The Royal Australian Mint has released this one dollar piece
to commemorate a century since women were given the right to vote in federal elections. The
reverse was sculpted by Vladimir Gottwald and depicts his interpretation of an important banner made by Dora Meeson
Coates. The reverse also contains the
legend
"CENTENARY OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE" and the denomination "1 DOLLAR". The
obverse houses the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II with the
legend
"ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2003".
In 1902 Australia become the first country in the world to give women the right to vote and be elected to federal parliament.
Prior to this the individual colonies/states had passed similar legislation with South Australia giving the right to vote
in 1894. The women's suffrage movement had begun much earlier with a number of substantial organisations working toward the
goal. These groups pushed for change primarily through petition - contacting newspapers, magazines, holding speeches, and
writing petitions.
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