males over 21 years of age. However, men "in the receipt of aid from any charitable institution" were ineligible. This was deemed to include all people living on Aboriginal stations and reserves. Other men not able to vote included those "of unsound mind", incarcerated individuals, and members of the military or the police. In 1859 Queensland was made a colony separate from New South Wales. The Legislative Assembly was reduced from 80 to 72 members by the loss of the Queensland seats. In 1901, New South Wales became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and many government functions were transferred to the new Commonwealth government. In 1902, the current constitution of New South Wales was adopted. Women gained the right to vote in Commonwealth elections in April 1902, and in New South Wales state elections in August 1902. In 1918, reforms permitted women to be members of Parliament, although no woman was elected until 1925 when Millicent Preston-Stanley was elected to represent the Eastern Suburbs. That same year, a proportional representation system was introduced for the Legislative Assembly with multiple representatives from each electorate; this system lasted until it was abolished in 1926. Women were not able to be appointed to the Legislative Council until 1926; Premier John Storey attempted to appoint Kate Dwyer to the Legislative Council in 1921, but the appointment was ruled out of order. The first two women appointed to the Legislative Council were both Australian Labor Party members proposed on 23 November 1931: Catherine Green, who took her seat the following day, and Ellen Webster, who joined her two days later. In 1925, 1926 and 1929, Premier Jack Lang made unsuccessful attempts to abolish the Legislative Council, following the example of the Queensland Legislative Council in 1922. These attempts led to further reform, and in 1933 the law was changed so that a quarter of the Legislative Council would be elected every three years by members of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, rather than being appointed by the Governor. From 1926, people receiving aid could again be on the electoral roll. Compulsory voting was introduced in 1928. In 1978, the Council became a directly elected body in a program of electoral reform introduced by the Wran Labor government. The number of members was reduced to 45, although transitional arrangements meant that there were 43 members from 1978 to 1981, and 44 from