Suffrage in Australia
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2023) |
Suffrage in Australia is the
History
Upon British settlement in New South Wales in 1788, the appointed
The first parliamentary elections in Australia took place in 1843 for the New South Wales Legislative Council under the New South Wales Constitution Act 1842 (UK).[2] The Council had 36 members, of which 12 were appointed by the Governor and the remainder were elected. The right to vote was limited to adult men with a freehold valued at £200 or a householder paying rent of £20 per year, both very large sums at the time.[3]
Responsible self-government was granted to Tasmania (1 May 1855),[4] South Australia (24 June 1856)[4] New South Wales and Victoria (16 July 1855),[4] Queensland (6 June 1859)[5] and Western Australia in 1890.[6] Eligibility to vote was restricted and varied between the colonies based on age, gender, and property ownership. Most of the colonies included indigenous men in the right to vote but they were not encouraged to enroll. Queensland and Western Australia denied indigenous people the vote.
An innovative secret ballot was introduced in Tasmania on 4 February 1856,[4] Victoria (13 March 1856),[4] South Australia (12 February 1856),[4] New South Wales (1858), Queensland (1859) and Western Australia (1877).[7] A form of postal voting was introduced in Western Australia in 1877, followed by an improved method in South Australia in 1890.[8]
In 1856, under a new Constitution, the
All women in South Australia were granted the right to vote in South Australian elections in 1894, followed by women in Western Australia in 1899.[10]
In 1901, the six Australian colonies united to form the federal
In 1902, the Commonwealth Parliament passed the
In the meantime, State franchise laws continued in force until each one chose to amend them.
In 1897, in
Male suffrage
The first European-style governments established after 1788 were
In 1835,
By the mid 19th century, there was a strong desire for representative and responsible government in the Australian colonies, fed by the democratic spirit of the
Female suffrage
The female descendants of the Bounty mutineers who lived on Pitcairn Islands could vote from 1838, and this right transferred with their resettlement to Norfolk Island (now an Australian external territory) in 1856.[18]
Propertied women in the colony of South Australia were granted the vote in local municipal elections (but not parliamentary elections) in 1861. Henrietta Dugdale formed the first Australian women's suffrage society in Melbourne, Victoria in 1884. Women in the other colonies soon followed forming their own societies. The international Women's Christian Temperance Union set up Womanhood Suffrage departments in each colony. The suffrage groups collected monster suffrage petitions to submit to the colonial parliaments, with varying success. For Queensland's three petitions, one for women and a second for men were collected in 1894, and a third arranged by the WCTU in 1897. Women in South Australia and the Northern Territory became eligible to vote for the Parliament of South Australia following passage of the Women's Suffrage Bill in December 1894 and receiving Royal assent in 1895.[19] In 1897, Catherine Helen Spence became the first female political candidate for political office, unsuccessfully standing for election as a delegate to Federal Convention on Australian Federation. Western Australia granted voting rights to women in 1899.[20]
The first election for the Parliament of the newly formed
The year in which women obtained the right to vote in Australia are summarised as follows:
Right to vote | Right to stand for Parliament | |
---|---|---|
South Australia | 1895 | 1895 |
Western Australia | 1899 | 1920 |
Canberra (Commonwealth) | 1902 | 1902 |
New South Wales[9] | 1902 | 1918 |
Tasmania | 1903 | 1921 |
Queensland | 1905 | 1915 |
Victoria | 1908 | 1923 |
Right to vote (a) | Right to stand | First elected | |
---|---|---|---|
State | |||
South Australia | 1861 | 1914 | 1919, Grace Benny |
Western Australia | 1876 | 1919 | 1920, Elizabeth Clapham |
Victoria | 1903 | 1914 | 1920, Mary Rogers |
Queensland | 1879 | 1920 | 1923, Ellen Kent Hughes[22] |
City of Brisbane | 1924 | 1924 | 1949, Petronel White |
Tasmania | |||
Rural | 1893 | 1911 | 1957, Florence Vivien Pendrigh |
Hobart City Council | 1893 | 1902 | 1952, Mabel Miller |
Launceston City Council | 1894 | 1945 | 1950, Dorothy Edwards |
New South Wales | |||
Sydney City Council | 1900 | 1918 | 1965, Joan Mercia Pilone |
Municipalities and Shires | 1906 | 1918 | 1928, Lilian Fowler |
