who was the first woman to be elected to parliament in australia
Women's suffrage in Australia The first woman elected to any Australian Parliament was Edith Cowan, elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1921. Dame Enid Lyons, in the Australian House of Representatives and Senator Dorothy Tangney, became the first women in the federal Parliament in 1943. Lyons was in 1949 appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council by Robert Menzies. She was described as Minister without Portfolio, with no departmental duties, but the appointment gave her a seat in Cabinet. She held the position between 19 December 1949 and 7 March 1951, and is the only woman to have occupied the position.