LibGuides: Women's Advocacy Subject Guide: Australian Women

Australian Women - Historical

Edith Cowan (1861-1932) : fact file
Cowan was actually the first woman elected to parliament in Australia. During her career, she campaigned relentlessly for women’s rights and even co-founded the Karrakatta Club, which campaigned for women’s right to vote.
Edith Cowan (1861-1932) : Information PowerPoint
Vida Goldstein (1869-1949) : fact life
Goldstein was such a figurehead in advocating for women’s rights that she was one of the few women who spoke across the globe in both America and Europe. She also became the first female candidate in a federal election when she ran in 1903.
Vida Goldstein (1869-1949) : who was Vida Goldstein?
Goldstein was a pioneer of change, engaging in social activism, public speaking, politics, and writing. She also spent a great portion of her life campaigning for women’s rights and played an integral role in the campaign for the right to vote to be extended to women.

Mary Lee (1821-1909) : fact life
Mary Lee was a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement in South Australia. Having emigrated from Britain to Adelaide when she was fifty-eight, she began campaigning for women’s rights in her sixties.
Mary Lee (1821-1909) : who was Mary Lee?
Louisa Lawson (1848-1920) : fact life
Louisa Lawson was a leading figure in the pioneering of women’s rights in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She was a poet and writer, with one of her most notable works being the “Dawn”, which was a journal that centred around women’s concerns.
Louisa Lawson (1848-1920) : who was Louisa Lawson?
Louisa Lawson(1848-1920) : biography
In May 1889 Louisa launched the campaign for female suffrage and announced the formation of the Dawn Club. Who ordained that men only should make the laws which both women and men must obey, she asked, but her case rested on more than abstract justice.

Catherine Helen Spence (1825-1910) : Australian suffragette movement
Spence helped establish government-run women’s schools to help provide women with more opportunities in their professional careers.
Catherine Helen Spence (1825-1910) : who was Catherine Helen Spence?
She was the first woman in Australia to lecture in public, preach in churches, write novels, and was the first female politician appointed to a government board!
Lowitja O'Donoghue collection
Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue was a member of the Yankunytjatjara people of northwest South Australia. She was a survivor of the Stolen Generations and an advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights. Throughout her life, O’Donoghue worked towards improving the health and welfare of Aboriginal peoples.