The right of women to stand for election to the South Australian Parliament

Generations of South Australians have proudly said that ours was the first Australian legislature to grant women the right to vote and also the first to grant women the right to be elected to the Parliament. However, while the Parliament's intention was clear, the original legislation passed in 1894 did not explicitly state that women would be eligible to nominate and stand as candidates, and to take their seats in the Parliament if they were elected. The intention was only clearly expressed in the legislation in 1959, after a Supreme Court challenge to the right of the Returning Officer to allow women to nominate for election. [Introduction]