Miss Australia was an Australian beauty pageant held from 1908 until 2000. It was replaced by Miss World Australia from 2002, and Miss Universe Australia from 2004. From 1926 to 1991 the program operated as the Miss Australia Quest, after which the name was changed to the Miss Australia Awards to reflect changing community attitudes.
From 1954, the contest was associated with the Spastic Centres of Australia. The winner of Miss Australia raised money for the centres through her family and friends, raising money for children and adults with cerebral palsy.[1] The Miss Australia Quest was sponsored and organised from 1954 until the early 1960s by the lingerie manufacturer, Hickory, until Dowd Associates transferred ownership to the Australian Cerebral Palsy Association in 1963.
The pearl-encrusted Miss Australia crown was worn by titleholders from 1965 to 1991. The crown was hand-crafted in silver and blue velvet, and decorated with more than 800 pearls. Designed by Melbourne artist Ernest Booth and manufactured in Japan, the crown was presented to the Miss Australia Quest in 1965 by Toyomoto Australia Pty Ltd. The crown was last used in 1991,[2] and is held at the National Museum of Australia.
History
[edit]"Miss Australia", Beryl Mills in Sydney, by Sam Hood
The first Miss Australia contest was held in 1908 as a one-off event sponsored through the Lone Hand, with entrants from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The winner was Alice Buckridge from Victoria.[3] The primary purpose of the contest was "to attract customers: whether they were newspaper readers, patrons at an amusement venue or visitors to a country fair" (Saunders and Ustinoff, 2005:4)
The Miss Australia contests of 1926 and 1927 were sponsored by Smith's Weekly magazine and Union Theatres, with heats from each State, and were straightforward beauty contests, judged by an anonymous panel from the staff of the magazine and associated publications. Miss Australia 1937 was again sponsored by Smith's Weekly and again had heats in each State, but judging criteria were far broader, and the judging panel comprised prominent women.[4] The prizes for the first two centred around screen tests and an escorted trip to the movie capitals of America. The 1937 prize was a chaperoned first-class travel world tour which included London for the Coronation season. Smith's Weekly was not involved in later Quests.
In 1953, the contest was revised by Bernard J. Dowd to promote the American Hickorylingerie that he marketed in Australia. A panel of Hickory-appointed judges in each state selected a winner based on photos sent it by young women, and then a national panel of Hickory-appointed judges chose the winner, Miss Australia.[5]
In 1954, Colin Clay of the Queensland Spastic Welfare League asked Hickory if the Miss Australia competition could be used as a fundraiser for the league. Hickory agreed and from then on the contestants raised money for the league. Each state branch of the league would conduct its own contest to find a state winner, known as Miss Queensland, Miss New South Wales, etc, based on traditional "beauty contest" critieria. They would also award Miss Queensland Charity Queen, Miss New South Wales Charity Queesland, etc to the young woman who raised the most money in each state. The state finalists would then compete in the national competition for Miss Australia and Miss Australia Charity Queen.[5]
In 1963, Dowd assigned all rights to the contest to the League.[5]
Titleholders
[edit]Alice Buckridge, Miss Australia 1908, in The Lone Hand magazineBeryl Mills, Miss Australia 1926Phyllis Von Alwyn, Miss Australia 1927Rhonda Kelly in 1945Judy Gainford, Miss Australia 1947Margaret Hughes, Miss Australia 1949, in 1950Maxine Morgan, Miss Australia 1953Shirley Bliss, Miss Australia 1954Jan Taylor, Miss Australia 1964 in EgyptSuzanne McClelland, Miss Australia 1969 in the NetherlandsMiss Australia 1994 Jayne Bargwanna
1978 – Beverly Frances Pinder (Miss Universe),Denise Ellen Coward (Miss World – 2nd RU)
1979 – Kerry Dunderdale (Miss Universe), Jodie Anne Day (Miss World – 3rd RU)
1980 – Katrina Judith Rose Redina (Miss Universe), Linda Leigh Shepherd (Miss World)
1981 – Karen Sang (Miss Universe Australia), Melissa Hannan (Miss World – finalist & Queen of Oceania)
1982 – Lou-Anne Caroline Ronchi(Miss Universe & Miss International – semi-finalist), Catherine Anne Morris (Miss World – semi-finalist & Queen of Oceania)
2001 – no (Miss Universe), Eva Milic (Miss World), Christy Anderson (Miss Earth)
2002 – Sarah Davies (Miss Universe), Nicole Gazal (Miss Australia World – semi-finalist), Ineke Candice Leffers (Miss Earth)
2003 – Ashlea Talbot (Miss Universe), Olivia Stratton[8] (Miss Australia World – winner; Miss World People's Choice), Shivaune Christina Field(Miss Earth)
2004 – Jennifer Hawkins (Miss Universe 2004), Sarah Davies (Miss Australia World – semi-finalist), Alethea Lindsay (Miss World Australia runner up), Shenevelle Dickson (Miss Earth – finalist)
2005 – Michelle Guy (Miss Universe), Alethea Lindsay (Miss Universe Australia runner up), Denae Brunow (Miss Australia World), Ann Maree Bowdler (Miss Earth)
2006 – Erin McNaught (Miss Universe), Sabrina Houssami (Miss Australia World – 2nd runner up, Miss Asia Pacific World), Victoria Winter (Miss Earth)
2014 – Tegan Martin, (Universe – top 10 finalists); Courtney Thorpe (Miss World Australia – Miss World Oceania – top 5); Renera Thompson (Miss Grand Australia- Miss Grand International 3rd runner up).
2015 – Monika Radulovic, (Universe – top 5 finalists); Tess Alexander (Miss World Australia – Miss World Oceania – top 11); Claire Elizabeth Parker (Miss Grand Australia- Miss Grand International Winner).
2016 – Caris Tiivel (Miss Universe), Madeline Cowe (Miss World Australia – Top 20); Dani Fitch (Miss Grand Australia- Miss Grand International Top 20 finalist)
In 2007, a National Museum of Australia exhibition, Miss Australia: A Nation's Quest, told the stories of titleholders, volunteers, fundraisers and sponsors involved in the Miss Australia Quest. Historic dresses, trophies and crowns were also included in the exhibition.[10]
