Women in the Australian Senate - Women

May 23, 2012


		1 Introduction 2 History 3 Currently 4 List of women in the Australian Senate 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References

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Women in the Australian Senate

Wikipedia

There have been 66 women in the Australian Senate since the establishment of the Parliament of Australia. Women have had the right to both vote and sit in parliament since 1902 and all states and territories have been represented by a woman in the Australian Senate|Senate. In the 41st and current Parliament of Australia 23 of the 76 member senate are female.

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History

Image:Dorothy Tangney.jpg|right|thumb|160px|Dorothy Tangney
Australia made history in 1902 when the passage of the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902|Commonwealth Franchise Act allowed women to both vote and stand for election to the Parliament of Australia.mn|before 1901|1 mn|indigenious|2 Numerous women stood unsuccessfully as independents or as representatives of minor parties for election to the Senate, including prominent South Australian suffragist Vida Goldstein who ran in 1903, 1910 and 1917. However, women were not successful in entering federal politics until World War II the major parties did not endorse any female candidates for the Senate before the War.

The first woman to be successfully elected to the Senate was Australian Labor Party|Labor representative Dorothy Tangney in 1943; she represented Western Australia and also became the first female cabinet member. Following Tangney's entry into politics the Senate has continuously had women members. The second woman elected to the Senate, Annabelle Rankin also achieved a number of firsts for women: she was the first female Whip (politics)|Whip, and she was the first woman with a federal portfolio when she became Minister for Housing in 1966. In 1996 Margaret Reid was the first woman elected as President of the Senate.

A private members bill written by Senator Susan Ryan was crucial to the development of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986, the Public Service Reform Act 1984 and the Equal Employment Opportunity (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987.

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Currently

Twenty-three of the 76 members of the Senate in the 41st Parliament of Australia are women.

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List of women in the Australian Senate

Names in bold type indicate Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries.
Names in italics indicate appointments made under section 15 of the Constitution, or through disqualification, members marked with * later served in the House of Representatives. Where no closing date is shown, the Senator???s term of service is unexpired.

