Great Petition Centenary of Women's Suffrage Artwork

Great Petition by Susan Hewitt and Penelope Lee. Burston Reserve, Melbourne.

Photo: Diana Diiorio

The Great Petition artwork was created by artists Susan Hewitt and Penelope Lee and launched on 3 December 2008 to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of women's right to vote in Victoria. It provide an impressive and enduring focus on the issue of women's contribution to public life and was commissioned by the State Government of Victoria in collaboration with the City of Melbourne.

The artwork, fabricated in rolled steel and painted in parchment white, is a contemporary reading of the "Monster Petition", a giant petition of 30,000 signatures offered to the Victorian Parliament in 1891 as evidence of widespread support for equal voting rights for women. The continuing opposition of the parliament, which knocked back numerous Bills, meant that women had to wait another seventeen years before they were given voting rights with the passage of the Adult Suffrage Act in 1908.

Visit Victorian Women Vote 1908 - 2008 for videos and images about the creation of the Great Petition sculpture, community projects celebrating the anniversary, and key figures such as Vida Goldstein and Miles Franklin.

You can learn more about the history of women's suffrage in Victoria on the Office of Women's Policy website.

The petition has been digitised and can be searched online for the names of signatories.