Representative Women: Victorian Women Parliamentarians Since 1923

Representative Women: Victorian Women Parliamentarians since 1923 is an online exhibition which celebrates Victorian women who were elected to both the Federal and State Parliaments. White women in Victoria gained the right to vote and stand for Federal Parliament in 1902 but had to wait until 1908 before they could vote in Victorian State elections and until 1923 before they were eligible to stand for the Victorian Parliament. While late compared with women in other states, this was still relatively early compared with women in countries such as the United Kingdom and France. This exhibition highlights the fact that women members of Parliament were still few in number until the 1980s, but have made steady progress until in 2008 they comprise approximately a quarter to one third of the state and federal legislatures.

This exhibition has been created to honour Professor Patricia Grimshaw on her retirement from the History Department at the University of Melbourne in April 2006. As a member of the Board of the National Foundation for Australian Women, she has been an energetic supporter of the Australian Women’s Archives Project.