1894: South Australian Parliament, the first in Australia to give women the right to vote

On 18 December 1894 the South Australian Parliament passed the Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act.

The legislation was the result of a decade-long struggle to include women in the electoral process. It not only granted women in the colony the right to vote but allowed them to stand for parliament.

This meant that South Australia was the first electorate in the world to give equal political rights to both men and women.

Read more about Women’s Suffrage here.