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So how is female suffrage getting along in Australia?
After
federation came into effect and the Commonwealth of Australia began
its life in January 1901, the first federal parliament contained no
women as elected representatives.
It
wasn't until 1902 that Commonwealth Franchise Act established equal
suffrage at a federal, allowing adult women the right to vote in
federal elections and elect members to the House of Representatives
and the Senate.
By
1903 women began to stand for federal election - as independents or
as candidates for minor parties as neither the forerunners of the
Liberal Party of Australia or the Australian Labor Party would
support woen candidates.
It
took another forty years before the first two women were elected -
Enid Lyons, the Liberal MP for Darwin (Tas) and Dorothy Tagney Labor
Senator for West Australia.
Both
women entered a Parliament House which since its erection in 1927 had
been totally devoid of toilets set aside for female members of
parliament. [National Museum Australia, "First women in
parliament", 2024]
For
another forty years between 1946 to 1986 another 6 women MPs and 26
women senators came and went in the federal electoral cycles. A
woefully small number. [Australian Parliament website, "Women
parliamentarians in Australia 1921-2020", December 2020]
In
May 2010 first federal Labor elected & then in August the
national electorate endorsed the first female prime minister of
Australia. In the federal government ministry, as at the end of
June 2010, there were nine female ministers and parliamentary
secretaries (representing 23% of ministers and parliamentary
secretaries), including the Prime Minister The Hon Julia Gillard MP
and a further three who were Cabinet members. Around 17% of
shadow ministerial and parliamentary secretary positions were held by
women [ABS, Measures of Australia's Progress, 2010]
However,
it took until 2014 before women made up 26.7 per cent of the House of
Representatives and 38.2 per cent of the Senate.
Now
in 2024 the gender landscape in the Australian Parliament stands
thus......
A
total of 37 of the 78 Labor Government MPs in the Australian House of
Representatives are women. That number represents 47.53 per cent
of all those sitting on the government benches in the Lower House and
63.79 per cent of all federal women MPs in 2024.
A
total of 17 of the 25 Labor Government senators in the Australian
Senate are women. That number represents 68 percent of all those
sitting on government benches in the Upper House and 40.7 per cent of
all women senators in 2024.
Women
in the Albanese Labor Government make up a combined total of 24 per
cent of all MPs and Senators in the Australian Parliament. While
women of all political persuasions comprise 44.44 percent of all
parliamentarians sitting in the Australian Parliament in 2024.
[Australia Parliament website, March 2024]
By
December 2023 17,721,975 Australian citizens over the age of 18 years
were enrolled to vote and the enrolment rate was 98 per cent. Historically overall voter turnout at elections is
high. However, if the trend since 1996 holds, slightly more female
registered voters are likely to turnout to vote than male voters at a federal general election.
In June 2023 the Australian estimated resident population numbered 26,638,544 individuals of which est. 50.35 per cent were female. [ABS, National state and territory population, June 2023]
It
has only taken women 123 years to get to less than half the elected
political representation their population demographic suggests they
are entitled to expect.
