One quest to rule them all

Part glamour show, part talent quest, part historical oddity, the Miss Australia pageant was (by the time of its demise in 2000) a bit like the Royal Easter Show – an insight into an ill-remembered and fast-fading notion of Australian life. To its champions, the pageant was represented a search for an ideal of Australian womanhood, and provided much-needed funds for charity, specifically children with cerebral palsy. To its detractors, it was at best an antiquated institution and at worst a sexist charade that placed physical beauty above all other attributes.

1973 titleholder Michelle Downes with the Miss Australia Quest crown acquired by the National Museum of Australia.
Photo: Dean McNicoll

Whatever your take on Miss Australia, you can check out the quest’s fascinating history in a new National Museum of Australia exhibition opening at the Museum of Brisbane this month.

Miss Australia: A Nation's Quest, traces the history of the competition, from its beginnings as a magazine promotion in 1908, to its ascendancy as a national cultural event and its end at the turn of the millennium.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, whose council is presenting the exhibition, said the Miss Australia Quest was the longest running, most popular and most successful charitable event in Australia's history.

"While beauty and glamour have been intrinsically associated with the Miss Australia Quest, the competition had far broader implications and played a vital role in shaping the social and cultural history of post-war Australia," Cr Newman said.

"The competition has raised more than $90 million for cerebral palsy and paved the way for increased advocacy for people with disabilities.”

The Museum of Brisbane is the first venue in Australia to host the new exhibition.

National Museum senior curator Sophie Jensen said Miss Australia was at different times a beauty queen, an advocate for the disabled, a trade ambassador and a fundraiser.

"Across the years, Miss Australia was always representative of an 'ideal' Australian woman and this changing notion of ideal womanhood reflects much broader changes in history and society."

Miss Australia evolved from early, intermittent competitions which sought beautiful and cultured women. It became a staple in the 1950s when businessman Bernard Dowd joined forces with the Australian Cerebral Palsy Association to bring new resources, glamour and a good cause to the competition.

The Miss Australia exhibition traces the quest's popularity, which peaked in the 1950s and 1960s, when the national winners were front page news.

The exhibition includes crowns, gowns and other iconic regalia which were part of the competition's history, along with historic photographs and footage of key Miss Australia moments.

The Miss Australia exhibition also follows the competition's changing fortunes, as it faced challenges from feminist and lobby groups for the disabled, declining public interest and participation levels and the debate over whether men should take part.

Miss Australia: A Nation's Quest provides a unique insight into a national institution from a time past. But perhaps its implications are still being felt today, if the instant celebrity of modern pageant entrants like Jennifer Hawkins and Erin McNaught are anything to go by.

David Edwards

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Miss Australia: A Nation's Quest

Venue: Museum of Brisbane
Dates: October 2006 - December 2006

Showing at the National Museum, Canberra
from June 2007