Promise and Performance: The Queensland Elections Act 1915 and the Women’s Right to Stand for Parliament

Although the Election Act of 1915 enabled non-Indigenous women as well as men to stand as candidates for Queensland’s Lower House, no woman took up this opportunity until Irene Longman’s successful bid in 1929. In the 31 Queensland elections held between 1918 and 2004, women were, until very recently, a tiny minority when compared to the thousands of examples of male candidates for the same period. This paper examines the promises of the 1915 Elections Act, its position as part of the legislation framework that recognised political rights for women as well as men, and its inception in Parliment and the community. It also offers an overview of the subsequent history of women’s attemps to stand for Queensland’s Parliment