Every Voice Counts: Suffrage in Australia Exhibition

In celebration of the 120th anniversary of the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, Parliament House is proud to present the Every voice counts: suffrage in Australia exhibition. The landmark law granted most Australian women the right to vote and to stand in federal elections. Australia was the first nation in the world to grant women these dual rights. After the Franchise Act 1902 was passed, Australian Muriel Matters joined the suffrage struggle to help her British ‘sisters’. While part of a protest, she chained herself to a grille in the House of Commons. To remove her from the building, the grille was unscrewed with Matters attached, which technically placed her on the floor of the chamber. As she spoke about the suffrage campaign, this made her the first woman to speak in the British Parliament. Learn more about the trailblazers who forged new pathways for women’s political participation at the exhibition. You’ll explore suffrage in Australia, the role of the Federal Parliament in electoral reform and Australia’s influence on overseas suffrage campaigns.