Women in the Senate
The first woman senator was not elected until 1943. Since then the numbers have been slowly growing, particularly since the 1980s. However, Gender parity is still some way off.
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0%
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21 Aug 1943 – election
3%
3%
3%
3%
1 Jul 1947 – terms commenced (elected 28 Sept 1946)
6%
6%
6%
22 Feb 1950 – terms commenced (elected 10 Dec 1949); Senate increased to 60 senators
7%
28 Apr 1951 – election
7%
7%
9 May 1953 – Senate election
1 Jul 1953 – terms commenced
7%
7%
11 Oct 1955 – Nancy Buttfield (SA) appointed
8%
1 Jul 1956 – terms commenced (elected 10 Dec 1955)
8%
8%
8%
1 Jul 1959 – terms commenced (elected 22 Nov 1958)
8%
8%
8%
1 Jul 1962 – terms commenced (elected 9 Dec 1961)
8%
8%
8%
1 Jul 1965 – terms commenced (elected 5 Dec 1964)
7%
7%
7%
1 Jul 1968 – terms commenced (elected 25 Nov 1967)
5%
5%
5%
1 Jul 1971 – terms commenced (elected 21 Nov 1970)
3%
3%
3%
18 May 1974 – election
7%
13 Dec 1975 – election; Senate increased to 64 senators
9%
9%
14 Dec 1977 – Janine Haines (SA) appointed
11%
1 Jul 1978 – terms commenced (elected 10 Dec 1977)
9%
9%
15 Oct 1980 – Jean Hearn (Tas.) appointed
11%
12 Mar 1981 – Florence Bjelke-Petersen (Qld) appointed
5 May 1981 – Margaret Reid (ACT) appointed
1 Jul 1981 – terms commenced (elected 18 Oct 1980)
16%
16%
5 Mar 1983 – elections
20%
5 Nov 1984 – Kathy Sullivan (Qld) resigned
19%
1 Jul 1985 – terms commenced (elected 1 Dec 1984); Senate increased to 76 senators
18%
13 Mar 1986 – Jocelyn Newman (Tas.) appointed
26 Aug 1986 – Janet Powell (Vic.) appointed
21%
11 Feb 1987 – Sue West (NSW) appointed
11 Jul 1987 – election
22%
29 Jan 1988 – Sue Ryan (ACT) resigned
21 Jul 1988 – Irina Dunn (NSW) appointed
22%
22%
24 Mar 1990 – election
1 Jul 1990 – terms commenced
24%
29 Aug 1991 – Karin Sowada (NSW) appointed
25%
25%
13 Mar 1993 – election
1 Jul 1993 – terms commenced
24 Aug 1993 – Kay Denman (Tas.) appointed
22%
22%
29 Nov 1995 – Natasha Stott Despoja (SA) appointed
24%
2 Mar 1996 – election
8 Mar 1996 – Sue Mackay (Tas.) appointed
1 Jul 1996 – terms commenced
30%
9 Apr 1997 – Marise Payne (NSW) appointed
13 May 1997 – Karen Synon (Vic.) appointed
15 Oct 1997 – Cheryl Kernot (Qld) resigned
32%
16 Jun 1998 – Trish Crossin (NT) appointed
3 Sep 1998 – Belinda Neal (NSW) resigned
32%
1 Jul 1999 – terms commenced (elected 3 Oct 1998)
29%
29%
29%
1 Feb 2002 – Jocelyn Newman (Tas.) resigned
1 Jul 2002 – terms commenced (elected 10 Nov 2001)
30%
14 Feb 2003 – Margaret Reid (ACT) resigned
29%
29%
5 May 2005 – Connie Fierravanti-Wells (NSW) appointed
1 Jul 2005 – terms commenced (elected 9 Oct 2004)
36%
36%
2 Apr 2007 – Jeannie Ferris (SA) died
19 Apr 2007 – Sue Boyce (Qld) appointed
36%
8 May 2008 – Jacinta Collins (Vic.) appointed
1 Jul 2008 – terms commenced (elected 24 Nov 2007)
36%
36%
36%
1 Jul 2011 – terms commenced (elected 21 Aug 2010)
28 Aug 2011 – Helen Coonan (NSW) resigned
38%
31 Mar 2012 – Judith Adams (WA) died
20 Jun 2012 – Lin Thorp (Tas.) appointed
38%
15 May 2013 – Sue Lines (WA) appointed
13 Nov 2013 – Deborah O’Neill (NSW) appointed
41%
1 Jul 2014 – terms commenced (elected 7 Sept 2013)
38%
38%
1 Jul 2016 – terms commenced (elected 2 Jul 2016)
25 Oct 2016 – Kimberley Kitching (Vic) appointed
41%
37%
39%
15 Feb 2019 – Jacinta Collins (Vic) resigned
6 Mar 2019 – Wendy Askew (Tas) appointed
1 Jul 2019 – Terms commenced (elected 18 May 2019)
11 Sept 2019 – Sarah Henderson (Vic) appointed
49%
Women in the House
While the first woman member was elected in 1943, women did not consistently sit in the House until 1980. Women did not gain a quarter of the lower house seats until a hundred years after Federation.
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0%
0%
0%
0%
21 Aug 1943 – election
1%
1%
1%
28 Sep 1946 – election
3%
3%
3%
10 Dec 1949 – election; House increased to 123 members
1%
1%
28 Apr 1951 – election
0%
0%
0%
29 May 1954 – House election
0%
10 Dec 1955 – election
0%
0%
0%
22 Nov 1958 – election
0%
0%
0%
9 Dec 1961 – election
0%
0%
30 Nov 1963 – House election
0%
0%
0%
26 Nov 1966 – House election
1%
1%
1%
25 Oct 1969 – House election
0%
0%
0%
2 Dec 1972 – House election
0%
0%
18 May 1974 – election
1%
13 Dec 1975 – election
0%
0%
10 Dec 1977 – election
0%
0%
0%
18 Oct 1980 – election
2%
2%
2%
5 Mar 1983 – election
5%
1 Dec 1984 – election; House increased to 148 members
5%
5%
5%
11 Jul 1987 – election
6%
6%
6%
24 Mar 1990 – election
7%
7%
7%
13 Mar 1993 – election
9%
12 Mar 1994 – By-election for seat of Fremantle (WA) won by Carmen Lawrence
26 Mar 1994 – By-election for seat of Mackellar (NSW) won by Bronwyn Bishop
10%
30 Jan 1995 – Ros Kelly (Member for Canberra, ACT) resigned
10%
2 Mar 1996 – election
16%
16%
3 Oct 1998 – election
22%
22%
12 Aug 2000 – By-election for seat of Isaacs (Vic.) won by Ann Corcoran
23%
17 Mar 2001 – By-election for seat of Ryan (Qld) won by Leonie Short
10 Nov 2001 – election
25%
25%
25%
9 Oct 2004 – election
25%
25%
25%
24 Nov 2007 – election
27%
27%
5 Dec 2009 – By-election for seat of Higgins (Vic.) won by Kelly O’Dwyer
27%
21 Aug 2010 – election
25%
25%
25%
7 Sept 2013 – election
26%
8 Feb 2014 – By-election for seat of Griffith (Qld) won by Terri Butler
27%
27%
2 Jul 2016 – election
29%
29%
17 Mar 2018 – By-election for seat of Batman (Vic) won by Ged Kearney
20 Oct 2018 – By-election for seat of Wentworth (NSW) won by Kerryn Phelps
30%
18 May 2019 – election; House seats increased to 151
30%