User:Madisonaph/Women in the Australian Senate

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Women in the Australian Senate were first able to run as candidates in the 1903 elections after the passing of legislature in 1902, however did not gain representation until over forty years later. Since, women have had to fight in order to increase their representation and are historically known to be disproportionately underrepresented. Currently, women hold a majority of the Senate. Women with intersectional identities experience even more extreme levels of underrepresentation within the Australian Government and Senate.

Gaining Representation
Women first gained the right to be elected into the Senate in 1902 when the Federal Government passed the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 that provided all the ability to run. Despite achieving the right to candidacy earlier than many nations, it took Australia 41 years before the first woman was elected 1943. The first election round women were eligible as Senate candidates for occurred in 1903, and three women ran with no success. Nellie Martel and Mary Ann Moore Bentley of New South Wales ran, each earning around 18,000 votes, with the leading man winning roughly 190,000 votes. Vida Goldstein, from Victoria, ran and gained 51,497 votes, which was roughly half the votes the winning man gained. She then ran unsuccessfully again in 1910 and 1917 after a short stint attempting to breakthrough into the House of Representatives. In 1919, Mary McMahon of NSW ran unsuccessfully, and was not followed by another woman candidate until 1934 saw Lillie Beirne (NSW) and Joanna Helbach (Queensland) run. Following this, Jeanne Young of Western Australia ran in 1937 and Adela Walsh (NSW) and Dorothy Tangney (WA) ran in 1940.

Tangney ran again in 1943 and successfully won the the first seat in the Senate for women.

Dorothy Tangney
Tangney was the first woman elected to the Senate and also currently holds the record for longest serving woman, having sat for 24 years and 10 months.