Edith Cowan
First Woman in Parliament

At the federal level, the right for women to stand for parliament in Australia was granted in 1902, but this was not the case in all states, including Western Australia. Immediately after World War I, women’s organisations in Western Australia renewed their campaign for greater civic rights. Edith Dircksey Cowan OBE (1861–1932), a long-time social justice campaigner, was part of this movement for change. In 1920, legislation was finally passed that ended the legal barrier to women entering state parliament in Western Australia.

Cowan was one of four women candidates in the 1921 Western Australian state election. She campaigned on law and order and the need for women to push on social issues. Cowan also outlined her significant community service record to voters (she had already received an OBE for such service, in 1920, especially as chairperson of the Red Cross Appeal during World War I). In March 1921, at 59 years of age, Edith Cowan narrowly defeated the sitting member in the seat of West Perth to not only become to first woman elected to Parliament in Western Australia but also to any parliament in Australia.

The initial press coverage of Cowan’s election success was demeaning. Cartoons in The Bulletin, for example, pictured Cowan in Parliament as a housewife, complete with mop and bucket, and referred to her “housewifely instincts”. In fact, Edith Cowan was a strong and effective parliamentarian. She promoted migrant welfare and the rights of women and children, including the need for sex education in schools. She achieved the rare feat of having two private member’s bills passed. Cowan lost the 1924 and 1927 elections. However, she had already paved the way for women.