It is 2046.
Women have been able to vote in federal elections for 144 years. Australia's first female prime minister has celebrated her 85th birthday. And the Federal Parliament will have only now achieved an equal number of male and female politicians.
Communities baffled by rapid social and economic change might have led to tectonic global political shifts this year, but they can rest easy knowing that the pace of change isn't always fast.
The ACT Legislative Assembly became the first jurisdiction to have equal numbers of men and women politicians following its October election this year. Just over, in fact. Thirteen of its 25 members are women.
But the rest of the country will have to wait. And wait a long time.
Fairfax Media calculated how long it would take the federal, NSW and Victorian parliaments to achieve equal representation of men and women based on the rate of change between the past three elections.
The Victorian Parliament will get there first thanks to its significant gains in female representation over the past three elections. Based on the current trajectory, it should take only another three elections – or 2026 – to go from its present 38 per cent to 50 per cent.
Federal Parliament will reach the goal next – albeit at a much slower pace.
On present trends it will take another 10 federal elections to go from 32 per cent to 50 per cent. If governments stick to three-year terms then women will only make up 50 per cent of Federal Parliament in 2046.
In NSW, it will take another 11 elections to reach the 50 per cent mark, or the year 2059.
The reason is the significant decline in the number of elected women between the 2011 and 2015 elections, down from 37 per cent to 28 per cent.
Former Liberal senator Sue Boyce said the results were "disheartening" and highlighted an "incremental" pace of change.
"It demonstrates that, on the Coalition side, we have got to not just hope that we get more women candidates but we have to plan and develop and train them. Part of that is going out there and saying very very loudly 'we want more women candidates'."
The Liberal Party's federal executive signed off in September on a 10-year plan to increase the number of women politicians.
The number of female Liberal MPs in the July 2 election dropped to its lowest number in 25 years, an outcome described by MPs as a "wake-up call". Just 13 women sit on the government benches in the House of Representatives, compared to 63 men.
Ms Boyce said although the party's target of 50 per cent of female MPs by 2025 was encouraging, much work needed to be done to reach it.
Many male politicians had stood for preselection and election more than once before being elected, Ms Boyce said.
"Having had a go trying to become a politician is really, really important and educative."
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said her party's system of quotas and targets was the reason it had more female MPs.
"Labor has committed to at least half our parliamentarians being women by 2025, and I'm confident we'll get there," Ms Plibersek said.
"The question is when will the Liberals show some commitment to gender equality. Already, nearly 45 per cent of federal Labor parliamentarians are women, while it's just 21 per cent for the Liberals. Labor has more women on our frontbench than the Liberal Party has in the entire House of Representatives. The best way to get more women in Parliament is to vote Labor."
Australia ranks 54th in the world for representation of women in Parliament, according to International Parliamentary Union data. Afghanistan, Rwanda, Bolivia, New Zealand, Mexico and Ethiopia have a higher representation of women.