Women's Electoral Lobby Australia | AWR

Summary

The Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL) was established in Melbourne in 1972 by Beatrice Faust. She was inspired by feminists in the United States who had been rating presidential candidates. The organisation quickly spread to Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra and in 1978 WEL Australia was formed as a coalition of state, territory and regional groups. Primarily a women’s political lobby group, WEL surveyed political candidates and their policies affecting women, wrote submissions and developed media skills for women to lobby for the inclusion of women in the area of government policy. Originally the WEL campaign was based on six demands: equal pay, equal employment opportunity, equal access to education, free contraceptive services, abortion on demand and free 24-hour childcare.

Details

In February 1972, feminist Beatrice Faust invited ten women to a meeting in her Carlton house to discuss the forthcoming Federal election. They decided to survey election candidates on issues of special interest to women, as Ms Magazine had done in the USA during a recent presidential campaign.

By the second meeting the initial membership had doubled, and 130 women attended the third meeting a short time later.

Early the following year, there was a Victorian state election, and WEL organised a major forum in Dallas Brooks Hall, bringing together on stage the leaders of all five current political parties to answer the question:
Why should women vote for you?

WEL’s first national conference in Canberra in 1973 was attended by 400 women.

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Archival resources

The University of Melbourne Archives
- Women's Electoral Lobby Poster Think W.E.L. Before You Vote
- Bebbington, Laurie
- Bethune, Dulcie
- Nicholson, Joyce Thorpe
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- Women's Electoral Lobby
- D'Aprano, Zelda
- Women's Liberation Movement
- Cameron, Barbara
National Library of Australia, Oral History and Folklore Collection
- Elizabeth Ward interviewed by Sara Dowse [sound recording]
State Library of Western Australia
- Womens Electoral Lobby records, 1973-1974 [manuscript]
National Library of Australia, Ephemera Collection
- [Women's Electoral Lobby : ephemera material collected by the National Library of Australia]
State Library of New South Wales
- [Collection of pamphlets relating to the Women's Electoral Lobby and the Women's Liberation Movement]
- Judith Steanes - interview with Joan Bielski of the Women's Electoral Lobby, 2000
- Joan Bielski papers, 1968-2004
National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
- Papers of Sara Dowse, 1958-2007 [manuscript]
- Records of the Women's Electoral Lobby, 1952-2010 [manuscript]
- Papers of Meredith Hinchliffe, 1957-1981 [manuscript]
- Speeches 1972-1973 [manuscript]
- Papers of Meredith Stokes, circa 1970-1997 [manuscript]
- Collection of realia and papers relating to women's issues and organisations, 1975-2008 [manuscript]
- Papers of Edna Ryan, 1948-1993 [manuscript]
- Papers of Di Graham, 1975-1997 [manuscript]
- Papers of Margaret Reynolds, 1973-2005 [manuscript]
- Papers of Shirley Kral, 1953-2015 [manuscript]
Northern Territory Archives Service
- Women's Electoral Lobby Darwin
Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection
- Women's Electoral Lobby records, ca. 1970-1995
- Pat Richardson scrapbooks relating to the Women's Electoral Lobby and women's events, 1977-2002
- Edna Ryan papers, 1965-1986
- Edna Ryan further papers, 1961-1989
- First Ten Years of Sydney Women's Liberation Collection, ca. 1969-ca. 1980
State Library of South Australia
- International Women's Day Committee Research Project : Summary Record [sound recording] Interviewers: Celia Frank and Kirstin Marks
National Museum Australia
- Meredith Hinchliffe collection no. 1
Archives Office of Tasmania
- Subject folders
- Correspondence and associated papers
- Banner with handprints of those who attended the women for reconciliation dinner

