The Australian Women's Register

By the turn of the twentieth century women were visible and active participants in all major Australian art schools, including the National Gallery School in Melbourne, where female students far outnumbered males.

The Australian Academy of Science was founded on 16 February 1954 by Royal Charter. Each year, twenty Fellows are elected to the Academy by their peers.

Currently, women make up only 14% of all living Fellows. In order to address this imbalance, the Australian Government asked the Academy, with the support of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, ‘to provide a 10-year roadmap for achieving sustained increases in women’s STEM participation and retention from school through to careers’. The Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Decadal Plan was released on April 1, 2019.

Much like the online exhibition She’s Game: Women making Australian sporting history, this entry ‘pays tribute to the many Australian women over time and across the country who have played, coached, volunteered, administered and supported sport, at all levels.’

Australian women did not attend the Olympic Games until the Stockholm Games in 1912. Sarah (Fanny) Durack won gold in the 100m freestyle at the those Games. Another Australian woman did not win a gold medal until the 1932 Los Angeles Games, when Clare Dennis won the 200m breaststroke.

The first official Paralympic Games was held in Rome in 1960. Daphne Hilton was the only woman on the Australian team at the 1960 Games.

The Imperial System of Honours and Awards is a scheme of honours bestowed on citizens or foreigners by the British monarch. This system has a long history, rooted in Roman traditions of awards for military service. Over the twentieth century the honours system has gradually evolved to recognise civilian service and other achievements.

Until 1975, the British Imperial system was the only system for recognition of the service of Australian citizens to Australia. Today, the Imperial system has been largely replaced by the Australian system, established in 1975. Imperial Honours continued to be awarded to Australians on the recommendation of some States until 1989. The Queen still bestows some honours personally.