Bronze statues have long been a feature of Canberra, but very few are of women.

Canberra-based constitutional lawyer Kim Rubenstein, who announced she was running for the senate last week, wants to change that. The University of Canberra professor has started a campaign for a statue of Australia's first female political candidate.

It comes as three trailblazers of Australian politics will be immortalised in bronze - the first two women and the first Indigenous Australian elected to the Federal Parliament.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced two sculptures have been ordered, one for the first two women elected to federal Parliament, Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney, and another for the first Indigenous Australian in Parliament, Neville Bonner.

"Enid Lyons, Dorothy Tangney and Neville Bonner laid the path for those who have followed and they rightly deserve our recognition," Mr Morrison said.

There has been $1.25 million has been set aside for the sculptures and the National Capital Authority is charged with working with descendants and family members in developing them.

There is a greater push across Canberra for more statues of women. Professor Rubenstein will advocate for a statue of Catherine Helen Spence.

Spence was Australia's first female political candidate, when she unsuccessfully ran for the federal convention, held in Adelaide.

Professor Rubenstein said Spence was one of the first proponents of proportional representation in Australia. However, her fellow candidate Andrew Inglis Clark received all the credit.

Clark pioneered the Hare-Clark voting system, and introduced it to Tasmania. The system is also used in the ACT.

Professor Rubenstein has started a campaign for a statue of Spence on the corner of Constitution Avenue and London Circuit.

The location would be complementary to another statue, as it would be opposite an existing statue of Clark.

Professor Rubenstein said this would reflect Spence's role in arguing for proportional representation.

"In Australia we refer to it as the Hare-Clark system but more authentically it should be called the Hare-Spence system because she was the first person to advocate for that," she said.

"I think it would be fantastic to have diagonally opposite Andrew Inglis Clark on that other corner, a statue of Catherine Helen Spence showing them in conversation about the system of proportional representation."

A statue of Clark was placed outside Canberra's Constitution Place building last year. Capital Airport Group commissioned the statue from Perth-based sculptor April Pine.

READ MORE:

An inquiry is also looking at how more women can be memorialised through public commemoration.

The ACT's Legislative Assembly's standing committee on economy and gender and economic inquiry is undertaking the inquiry.

The committee's chair, Leanne Castley, who is a Liberal member for Yerrabi, has said she was first made aware of the issue when the Andrew Inglis Clark statue was installed last year.

The inquiry was prompted by a petition to the Legislative Assembly, which was sponsored by Labor backbencher Suzanne Orr.

Late last year, Ms Orr wrote to Chief Minister Andrew Barr to ask him to consider commissioning statues, which commemorate the "input of women to our political history" and "provides visible recognition in line with the recognition of contributions made by men of our past".

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: