This year, the Office for Women are commemorating the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in South Australia.

It’s a great time to recognise the changes to the law in 1894, when women won the right to vote and stand for parliament in South Australia – a first for anywhere in Australia.

Achieving women’s suffrage was the end result of years of campaigning by dedicated women and men, including those in organisations such as the South Australian Women’s Suffrage League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.

The anniversary is an opportunity to commemorate this landmark victory for women’s rights. Gaining the right to vote was a huge step towards gender equality and positive change for women in South Australia, and is something we can all be proud of in this state.

Appropriately, the theme for the 125th anniversary is Their triumph, our motivation. It recognises how the extraordinary efforts of the suffragists in the late 19th and early 20th century drive our continued efforts in working towards gender equality.

The 125 support graphic was designed by Jayne Arnott, a musician and graphic designer living in Adelaide, South Australia. The interlocking numbers represent generations of women working together and lifting each other up to achieve change in the past, present and future.

For more information about the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in South Australia,
visit officeforwomen.sa.gov.au/SAsuffrage125