The old and new South Australian parliament houses made national heritage for democracy advances leading world
South Australia's old and new parliament houses on North Terrace, Adelaide city, represented advances in democracy that led Australia and most of the world.
South Australia’s old and new parliament houses were placed on the national heritage list in 2006 for their a central place in Australia’s democratic history for radical reforms to political laws and processes that Australians later took for granted.
In South Australia, the democratic ideals of all men and women having the right to vote (and women to stand as candidates for election), secret ballots, and one person/one vote were first introduced in Australia – and leading most of the world. After achieving self government in 1856, South Australia developed a constitution that at the time was one of the most democratic in the world.
Founded as a colony of “free men” without a convict past, South Australians looked for inspiration for their constitution and parliament from their knowledge and experience of parliamentary democracy in Britain. In setting up the new constitution, South Australians took their democratic ideals to the forefront of reform.
South Australia’s parliament gave the vote to all adult males, including Indigenous men, introduced the secret ballot, and the ideal of one person, one vote. Unlike most colonial constitutions there were no property qualifications necessary to be a member of the South Australian House of Assembly and there was a relatively low property qualification to be a member of its Legislative Council. These ideas were unknown in both Australia and many parts of the world in the 19th Century.
The leaders of South Australia continued to provide the community with a radical form of colonial parliament and democracy. In 1894, South Australia became the first parliament in the world to grant women, including Indigenous women, the right to vote and to stand for election to the South Australian parliament since 1886. These rights were later introduced in other parts of Australia and enshrined in the new constitution for the nation in 1901. By comparison, women in the United Kingdom did not receive the right to vote until 1918 (for women over the age of 30), the United States of America in 1919 and France in 1945.
The secret ballot was used around the world and considered one of the most important democratic principles and vital to protect voters from intimidation or bribery. In many parts of the world, it is known as the “Australian ballot:. It was first used in South Australia's 1857 parliamentary election.
National heritage listing of the old and new South Australian parliament houses “ensures the ground-breaking steps taken by the parliamentarians and their commitment to the ideals of parliamentary democracy and universal suffrage is forever captured within Australia’s story”.
