On the 26th of August we celebrated Women’s Equality Day – which is the anniversary of women gaining the vote in America in 1920. In Australia, women were granted the vote as early as 1894 in South Australia. But even before this, women in Australia were working to gain the vote.
In 1891 a petition containing over 30,000 signatures was tabled in Victorian State parliament supporting women gaining equal voting rights. This petition has now been digitised (amazing!) and has also been entered into a database – so you can search to see if any of your relatives signed this momentous petition.
https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/the-history-of-parliament/womens-suffrage-petition
Despite the petition, which was supported by the premier of the time, women in Victoria were not granted the vote until 1908.
Zonta Club of Sydney 