Why Is Women's Suffrage Important In Australia

The term suffrage, or the right to vote in political elections, is something Australian women have not always had to work for. The suffragist movement was one of the earliest movement for gender equality in Australia. It began in the late 19th century until the early 20th century. This movement had a massive impact, it justified women's entitlements and privileges and begun with the raw determination and use of resourceful strategies from women's groups and organisations, who campaigned and for the rights for women to vote.

In the 18th and 19th century, a woman's role was set very firmly in the home. Due to traditional expectations of women living before and during the 19th century, very few women had the same social opportunities for education
From this movement, suffragette societies were introduced, with at least one organisation per colony. The communities would publish leaflets, organise debates, have public meetings and arrange delegations to members of colonial parliaments to try to persuade the local government to allow for women to vote. Once many suffragettes societies started to emerge from colonies, they often became state organisations; the Victorian Women's suffrage society, for instance, was the first to be declared as a statewide
Determined in their fight to gain support in women should be allowed to vote, Australian women gathered over 40,000 signatures in support of women's suffrage on two petitions. This petition covered most of the nation, with women's suffrage societies travelling thousands of kilometres across the state, knocking on doors to eventually get 1% of the total population to sign the petition. The first petition fought that ‘ Women should vote on Equal terms with Men’ . Due to key figures in the suffragette movement, including Marie Kirk, Annette Bear-Crawford and Vida Goldstein, who played a very important role in the distribution of the petition, helped gain 30,000 signatures from women all around Victoria from people of all races; and was presented to the state government of Victoria in September 1891. Despite the dedication of the petitioners and the abundance of support from tens of thousands of Victorians, the Victorian Upper House strongly disapproved of giving the women of Victoria the same voting right as men, however, it did lay the foundation and was an early accomplishment in women's participation in politics around the