Victorian Women's Suffrage Petition 1891

At 260 metres long, with almost 30,000 signatures, the Victorian Women's Suffrage Petition 1891 is known as the Monster Petition in recognition of its incredible size.  When it was tabled in the Parliament of Victoria on 29 September 1891 several men were required to carry it in.

The petition is the visual legacy of the grassroots movement that campaigned for the right of all women to vote. This Victorian document inspired the suffrage movement in other Australian colonies to collect signatures and lodge their own petitions.

The signatures were collected from across Melbourne, regional cities and the small towns of Victoria over an intense six-week period in the spring of 1891.

Led by the Woman's Christian Temperance Movement, supporters travelled across Victoria using the railway network. They then went from door-to-door with pencil, pen, ink and paper in hand to collect signatures. These individual bits of paper were then glued down onto cotton to make the petition.

The Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka (M.A.D.E) is proud to be the first regional host for the iconic historic treasure, the Victorian Women's Suffrage Petition 1891.