progression of female representation in parliament

general timeline

• 1902

  • gained right to vote + run for a seat in federal prlt

• 1943

  • first woman elected, Enid Lyons

• 2010

  • first female PM, Julia Gillard

current representation

• 112 women out of 226 members of parliament

• 56/150 in HoR

• 56/76 in Senate

representation in ALP

• 57/122 members are female

• had goal of 50% female representation by 2025 and achieved it in 2022

• have had quotas since the 90s

representation in liberal/national coalition

• only 1/3 of party are female

• also had goal of 50% by 2025 but failed to meet it

representation in minors

• seen to prioritise women’s rights

• 79/152 greens candidates in 2025 election were women

• eg. Larissa Waters

  • leader of greens party

  • senator for QLD

  • works to improve DV and economic security for women

representation in independents

• 8/10 independents in the HoR are women

• eg. Kate Chaney

  • MP for curtin since 2022

  • participates in Pathways to Politics for Women program to help FR in govt.

  • advocates for gender equality

evaluation

• significant progressions have been made but still face regular challenges

• politics still dominated by male voices esp in LNC

• media representation + abuse still prevalent

  • eg Julia Gillard faced significant media backlash + criticism compared to male counterparts

  • 2x the amount of the abuse on twitter compared to Kevin Rudd