(a)The right to vote in local elections was not necessarily universal since there were property ownership restrictions on the right to vote in many local jurisdictions.[23] |
Indigenous Australians
Traditional
When the colonial constitutions of
Campaigns for indigenous civil rights in Australia gathered momentum from the 1930s. In 1938, with the participation of leading indigenous activists like Douglas Nicholls, the Australian Aborigines' League organised the "Day of Mourning", which marked in protest the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet to the Australian continent and launched its campaign for full civil rights for all Aboriginal Australians. In the 1940s, the conditions of life for Aboriginals could be very poor. A permit system restricted movement and work opportunities for many Aboriginal people. In the 1950s, the government pursued a policy of "assimilation" which sought to achieve full civil rights for Aboriginal but also wanted them to adopt the mode of life of other Australians (which very often was assumed to require suppression of cultural identity).[25]
In 1949, the right to vote in federal elections was extended to all Indigenous people who had served in the armed forces, or were enrolled to vote in state elections (Queensland and Western Australia still excluded indigenous people from the vote). Remaining federal restrictions were abolished in 1962, though enrolment was voluntary.[26]
In the 1960s, reflecting the strong civil rights movements in the United States and South Africa, many changes in Aboriginals’ rights and treatment followed, including removal of restrictions on voting rights. The Menzies government Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 confirmed the Commonwealth vote for all Aboriginals. Western Australia gave them State votes in the same year, and Queensland followed in 1965.
The
Indigenous Australians began to take up representation in Australian parliaments during the 1970s. In 1971 Neville Bonner of the Liberal Party was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to replace a retiring senator, becoming the first Aborigine in Federal Parliament. Bonner was returned as a Senator at the 1972 election and remained until 1983. Hyacinth Tungutalum of the Country Liberal Party in the Northern Territory and Eric Deeral of the National Party of Queensland, became the first Indigenous people elected to territory and state legislatures in 1974. In 1976, Sir Douglas Nicholls was appointed Governor of South Australia, becoming the first Aborigine to hold vice-regal office in Australia. Aden Ridgeway of the Australian Democrats served as a senator during the 1990s, but no indigenous person was elected to the House of Representatives, until West Australian Liberal Ken Wyatt, in August 2010.[14]
Territory representation
Until 1911, the
Before 1936, the Member for Northern Territory could speak in the House and take part in committee work, but could not vote, and did not count for the purpose of forming government. Between 1936 and 1959 the Member was only able to vote in motions to disallow laws made for the Territory, and between 1959 and 1968, the Member could only vote on matters relating to the Territory alone. In 1968, the Member for Northern Territory acquired full voting rights.
After the
Voting age
Initially, voting in colonial elections was based on a property requirement. The Australian Constitution ensured that the right to vote for the Senate was granted to the same people as could vote for the House of Representatives. Some state upper houses were either appointed or kept a restricted franchise well into the last half of the 20th century. The South Australian Legislative Council was elected on a property-based franchise until 1973. The New South Wales Legislative Council was appointed until 1978. Since the 1970s, all the houses of Australian parliaments have been elected on a full adult franchise basis.[30]
The property requirement was replaced for the lower houses of colonial Parliaments with a voting age of 21 years for men only, as follows: South Australia (1856), Victoria (1857), New South Wales (1858), Queensland (1872), Western Australia (1893), Tasmania (1896).[24] Women of 21 years acquired the vote subsequently (see above). State voting age laws applied at the first federal election, and was legislated for federal elections in 1902, applying equally to men and women 21 years of age.[31]
The exception was military service. In World War I, members of the armed services had the vote in some states, and in World War II, the Commonwealth and some states did the same.[30] After Premier Don Dunstan introduced the Age of Majority (Reduction) Bill in October 1970, the voting age in South Australia was lowered to 18 years old in 1973.
The voting age for all federal elections was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1973.[24] The states had lowered the voting age to 18 by 1973, the first being Western Australian in 1970.[30]
Disenfranchisement of prisoners
At
In 1983, this disenfranchisement was relaxed and prisoners serving a sentence for a crime punishable under the law for less than 5 years were allowed to vote.[33] A further softening occurred in 1995 when the disenfranchisement was limited to those actually serving a sentence of 5 years or longer,[32][33] although earlier that year the Keating government had been planning legislation to extend voting rights to all prisoners.[34] Disenfranchisement does not continue after release from jail/prison.[35]
The Howard government legislated in 2006 to ban all prisoners from voting; but in 2007, the High Court in Roach v Electoral Commissioner found that the Constitution enshrined a limited right to vote,[36] which meant that citizens serving relatively short prison sentences (generally less than 3 years) cannot be barred from voting.[37][38] The threshold of 3 years or more sentence will result in removal of the prisoner from the federal electoral roll, and the person must re-enrol upon release.
Each state has its own prisoner disenfranchisement thresholds. For example, prisoners in NSW and Western Australia serving a sentence of longer than one year are not entitled to vote in State elections.[39][40] In Victoria, persons are struck off the electoral roll if serving a prison sentence of 5 years or more.[41] In Queensland elections, people serving prison sentences of 3 years or longer are not entitled to vote.[42] There is no prisoner disenfranchisement in the Australian Capital Territory or South Australia.[30]
Voting by foreigners
All
In most cases, local government electoral rolls in Australia are open to all adults, including non-citizens, who meet other criteria – such as residency requirements.
Before 26 January 1949, people born in Australia were known under Australian law as "British subjects", and there was no legal distinction between them and other British subjects. From 1949, anyone born in Australia was officially termed an Australian citizen, although British subjects retained voting rights in Australia.[43]
See also
- History of Australia
- Human rights in Australia
- List of suffragists and suffragettes
- Timeline of women's suffrage
References
- ^ a b [1] Archived March 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Documenting Democracy". www.foundingdocs.gov.au.
- ^ Hirst, John (2014). Australian History in 7 Questions. Black Inc. pp. 53–54.
- ^ ISSN 0004-9522.
- ^ Queensland, c=AU; o=The State of. "Creation of a state | History of Queensland". www.qld.gov.au.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Home | Western Australian Government". www.wa.gov.au.
- ^ a b "Australia's major electoral developments Timeline: 1788 - 1899 - Australian Electoral Commission". Aec.gov.au. 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ISBN 978-1862877252. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ a b "About us". NSW Parliament. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ "Women's right to vote | Ergo". ergo.slv.vic.gov.au.
- The South Australian Advertiser. Vol. XXXI, no. 9313. South Australia. 23 August 1888. p. 6. Retrieved 2 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "The Right to Vote in Australia - Australian Electoral Commission". Aec.gov.au. 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ^ "Electoral Milestones for Women - Australian Electoral Commission". Aec.gov.au. 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ^ a b "Electoral Milestone / Timetable for Indigenous Australians - Australian Electoral Commission". Aec.gov.au. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ^ "Australian Patriotic Association (APA) | Britannica". www.britannica.com.
- ^ "The Right to Vote in Australia - Australian Electoral Commission". Aec.gov.au. 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ^ Curthoys, Ann; Mitchell, Jessie (2013). "The advent of self-government". The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I. pp. 164–65.
- ^ EC (2005-04-13). "Votes for Women | Elections New Zealand". Elections.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2012-08-19. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ^ "The Adult Suffrage Act". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 9 February 1895. p. 4. Retrieved 16 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Documenting Democracy". Foundingdocs.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2010-12-03. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ^ "AEC.gov.au". AEC.gov.au. 25 Oct 2007. Retrieved 27 Jun 2010.
