AMELIA: These days, boys and girls seem pretty equal.
Both can finish school and choose to study at uni,
vote when they turn 18 and work in just about any field.
But not that long ago, things looked very different.
If you were a woman in the mid-1800s,
your main job was to get married and have kids,
and everything you had, well, it would belong to your husband.
Some women did work, mostly as servants,
and only if they really needed the money.
It wasn't until the late 1800s that women started to demand change.
In South Australia, women became some of the first in the world
to be given the right to vote
and the first to be allowed to run for Parliament.
Australian unis also started opening their doors to women,
which meant they could study to become doctors or scientists,
but it was still unusual for most women to work.
Fast-forward to the 1940s and everything changed.
As men all around the world went off to fight in World War II,
many women went to work,
often in jobs that only men were allowed to do before.
Even though they weren't paid as much as men,
many women enjoyed this work and they were good at it.
But five years later, when the war ended,
most were forced to go back to home life.
By the 1950s, most Australian women could learn,
vote and work if they wanted to, but usually in jobs seen as feminine,
like as receptionists, teachers or shop assistants.
But they often faced discrimination
and were still generally paid less than men for the same job.
Plus, if they got married, it was expected they would quit
to focus on their new husband.
Just about an hour ago, I got you fired.
What?! What did you do that for?
I figured that being my wife would take up all of your time.
Then came the 1960s and '70s
and women once again fought for their rights.
There were some big revolutions like the birth control pill,
which meant women could decide when they had kids and how many.
Protests also took place over equal pay, equal opportunities,
even the right to be in bars with men!
As time went on, the world changed even more.
Women led countries and businesses,
they went to space,
became judges, and were ordained as religious leaders.
A few years ago, Australia even got its first female PM!
(SPEAKS INAUDIBLY)
Now Australian women can work in pretty much any field they like,
and it's against the law to discriminate against women.
So, we've come a long way, haven't we?
But it's not over yet!
In some countries, women are still banned from doing certain jobs,
or even basic stuff like driving or opening a bank account.
On average, women still earn less money than men,
fewer women run big companies, fewer sit in Parliament,
and men are still more likely to get promoted over women.
But in Australia especially, things are way better
than they used to be and will keep getting better.
Thanks to all those determined women who went before.