Discover the key organisations and individuals who campaigned for the vote.
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
- campaigned to protect women from drunken husbands' abuse and alcohol-induced poverty
- wanted the age of consent raised from 12 to 16
- wanted Contagious Diseases Act 1868 (Qld) abolished
- recognised that to effect social reforms they needed a voice in Parliament and the best way for that to happen was to have a say in who the representatives were
- its president Elizabeth Brentnall pushed for adoption of woman's suffrage as mission activity in 1888; taken up in 1891
Woman's Equal Franchise Association (WEFA)
- formed in 1894
- led by trade unionist Emma Miller
- believed in 'one person, one vote'
- disbanded after the vote was granted in 1905
Woman's Franchise League
- headed by journalist Leontine Cooper
- splinter group of Women's Equal Franchise Association
- did not support WEFA's 'one person, one vote' stand
- believed woman's suffrage more likely to be achieved if on the same basis as men who already had the vote - ie. property-biased system
- disbanded after the vote was granted in 1905
Queensland Women's Electoral League (QWEL)
- formed July 1903
- Margaret Ogg
- conservative, anti-socialist
- concerned with social issues including equal pay, early shop closing, divorce laws, censorship
- continued until 1960s, taking up social reform issues including women in parliament
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