When did women get the vote in Australia?
Women in Australia gained the right to vote in federal elections in 1902 with the Commonwealth Franchise Act. South Australia had already granted women the vote in 1894, making it one of the first places in the world to do so.
South Australia's 1894 law also gave women the right to stand for parliament, which made it the first place in the world where women could both vote and be elected.
Western Australia followed in 1899. After Federation, the Commonwealth Franchise Act of 1902 gave most women the right to vote and stand for federal parliament.
Exclusions
The 1902 law excluded Aboriginal people, Asians, Africans and Pacific Islanders from voting unless they were already enrolled in their state. Aboriginal people did not gain full federal voting rights until 1962.
The other states gave women the vote between 1902 and 1908, with Victoria the last state to do so in 1908.
Women stood for federal parliament in 1903, but the first women were not elected until 1943, when Enid Lyons won a seat in the House of Representatives and Dorothy Tangney was elected to the Senate. Edith Cowan became the first woman elected to any Australian parliament in 1921.