Timeline

1908: Alice Buckridge is named the first Australasian winner by Lone Hand magazine which, in order to boost its circulation, had run a competition to find Australia's most beautiful girl.

1926: The owners of Smith's Weekly and the Guardian launch another quest to find 'the perfect woman of a continent'. Beryl Mills wins from a pool of more than 1,000 entrants.

1927: Tasmanian Phyllis Von Alwyn becomes Miss Australia 1927. Despite the quest's popularity, a national competition does not take place again until 1936–7.

1936: Smith's Weekly runs the competition with the specific aim of finding a suitable young lady to witness the coronation of Edward VIII in England. After Sheila Martin's win (Miss Australia 1937) the contest is suspended until after the Second World War.

1945: The quest is relaunched with a new role as a fundraising event for various war charities. Prime Minister Ben Chifley is assured Miss Australia will promote Australia abroad: 'with her trim figure dressed in Australian wool, our greatest product.'

1950: National competition is suspended following a dispute between Miss Australia 1949, Margaret Hughes, and organisers regarding the choice of chaperone.

1953: Bernard Dowd, chief of Dowd Associates, the manufacturer of Hickory Lingerie in Australia, brings new style and resources to the quest. A year later the Dowd vision is coupled with the fundraising efforts of the Australian Cerebral Palsy Association.

1961: Tania Verstak is the first naturalised Australian to win the Miss Australia title. Born in China to Russian parents, Tania is the only Miss Australia who goes on to win Miss International. She causes a stir by refusing to pose in a swimsuit for photographers.

1968: Miss Australia ceases competing in the Miss International competition.

1969: Bernard Dowd withdraws his personal financial support and the Australian Cerebral Palsy Association becomes the main driver of the competition.

1973: Miss Northern Territory 1973, Judy Gee, is controversially banned from competing at the national finals when it is revealed she is an unmarried mother.

1981: The International Year of the Disabled puts the spotlight on opposition to the quest. Feminist activists and lobby groups for the disabled protest outside national finals throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

1984: The quest's national finals are broadcast live on television for the last time.

1990: Differences of opinion between state cerebral palsy associations about the quest's future lead to the withdrawal of Western Australia from the national competition.

1991: Miss Australia is officially 'crowned' for the last time and the Miss Australia Quest is renamed the Miss Australia Awards.

1993: Debate over the inclusion of men surfaces with Damian Taylor's entry. He is allowed to compete in a separate category.

1997: Brad Rodgers raises the highest amount of money but organisers are reluctant to award the title to a male. He is presented with the new title of National Fundraiser instead.

1999: Kathryn Hay becomes the first Indigenous woman to win the national award.

2000: Sheree Primmer is named the last Miss Australia. Her reign lasts for the evening of the finale ball.