Edith Cowan University is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and, as of 2024, still the only Australian university named after a woman. It is the second-largest university in the state with over 30,000 students in 2023. Gaining uniā¦Edith Cowan University is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and, as of 2024, still the only Australian university named after a woman. It is the second-largest university in the state with over 30,000 students in 2023. Gaining university status in 1991, it was formed from an amalgamation of tertiary colleges with a history dating back to 1902 when the Claremont Teachers College was established, making it the modern descendant of the first tertiary institution in Western Australia.