Updated 15 December 2020

PDF version [380KB]

Anna Hough, Hannah Gobbett and Dr Joy McCann
Politics and Public Administration Section

This Quick Guide provides direct links to key websites, information and documents relating to:

• Women in the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
• Women in the State and Territory Parliaments
• Women in politics
• Overseas parliaments
• Other resources on women in parliament and politics

Apart from its own research products the Parliamentary Library has no control over, and does not maintain, information published by other organisations and websites.

Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia

• Composition of Australian parliaments by party and gender: statistics maintained by the Parliamentary Library
• Women in the Senate: Senate Brief No 3
• Women in Federal Parliament: Department of the Senate
• Women and government in Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics
• Gender Indicators - Parliamentarians: Australian Bureau of Statistics, December 2020
• Women parliamentarians in Australia 1921–2020: Parliamentary Library publication

State and Territory Parliaments

Australian Capital Territory

• Members of the Assembly
• Frequently asked questions (FAQs): select ‘Questions about Members of the Legislative Assembly’, then scroll down to ‘How many members of the Tenth Assembly are female?’

New South Wales

• Women Members in the NSW Parliament: current statistics
• Women in Parliament
• Women Members of the NSW Parliament, 1925–present
• Women Members in the NSW Parliament, 1973–2019

Northern Territory

• Members of the Legislative Assembly

Queensland

• Current Members: select ‘Female’ under ‘view options’
• Women in the Queensland Parliament, 1860 ̶ present
• Women’s right to vote in Queensland

South Australia

• Women in politics in South Australia
• Women and politics in South Australia: In Parliament
• Women and politics in South Australia: Women’s Suffrage

Tasmania

• Women Members of the Tasmanian Parliament: current and historical lists
• Tasmanian Women State Government Ministers: current and historical lists
• Female franchise and firsts—Tasmania
• Political timeline—Tasmanian women

Victoria

• Women in Parliament
• Current Members: select ‘Female’ under ‘Gender’
• Former Members: select ‘Female’ under ‘Gender’

Western Australia

• Record of women MPs in the Parliament of Western Australia
• Timeline of women MPs in the Parliament of Western Australia
• WA women MP firsts
• Women in Parliament: Fact sheet 8, May 2013

Women in politics

• Australian Women’s Timeline

Political parties

• Australian Greens: Women
• Australian Labor Party: National Platform (see Part C: Rules, p. 272) | EMILY's List Australia
• Liberal Party of Australia: Liberal Women
• The Nationals: The Nationals Women

Overseas parliaments

Canada

• Women in the Parliament of Canada
• Parliamentarians (current and historical): select search criteria, search, then select ‘F’ under ‘Gender’
• Women Candidates in General Elections
• Women’s Right to Vote in Canada

New Zealand

• New Zealand women and the vote: suffrage and beyond
• Members of Parliament: select ‘Gender’ under ‘Primary filter’
• Women members of the New Zealand Parliament, 1933 onwards
• Parliament’s people: Women MPs

United Kingdom and Northern Ireland

• Women in Parliament and Government
• General Election 2019: Women candidates, see pp. 39–41
• Members of the House of Lords: select ‘Female’ under ‘Show more options’
• Members of the House of Commons: select ‘Female’ under ‘Show more options’
• Women in the House of Commons
• Women in the House of Lords
• Parliament and Women

United States of America

• Membership of the 116th Congress: A Profile
• Mapping Congress: select ‘Women in Congress’ under ‘Choose type of data to display’
• Women in the Senate
• Women in Congress
• Women in the United States Congress, 1917–2020: Service Dates and Committee Assignments by Member, and Lists by State and Congress

Other resources

Australia

• Australian Government Office for Women: part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; aims to ensure a whole-of-government approach to providing better economic and social outcomes for women
• Inter-Parliamentary Union: For information on Australian female Parliamentarians by Chamber, select ‘Australia – House of Representatives’ or ‘Australia – Senate’.
• Women in Politics: published by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) to support the 2010 Year of Women in Local Government
• Australian Women's Register: search for information about Australian women and their organisations, including references to archival resources
• Women's Constitutional Conventions: 1998 and 2002: compiled by Women for An Australian Republic

Around the world

• UN Women: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
• Women in national parliaments: The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) maintains statistics for global regions and national parliaments.
• Women in politics bibliographic database: search for books and articles dealing with women in politics
• OECD Data: Women in politics: data on women parliamentarians and women ministers in the OECD
• Gender and Democracy: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) promotes gender equality in democracy building
• Gender Quotas Database: search a global database of countries with electoral quotas for women
• International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics): a network of women in politics sharing experiences, resources and advice, and collaborating on issues of interest
• Gender Equality: a cornerstone of development: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership: information compiled about women leaders worldwide

International conventions and agreements

• The Convention on the Political Rights of Women adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1952; ratified by Australia in 1974
• The Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979; ratified by Australia in 1983
• Optional Protocol to the CEDAW adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000
• Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by the UN in 1995 includes a specific objective relating to ‘Women in power and decision-making’
• Beijing + 5, a special session of the General Assembly entitled ‘Women: 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century’ in 2000
• Plan of Action for Gender-Sensitive Parliaments adopted by the IPU Assembly in October 2012
• Promote gender equality and empower women: Goal 3 of the UN Millennium Development Goals adopted in 2010

 

For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament.

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