Miss Australia was the title for the winner of the Miss Australia Quest or the Miss Australia Awards, which ran from 1954 until 2000, when the last Miss Australia was named. From 2002, the Miss World Australia contest has been held, and the Miss Universe Australia contest has been held since 2004.
The title of Miss Australia had existed since 1908, although it was not until 1954 that it became associated with the Spastic Centres of Australia.[1] The Miss Australia Quest was sponsored and organised from 1954 until the early 1960s by the lingerie manufacturer, Hickory, until Dowd Associates transferred the ownership to the Australian Cerebral Palsy Association in 1963.
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.
Miss Australia raised money for the Spastic Centres of Australia through her family and friends. She was judged on merit, as well as raising the monies for children and adults with cerebral palsy.
The pearl-encrusted Miss Australia crown, 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
"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 film 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
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[7] (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)
Australia at Miss Global
Color keys
: Declared as Winner
: Ended as runner-up or top 5/6 qualification
: Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists
: Ended as special awards winner
Year
Miss Global Australia
National title
Placement at Miss Global
Special Awards
2022
Brooke Rankin
Miss Global Australia 2022
2nd Runner-Up
2021
Denika Donnelly
Miss Global Australia 2021
No
2019
Mikaela-Rose Fowler
Miss Global Australia 2019
4th Runner-Up
2018
Rachel Falzon
Miss Global Australia 2018
Top 11
2017
Sophia Harris
Miss Global Australia 2017
Top 11
2016
Caitlynn Henry
Miss Global Australia 2016
2nd Runner-Up
2015
Jessica Peart
Miss Global Australia 2015
Miss Global 2015
2014
Elise Natalie Duncan
Miss Global Australia 2014
1st Runner-Up
Miss Fitness
2013
Emily Rogers
Miss Global Australia 2013
Top 10
Miss Fitness
Famous Miss Australias
One of the most famous Miss Australias was Tania Verstak. She was born in China of Russian parents, and when she won Miss Australia in 1961, she was the first woman of an immigrant background to win the award. Verstak's daughter is the actor Nina Young.
The 1960 "Miss Darling Downs" was Gay Kayler, a multiple beauty quest title holder, television personality, award-winning country music entertainer and recording artist.
The 1973 Miss Australia, Michelle Downes, was the second wife (1974–75) of Peter Brock.[9]
1981 saw the Miss Australia Quest Pageants’ youngest ever entrant. Suzi Harvey at just 16 years of age was keen to raise awareness as well as donations. She was sponsored by two local business owners, Dianne Thorpe and Betty Roman.Suzi hosted fundraisers every weekend.
The first Aboriginal woman to win the Miss Australia title was Kathryn Hay in 1999. Hay subsequently became a Cabinet Secretary in the Tasmanian government.
The 1994 Miss Australia Universe, Michelle van Eimeren, became a household name when she stayed in the Philippines, became an actress and married a Filipino comedian-actor-singer, Ogie Alcasid.
Stories from the people involved
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]
There are now multiple competitions using Miss Australia in their title. To differentiate amongst the official national preliminaries to international competitions, the franchise name is added to Miss Australia.
For example, Australia's Miss Universe contestants never came from The Spastic Centres Association Miss Australia. A local modelling agency selected representatives through small beauty pageants and screenings.
In 2002 Jim Davie revived Miss Universe in Australia by setting up the Miss Universe Australia organisation. This contest, which exclusively sends contestants to Miss Universe, was made famous by Jennifer Hawkins's victory in the 2004 Miss Universe pageant in Quito, Ecuador. Jennifer became only the second Australian woman ever to win the international title, following Kerry Anne Wells who won the pageant in 1972.
For the Miss World contest, a Miss World Australia is chosen through screenings. In previous years, titleholders from the original Miss World Australia contest were sent to Miss World. However, this was not the case in 2006, when the national contest was cancelled and Sabrina Houssami was controversially crowned the winner. Penelope Plummer became Australia's first Miss World in 1968.
Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants. It is organised by Femina, a women's magazine published by The Times Group. Since 2013 to 2022, Femina also organised Miss Diva as a separate competition, with representatives competing at Miss Universe.
The Miss Venezuela is the national beauty pageant of Venezuela, traditionally held in September. It is preceded by two or three months of preliminary events, with the awarding of corporate prizes. The final televised competition generally lasts about four hours and is broadcast live across Latin America by Venevisión and produced by the networks parent company Cisneros Group, with edited versions to the United States and Mexico on the Univision and Telemundo networks. From 2013 to 2015, the national contest was split into two separate pageants: Miss Venezuela and Miss Venezuela Mundo. The pageant is also closely observed by other countries seeking to level competition due to its illustrious record of pageant victories. In 2016, the Venezuelan franchise for Miss Earth was awarded to Miss Earth Venezuela organized by National Directors Julio César Cruz and Alyz Henrich.
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The 17th annual Nuestra Belleza México pageant, was held at the Auditorio Parque Las Maravillas in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico on September 25, 2010. The State of Jalisco, won for the third consecutive year with Karin Ontiveros, who later competed in Miss Universe 2011 in Brazil. Ontiveros was crowned by outgoing Nuestra Belleza México titleholder and Miss Universe 2010 Ximena Navarrete. She was the fourth Jalisciense to win this Title. Thirty-one contestants of the Mexican Republic competed for the national title.
Miss World Vietnam is a national beauty pageant in Vietnam that has been held biennially since 2019. This contest was first started in 2019 by Senvang Vietnam as Miss World Vietnam. The pageant crowned the Vietnam representatives to compete in two of the major international beauty pageants: Miss World and Miss International.
Binibining Pilipinas 2011 was the 48th edition of Binibining Pilipinas. It was held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on April 10, 2011.
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