected chair of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, the first woman to hold this position
1995
Senator Margaret Reid (LIB) is elected Deputy-President of the Senate
1996
Senator Margaret Reid (LIB) becomes the first woman elected as President of the Senate (1996–2002)
De-Anne Kelly (NAT) becomes the first National Party woman to be elected to the House of Representatives
2001
Jenny Macklin (ALP) becomes Deputy Leader of the Commonwealth Opposition; in 2002 she is elected as Deputy Leader of the ALP, the first woman to hold the position in the major parties at federal level
Clare Martin (ALP) is the first female Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
2003
Linda Burney (ALP) is the first Indigenous Australian to be elected to the Parliament of NSW; she holds several ministerial positions in the NSW Cabinet between 2007 and 2011, and becomes Deputy Leader of the Opposition in NSW in 2011
2005
Senator Judith Troeth (LIB) is a co-sponsor with Senator Fiona Nash (NAT), Senator Claire Moore (ALP), and Senator Lynette Allison (DEM) of the Therapeutic Goods Amendment (Repeal of Ministerial Responsibility for Approval of RU486) Bill 2005 (known as the ‘abortion pill’); this Bill removes responsibility for approval of RU486 from the Minister for Health and Ageing and places it with the Therapeutic Goods Administration
2006
Senator Kay Patterson (LIB) introduces the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006. It is passed, becoming one of only 10 private senators’ bills to become law since 1901
2007
Julia Gillard (ALP) becomes Australia’s first female Deputy Prime Minister
Anna Bligh (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of Queensland
Julie Bishop (LIB) is the first female Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
2009
Kristina Keneally (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of NSW
2010
Julia Gillard (ALP) becomes Australia’s first female Prime Minister
2011
Nicola Roxon (ALP) becomes Australia’s first female Attorney-General
Lara Giddings (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of Tasmania
2012
Christine Milne (AG) becomes the first woman to lead the Australian Greens at the national level
2013
Julie Bishop (LIB) becomes first female Minister for Foreign Affairs
2015
Annastacia Palaszczuk (ALP) becomes first female elected Premier (in Queensland)