How Australia’s first female MPs were forced to go home to use the toilet
Dame Enid Lyons and fellow trailblazers endured an impossible situation — Old Parliament House was built for democracy, but not for women who needed basic facilities.
What if you had to go home on your work lunch break to use the toilet? That was the reality for the first group of women who were elected to the Australian parliament, including Tasmania’s own Dame Enid Lyons, who found there were no dedicated women’s toilets for members inside Old Parliament House in Canberra.
Tasmanian-born Eleri Harris has returned to the state to launch a unique debut picture book that explores a surprising historical hurdle faced by Australia’s first female parliamentarians: a lack of toilets.
Ms Harris is Taroona High and The Friends’ School alumni and has released a new book aimed at children aged six to 10.
The story focuses on Dame Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney, the first two women elected to Federal Parliament, and the discovery that Old Parliament House—built 25 years after women won the right to vote—was opened without female bathrooms.
Harris was inspired to write the story after moving to Canberra in 2023 and working as a tour guide for the feminist walking tour company she-shapes history.
“I had never heard this story before,” Harris said, noting that while the achievements of Enid Lyons were well known to Tasmanians, the lack of facilities was a shock discovery.
“Australia’s democracy clearly wasn’t built for everybody. And if you don’t have the basic facilities to support someone, you’re really saying they don’t belong there,” she said.
While historical records show there were some facilities in the separate West Block and a visitor toilet downstairs, the book explores how women—including secretaries and typists—managed for decades before dedicated facilities were installed in 1974.
To celebrate the release Ms Harris held a special event at Home Hill, the historic Devonport home of Joseph and Enid Lyons.
Harris created a custom scavenger hunt for the occasion, where children can find objects in the house that she has illustrated in the book.
Harris described Home Hill as “special,” noting that Enid Lyons was a “hands-on person” who wallpapered walls, built shelves, and painted door knobs herself.
“It is the first... picture book for children to feature either Enid or Dorothy,” Harris noted. “I think it’s really cool to have her life highlighted in this way”.
Usually known as a comic editor this is Harris’s first foray into children’s literature.
The concept began as a PowerPoint presentation for a live storytelling event at Sydney Town Hall, where Harris realised the story resonated strongly with audiences.
The book has already made an impact, with Harris receiving photos during Book Week of students dressing up as Enid Lyons.
“That’s the highest honour a children’s book author in Australia can receive... to have a little kid dress up like a character from your book,” she said.
Harris is currently in Tasmania supported by an Arts ACT grant to launch the book “A Loo Of One’s Own”.
Reflecting on the book’s reception, Harris expressed hope that it would spark further interest in local history.
“I hope that there’s like more books about important women in Tasmania’s history that come up from this,” she said
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Originally published as How Australia’s first female MPs were forced to go home to use the toilet
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