Queensland Women's Week

1889 - The Queensland Women's Suffrage League was formed.

1891 - The Married Women's Property Act, 1890 came into effect in Queensland. It allowed married women to both acquire and dispose of property and other investments independent of their husbands.

1891 - Dr Lilian Cooper arrived in Brisbane and for 10 years was the only woman practicing medicine in Queensland. (check out our blog post on Dr Cooper's other incredible feats).

1905 - Queensland women were finally permitted to vote in state elections. The first vote took place in 1907.

1915 - Queensland women were permitted to be elected into Queensland Parliament.

1922 - Equal divorce rights were instituted so that women were allowed to be granted a divorce on the same grounds as men.

1923 - Women in Queensland were permitted to be jurors in court.

1929 - Irene Longman was Queensland's first woman parliamentarian (check out our blog post on Irene's other amazing feats for women).

1931 - Women were accepted into the Queensland Police Service - but were not sworn in as police officers until 1965.

1950 - Women's pay was set at 75% that of the male rate in the Commonwealth Basic Wage Case.

1961- the oral contraceptive pill became available in Australia.

1965 - All First Nations Peoples in Queensland were permitted to vote in state elections (the first state election where they could vote was 1966).

1966- Dr Margaret Valadian was the first recognised First Nations woman to graduate from university.

1967 - Australians voted 'yes' in the referendum which finally allowed First Nations Peoples to hold the same citizenship rights as other Australians.

1969 - the ban on married women working in the Queensland State public sector was abolished.

1970 - women were allowed to drink in public bars in Queensland - prior to this they were banned.

1980 - The federal government signed the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

1984 - The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 was passed by the federal government, making it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of sex, marital status, family responsibility and pregnancy, and established dismissal of an employee on the basis of their family responsibilities as being unlawful.

1985 - Sallyanne Atkinson was Queensland's first female Lord Mayor.

1987 - Justice Mary Gaudron was the first woman appointed to the High Court.

1989 - The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989 was proclaimed in Queensland.

1990 - The first women police officers were promoted to inspector level in the Queensland Police Service.

1992 - Leneen Forde was the first female Governor of Queensland.

1996 - Joan Sheldon AM became the first female Deputy Premier and Treasurer of Queensland.

1999 - The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 was introduced into parliament.

2000 - Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic flame and won gold at the Sydney Olympics.

2001 - Queensland Parliament had the highest proportion of women representatives of any Australian Parliament.

2002- Queensland architect Brit Anderson was the first woman to receive the annual Gold Medal from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.

2004 - Ms Loris Williams became Queensland's first First Nations archivist.

2007 - Gardasil which is immunisation against cervical cancer was made available for young women and girls.

2007 - Anna Bligh was appointed as the first female Premier of Queensland.

2008 - Her Excellency Quentin Bryce AM was sworn in as Governor-General and was the first woman to take up the office.

2010 - Australia's first female Prime Minister, the Honourable Julia Gillard MP was elected.

2010 - Queensland-born Megan Davis was the first First Nations woman to be elected to a UN body (United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues).

2015 - Annastacia Palaszczuk was sworn in as the second female Premier of Queensland.

2012 - Julia Gillard delivered her famous 'Misogny Speech'.

2015 - Catherine Holmes was appointed as Queensland’s first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, having served as a judge of the Queensland Court of Appeal from 2006.

2015 - Leeanne Enoch, Member for Algester, became the first Aboriginal woman elected to the Queensland Parliament.

2015 - Cynthia Liu, Member for Cook in far North Queensland, was the first Torres Strait Islander elected to any Australian parliament.

2016- The first Queensland Women's Week.

2016 - The annual Queensland Women in STEM Prize was introduced to recognise achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as part of the World Science Festival Brisbane.

2016 - Linda Burney was the first Indigenous woman to be elected into the Australian House of Representatives.

2017 - Seven of the 19 new Queensland electorates were named after exceptional Queensland women.

2018 - Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk made history as the first woman in Australia to be elected for 2 terms as premier of a state.

2018 - The Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018 was passed by the Queensland Parliament to ensure termination of pregnancy is treated as a health issue rather than a criminal issue.

2018 - Jackie Huggins, a proud Bidjara Central Queensland and Birri-Gubba Jura North Queensland woman, activist, author and historian was appointed as co-chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.

2018 - The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games were the most diverse Games of all time, with an equal number of women’s and men’s medal events for the first time in the history of a major multi-sport games.