South Australian Women's Suffrage Petition

The South Australian Women's Suffrage Petition of 1894 was a document signed by around 11,600 people in support of extending the right to vote to women in the colony of South Australia. Presented to the House of Assembly on 23 August 1894 by Member of Parliament George Stanley Hawker, the petition contained signatures from across the state and measured about 120 m (390 ft) in length. It contributed to the passage of the Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894, which, after intense deliberation, was amended by former Premier Ebenezer Ward to also allow women to stand for parliament. Although Ward intended to derail the Bill, the amendment was carried, granting South Australian women both the right to vote and to stand for parliament, making the colony the first jurisdiction in the world to legislate both rights on equal terms.