Showgirl rule change allows all women between 18 and 28 to enter

Prior to that, entrants in the youth engagement and personal development competition had to be unmarried and remain unmarried and not have had a child, or be having a child, prior to state final judging.

It's a major decision for the 38-year-old competition but one that Showgirl Awards chairwoman Ellie O'Hara said was widely anticipated after much debate.

"Most people expected this to happen," she said. "Essentially, it's opening up the competition to all women between the ages of 18 and 28."

The first public cracks showed in February when the Barcaldine Pastoral Agricultural and Horticultural Society announced it would allow married women into its Miss Showgirl competition, while the Longreach Show Society Inc changed the name of its competition to remove 'Miss' from the title.

Spokespeople for those societies said their decisions were in the best interests of small show societies to encourage a broader demographic to participate.

The new rule will apply to the 2021 state finals, as the vast majority of shows and their Showgirl competitions were cancelled when the state government began limiting the number of people that could be in one place outdoors as part of its coronavirus response.

Ms O'Hara said there had been no opportunity for any 2020 regional sub-chamber judging to take place before the government announcement.

"This has given us the opportunity to launch something wonderful for next year," she said.

"We firmly believe this change will increase the opportunity for shows to further engage with all members of their community though the Showgirl competition, particularly the engagement of young women who are married or have children who connect with the mission, vision and opportunities that the Showgirl Awards offers entrants."

An entrant can now be any woman who is an Australian citizen and who resides in Queensland, or who is closely affiliated with a Queensland Agricultural Show, aged between 18 and 28 years inclusive as at August 1 in the year of competition.

Ms O'Hara said the judging criteria had not changed and would still be about what the entrants brought to the role.

Criteria include agricultural industry knowledge, show movement knowledge, community participation and personal presentation.

Show organisers are now encouraged to consider the revised rules prior to hosting a Showgirl competition where the winner will represent their agricultural show at the 2021 sub-chamber finals next year.

"There will be no other changes to the existing Conditions of Entry for the 2021 state finals," Ms O'Hara said. "We are very excited for the future of the Showgirl Awards and are happy to answer any questions shows may have in implementing the revised rule for the 2021 show year."

The few show societies that chose a Showgirl entrant early in 2020, from the Gold Coast and Darling Downs sub-chambers, are now faced with the decision of whether to run a new competition next year.

QAS general manager Trevor Beckingham said he suspected most, if they had already chosen an entrant, wouldn't hold another competition in 2021.

"Shows are only able to submit one entrant for sub-chamber judging so it's up to them how they achieve that," he said.

If rules around the number of people gathering as part of large outdoor events are changed by the government in the near future, Noosa will be the first show to resume in 2020.

If not, Stanthorpe will be the first show for 2021 and the schedule will run as it has in previous years.

Ms O'Hara said it would be interesting to see what societies decided about trying to run shows in what remained of this year if they were able to, given the Showman's Guild's revised schedule would need to be considered.

"It will depend on when they gauge it to be right for their community," she said. "Postponing to later in the year and then trying to get an audience back early next year might be hard."