Essay On Australian Democracy

1595 Words4 Pages

Australia became a democracy on the 1st January 1901, before day all women in Australia were allowed to vote and be elected. By definition, democracy means government by people, meaning that everyone should have an equal say in what decisions are made the affect their lives. If democracy advertises that everyone is equal and has a fair say, then Australia is not truly living up to the definition. Women are still being under-represented in Australia’s parliament since it was made legal for them to vote and be elected. Women make up more than half of Australia’s population and yet they represent less than a third in the parliament. This does not represent equality or a fair say in decisions affecting all Australians lives. Different strategies get adopted around the world to help gain more female representation such as the gender quota and policies of change to occur within the parliament. The true meaning of democracy has been …show more content…

New Zealand was the first area to make it legal for women to vote in 1893, then South Australia in 1895 and Western Australia in 1899. By 1908 it was nationally legal for women to vote and be elected. This was a victory for the suffragette movement, an organisation who advocated for women’s right to vote. Indigenous women were not allowed to vote until 1962, sixty years after western women were. Once women were able to enter the parliament (Edith Cowan the first women to be elected into parliament) their vote began to have a noticeable effect on society and the law from 1910-1920 (Australia.gov.au, 2011). The legislations made reflected equality between men and women. This shows that within a short period of time the small number of women in parliament were making a significant impact. Even though the law was passed for women to vote one-hundred and fourteen years ago, women are still under-represented in parliament, no matter the proof of the right decisions they can

Open Document