Digital resources

Published resources

Book
- Getting Equal: the History of Australian Feminism, Lake, Marilyn, 1999
- Power and Protest: Movements for Change in Australian Society, Burgmann, Verity, 1993
- Social movements: The Politics of Moral Protest, Pakulski, Jan, 1991
- Labor to Power: Australia's 1972 Election, Mayer, Henry, 1973
- WEL Women: Recollections of Some of the First WEL-ACT Women, Mc Carron Benson, Julie, 1991
- A Brief History of the Women's Electoral Lobby (SA), Fisher, Betty, 1986;1996
- WEL: 21 years in South Australia, Sloniec, Elizabeth, 1993
- A Brief History of Women's Electoral Lobby WA, Burnett, Pat, 1985
- A History of Women's Electoral Lobby Coffs Harbour, Degens, Pat, 1998
- Women's Electoral Lobby: Australia/New Zealand 1972-1985, Preddy, Elspeth, 1985
- From the Gilded Cage, WEL, 1974
- Catching the Waves, Ryan, Susan, 1999
- Ducks on the Pond: An Autobiography 1945-1976, Summers, Anne, 1999
- Making women count : a history of the Women's Electoral Lobby in Australia, Sawer, Marian, 2008
- Sisters in Suits: Women and Public Policy in Australia, Sawer, Marian, 1990
Book Section
- Researching WEL, Grahame, Emma, 1998
- Greenwood, Irene, Caine, Barbara, 1998
Article
- Can Ladies Work Here Too, Nanna?, Dudley, Janice and Palmieri, Sonia, 1999, http://www.une.edu.au/apsa/wapsa_text_books.htm
Thesis
- A Description and Analysis of Aspects of the Women's Electoral Lobby (Victorian Branch), Anderson, Peter, 1973
- The Women's Electoral Lobby: An Historical Inquiry, Asher, Louise, 1980
- The Political Development of the Women's Movement in Queensland, Gorring, Pam, 1978
- Working Within the System: The Women's Electoral Lobby Fifteen Years On, Hill, Elizabeth, 1987
- The Emergence of Contemporary Feminist Groups in Australia: With special reference to the Women's Liberation Movement and the Women's Electoral Lobby in the ACT, Hooper, Anne, 1973
- The Women's Electoral Lobby and Women's Employment: Strategies and Outcomes, Nicholson, Joyce, 1991
- The Interrelationship Between Interest Groups and Social Movement Organisations: The Experience of WEL 1972-83, Szramka, Annabel, 1986
- The Women's Electoral Lobby 1972-1982: Sites of Conflict in Non-Party Feminism, Watson, Louise, 1982
Conference Paper
- Femocrats and Ecorats: Women's Policy Machinery in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, Sawer, Marian, 1996, http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/(httpPublications)/D1A254C22F3E5CC580256B67005B6B56?OpenDocument
Edited Book
- Women's Voices, Women's Lives, Scutt, Jocelynne A.
Resource
- Trove, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-783724
Report
- Report on Women's non-government organizations conference, Beijing, China, August 31 - September 8, 1995 / Deborah McCulloch, Women's Electoral Lobby, McCulloch, Deborah, 1995
Site Exhibition
- The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia, Smart, Judith and Swain, Shurlee (eds.), 2014, http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders

Related entries

Related Women
- Ryan, Edna Minna (1904 - 1997)
- Hunter, Thelma Anna Carmela (1923 - 2016)
- Graham, Diana (1909 - 1999)
- Vick, Lesley Helen (1945 - )
- Lawrence, Carmen Mary (1948 - )
- McCarthy, Wendy Elizabeth (1941 - )
- Solomon, Noreen (1944 - )
- Scutt, Jocelynne Annette (1947 - )
- Salthouse, Sue (1949 - 2020)
- Sinclair, Amanda (1953 - )
- Winters, Sylvia
Membership
- Owen, Mary (1921 - 2017)
- Reid, Elizabeth Anne (1942 - )
- Dowse, Sara (1938 - )
- Edwards, Meredith Ann (1941 - )
- Cameron, Barbara
- Marguin, Ariel
- Trubridge-Freebury, Julia (1923 - 2014)
Foundation member
- Ryan, Susan (1942 - 2020)
- Bielski, Joan (1923 - 2012)
- Williams, Joan (1916 - 2008)
Founder
- Ryan, Susan (1942 - 2020)
- Bielski, Joan (1923 - 2012)
- Faust, Beatrice Eileen (1939 - 2019)
- Mathews, Iola (1943 - )
Employee
- Denoon, Pamela (1942 - 1988)
- De Leo, Maria
- Carnahan, Yvonne
- Thompson, Lorelle
- Morgan, Joanne
- Elix, Jane (1960 - 2012)
- Lee, Lynn
- Taylor, Joy
- Gallagher, Lynne
Member
- Bacon, Eva (1909 - 1994)
- Burton, Clare (1942 - 1998)
- Coonan, Helen Lloyd (1947 - )
- Nicholson, Joyce Thorpe (1919 - 2011)
- Greenwood, Irene Adelaide (1898 - 1992)
- Conway, Josephine (1920 - 2007)
- Lobato, Tamara (1971 - )
- Buckland-Fuller, Dorothy (1922 - 2019)
- Cox, Eva Maria (1938 - )
- Sawer, Marian (1946 - )
- Richmond, Catherine (Katy) (1938 - )
- Hinchliffe, Meredith AM (1946 - )
Director/s
- Leonard, Marjorie (Helen) (1945 - 2001)
Related Organisations
- Australian Women's Organisations Conference (1999 - )
- Centre for Research for Women (1993 - )
- Wise Women Wednesdays (2001 - )
- Australian-Migrant Women's Association (1974 - 1990)
Related Events
- Women's Constitutional Convention (1998 - 1998)
Affiliated
- Women's Electoral Lobby South Australia (1972 - )
- Women's Electoral Lobby (ACT Branch) (1972 - )
- Women's Electoral Lobby Western Australia (1972 - 2008)
- Women's Electoral Lobby Victoria Inc. (1972 - )
- Women's Electoral Lobby New South Wales (1972 - )
Foundation Member
- Harper, Janice Mary (Jan) (1934 - )

The Australian Women's Register