Name	width="200"\|Party	State	Period of service
Dorothy Tangney	Australian Labor Party\|Labor	Western Australia\|WA	August 21, 1943–June 30, 1968 (defeated at 1967 Senate election)
Annabelle Rankin	Liberal Party of Australia\|Liberal	Queensland\|Qld	July 1, 1947–April 24, 1971 (resigned)
Agnes Robertson	Liberal; National Party of Australia\|Country Party	WA	February 22, 1950–June 30, 1962 (retired)
Ivy Wedgwood	Liberal	Victoria (Australia)\|Vic.	February 22, 1950–June 30, 1971 (retired)
Nancy Buttfield	Liberal	South Australia\|SA	October 11, 1955–June 30, 1965<br> July 1, 1968–April 11, 1974 (retired)
Marie Breen	Liberal	Vic.	July 1, 1962–June 30, 1968 (retired)
Margaret Guilfoyle	Liberal	Vic.	July 1, 1971–June 5, 1987 (retired)
Ruth Coleman	Labor	WA	April 18, 1974–June 5, 1987 (retired)
Kathy Sullivan*	Liberal	Qld	May 18, 1974–November 5, 1984 (resigned; elected to House of Representatives)
Jean Melzer	Labor	Vic.	May 18, 1974–June 30, 1981 (defeated at 1980 elections)
Susan Ryan	Labor	Australian Capital Territory\|ACT	December 13, 1975–January 29, 1988 (resigned)
Shirley Walters	Liberal	Tasmania\|Tas.	December 13, 1975–June 30, 1993 (retired)
Janine Haines	Australian Democrats\|Australian Democrats	SA	December 14, 1977–June 30, 1978 (retired)<br> July 1, 1981 ??? March 1, 1990 (resigned; contested House of Representatives)
Jean Hearn	Labor	Tas.	October 15, 1980–June 30, 1985 (retired)
Florence Bjelke-Petersen	National Party of Australia\|National Country Party; National Party of Australia\|National	Qld	March 12, 1981–June 30, 1993 (retired)
Margaret Reid	Liberal	ACT	May 5, 1981–February 14, 2003 (resigned)
Patricia Giles	Labor	WA	July 1, 1981–June 30, 1993 (retired)
Rosemary Crowley	Labor	SA	March 5, 1983–June 30, 2002 (retired)
Margaret Reynolds	Labor	Qld	March 5, 1983–June 30, 1999 (retired)
Olive Zakharov	Labor	Vic.	March 5, 1983–March 6, 1995 (died)
Susan Knowles	Liberal	WA	December 1, 1984–June 30, 2005 (retired)
Amanda Vanstone	Liberal	SA	December 1, 1984–
Jo Vallentine	Nuclear Disarmament Party; Independent; Greens Western Australia\|Greens Western Australia	WA	July 1, 1985–January 31, 1992 (resigned)
*Jocelyn Newman*	Liberal	Tas.	March 13, 1986–February 1, 2002 (resigned)
Janet Powell	Australian Democrats; Independent	Vic.	August 26, 1986–June 30, 1993 (defeated at 1993 elections)
Sue West	Labor	New South Wales\|NSW	February 11, 1987–June 5, 1987 (defeated at 1987 elections)<br> July 1, 1990–June 30, 2002 (retired)
Bronwyn Bishop*	Liberal	NSW	July 11, 1987–February 24, 1994 (resigned; elected to House of Representatives)
Jean Jenkins	Australian Democrats	WA	July 11, 1987–June 30, 1990 (defeated at 1990 elections)
Kay Patterson	Liberal	Vic.	July 11, 1987???
Irina Dunn	Nuclear Disarmament Party; Independent	NSW	July 21, 1988–July 30, 1990 (defeated at 1990 elections)
Meg Lees	Australian Democrats; Independent	SA	April 4, 1990–June 30, 2005 (defeated at 2004 elections)
Vicki Bourne	Australian Democrats	NSW	July 1, 1990–June 30, 2002 (defeated at 2001 elections)
Cheryl Kernot*	Australian Democrats	Qld	July 1, 1990–October 15, 1997 (resigned; later elected to House of Representatives)
Karin Sowada	Australian Democrats	NSW	August 29, 1991–June 30, 1993 (defeated at 1993 elections)
Christabel Chamarette	Greens Western Australia	WA	March 12, 1992–June 30, 1996 (defeated at 1996 elections)
Dee Margetts	Greens Western Australia	WA	July 1, 1993–June 30, 1999 (defeated at 1998 elections)
Judith Troeth	Liberal	Vic.	July 1, 1993–
Kay Denman	Labor	Tas.	August 24, 1993–June 30, 2005 (retired)
Belinda Neal	Labor	NSW	March 8, 1994–September 3, 1998 (resigned; contested House of Representatives)
Jacinta Collins	Labor	Vic.	May 3, 1995–June 30, 2005 (defeated at 2004 elections)
Natasha Stott Despoja	Australian Democrats	SA	November 29, 1995–
Kate Lundy	Labor	ACT	March 2, 1996–
Sue Mackay	Labor	Tas.	March 8, 1996–June 27, 2005 (resigned)
Lyn Allison	Australian Democrats	Vic.	July 1, 1996–
Helen Coonan	Liberal	NSW	July 1, 1996–
Jeannie Ferris	Liberal	SA	July 1, 1996–
Brenda Gibbs	Labor	Qld	July 1, 1996–June 30, 2002 (defeated at 2001 elections)
Marise Payne	Liberal	NSW	April 9, 1997–
Karen Synon	Liberal	Vic.	May 13, 1997–June 30, 1999 (defeated at 1998 elections)
Trish Crossin	Labor	Northern Territory\|NT	June 16, 1998–
Jan McLucas	Labor	Qld	July 1, 1999–
Linda Kirk	Labor	SA	July 1, 2002–
Claire Moore	Labor	Qld	July 1, 2002–
Kerry Nettle	Australian Greens\|Australian Greens	NSW	July 1, 2002–
Ursula Stephens	Labor	NSW	July 1, 2002–
Ruth Webber	Labor	WA	July 1, 2002–
Penny Wong	Labor	SA	July 1, 2002–
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells	Liberal	NSW	May 5, 2005–
Judith Adams	Liberal	WA	July 1, 2005–
Annette Hurley	Labor	SA	July 1, 2005–
Anne McEwen	Labor	Qld	July 1, 2005–
Christine Milne	Australian Greens	Tas	July 1, 2005–
Fiona Nash	National	NSW	July 1, 2005–
Helen Polley	Labor	Tas.	July 1, 2005–
Rachel Siewert	Australian Greens	WA	July 1, 2005–
Dana Wortley	Labor	SA	July 1, 2005–
Carol Brown	Labor	Tas.	August 25, 2005–

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