- ^ "Who was the first women elected to a Queensland council? - Did you know? On this day...learn more about the councils of Qld with fun snippets of interesting facts! - Local Government Association of Queensland". www.lgaq.asn.au. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ Modified from Sawer, 2001
- ^ a b c "History Of The Voting Franchise In Australia". Australianpolitics.com. 1984-01-26. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
- ^ The First Australians: A Fair Deal for a Dark Race par SBS TV 2008.
- ^ "AEC.gov.au". AEC.gov.au. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
- ^ Geoffrey Bolton (1990) p.193 and 195
- ^ Documenting a Democracy: Northern Territory Representation Act 1922 (Cth)
- ^ "SENATE (REPRESENTATION OF TERRITORIES) ACT 1973 No. 39, 1974 - SECT 4". Austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
- ^ a b c d scheme=AGLSTERMS. AglsAgent; corporateName=State Library of New South Wales; address=Macquarie Street, Sydney (December 15, 2016). "Who can vote". State Library of NSW.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Sec.3 of the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902
- ^ a b Hill, Lisa (November 2009), Prisoner voting rights, Australian Review of Public Affairs, archived from the original on 18 March 2013
- ^ a b Davidson, Jerome (24 May 2004), Inside outcasts: prisoners and the right to vote in Australia, Parliament of Australia, archived from the original on 1 March 2014
- ^ Keating, Paul (10 July 1995). "For Media: Prisoner voting" (Press release). Archived from the original on 24 August 2014.
- ^ "Prisoners". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
- ^ Pearlman, Jonathan (31 August 2007). "Court gives vote back to some inmates". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 24 August 2008.
- ^ The right to vote is not enjoyed equally by all Australians: 4. Recent changes to the Electoral Laws in Australia, Australian Human Rights Commission, archived from the original on 14 August 2014
- ^ Vicki Lee Roach v Electoral Commissioner and Commonwealth of Australia, 30 August 2007, High Court of Australia.
- ^ Electoral Act 2017 (NSW) s 30
- ^ Electoral Act 1907 (WA) s 18
- ^ Constitution Act 1975 (Vic) s 48
- ^ Electoral Act 1992 (Qld) s 106
- ^ a b c d e Australian Electoral Commission, 2009–15, British Subjects Eligibility (19 July 2019).
- ^ "Immigrant Voting Project - Global Resident Voting Timeline". immigrantvoting.org. Archived from the original on 2004-08-05. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
Further reading
- Brankovich, Jasmina. "Votes for All Women? Racialised Silences in Western Australian Suffrage Historiography." Studies in Western Australian History, no. 19 (1999): 20-28.
- Grimshaw, Patricia. "Settler Anxieties, Indigenous Peoples, and Women's Suffrage in the Colonies of Australia, New Zealand, and Hawai'i, 1888 to 1902." Pacific Historical Review 69, no. 4 (2000): 553-72.
- Magarey, Susan. Passions of the First Wave Feminists. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
- Nolan, Melanie, and Caroline Daley, eds. Suffrage and Beyond: International Feminist Perspectives. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1994.
- Keating, James. "'An Utter Absence of National Feeling': Australian Women and the International Suffrage Movement, 1900–14." Australian Historical Studies 47, no. 3 (2016): 462-81.
- Oldfield, Audrey. Woman Suffrage in Australia: A Gift or a Struggle? Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Martin, Arthur Patchett (1889). . Australia and the Empire (1 ed.). Edinburgh: David Douglas. pp. 77–114.
- Stevenson, Ana. "Imagining Women’s Suffrage: Frontier Landscapes and the Transnational Print Culture of Australia, New Zealand and the United States." Pacific Historical Review 87, no. 4 (2018): 638-66.
- Wright, Clare. You Daughters of Freedom: The Australians Who Won the Vote and Inspired the World. Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2018.