Dame Beryl Beaurepaire

Media release by Rosemary Cadden

A willingness to challenge existing systems, a sense of social justice, a belief in equal rights and opportunities, and a need to contribute to community life.

These qualities describe key suffragists in South Australia at the end of the 19th Century. Those women helped to shape the history of the State which, in 1894, became the first place in the world to grant women their full democratic rights on the same basis as men - the right to vote and the right to stand for Parliament.

Those same qualities are among the driving forces behind the actions of one South Australian woman in the 20th Century-Dame Beryl Beaurepaire.

The members of the South Australian Women's Suffrage Centenary Steering Committee, are proud join in celebrations to honour the many achievements of Dame Beryl who, like those suffragists, has blazed a trail for others to follow.

Unlike those 19th Century women, whose achievements remained hidden for so long, Dame Beryl's contributions to Australian society are being rightfully recorded as they occur.

Throughout her life, Dame Beryl has successfully brought many women's issues to the fore and advocated for change to improve conditions for all.

Like suffragist Augusta Zadow, Dame Beryl has tackled women's employment issues; and like suffragist Catherine Helen Spence, she has championed education issues.

Domestic violence and sex discrimination are just two other issues Dame Beryl tackled in her time as convenor of the first National Women's Advisory Council.