National Council of Women of Australia

Entry type: Organisation
Entry ID: AWE0067

(From 1931 – )

Occupation Voluntary organisation

Summary

The National Council of Women of Australia was founded in 1931, with Ivy Moss as President, to act as an umbrella organisation for the existing National Councils of Women in each state. The first of these, the National Council of Women of New South Wales, had been formed in 1896. Like all National Councils of Women, it functions as a political lobby group, attempting to influence local, state and federal governments as well as participating in international activities through its affiliation with the International Council of Women (established in 1888 at Seneca Falls in the United States of America) which has consultative status with the United Nations.

The national Council grew out of the Federal Council of the National Council of Women, which had been established in 1924 ‘with the object of enhancing the power of the [state] Councils in dealing with matters of Australian concern.’ Later, Councils established in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory also affiliated with this national body. Until the 1940s at least, the Council was a major focal point for middle-class women’s activism.

The current aims of NCWA are:
To work for the removal of all discrimination against women and to promote the equal status of women and men in law and in fact.
To act as a link for networking and a co-ordinator between State and Territory Councils of Women.
To act as a voice or Agent of communication at national and international levels on issues and concerns of women.
To develop national policies and responsibilities on behalf of women on an Australia wide basis.
To maintain the affiliation with the International Council of Women and monitor the implementation of its plans of action and policies at national level.

Details

Each State and Territory has its own branch of the National Council of Women, and these in turn have affiliated with them a number of women’s organisations with a wide diversity of aims and goals. But the common linkage is to improve the status of and conditions for women and their families in Australia.

To ensure that Australia was accorded a National presence on the International scene, the National Council of Women of Australia was established by the State and Territory Councils in 1931 to deal with issues affecting women and their families at a National and International level.

This body was preceded by the Federal Council of the National Council of Women, 1924-31 – records of which are contained in MS 7583, NLA, (http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/7583.html).

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Archival resources

National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
- Papers of Joyce McConnell, 1960-1989 [manuscript]
- Records of the National Council of Women of Australia, 1924-1990 [manuscript]
- Records of the National Council of Women of Australia, 1936-1972 [manuscript]
- Papers of Herbert and Ivy Brookes, 1869-1970 [manuscript
- Papers of Margaret Reynolds, 1973-2005 [manuscript]
Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection
- State Library of New South Wales - Jean Arnot interviewed by Rosemary Block, 1994
- Jean Fleming Arnot - personal and professional papers, 1890-1995
The University of Melbourne Archives
- Norris, Dame Ada May
National Library of Australia, Oral History and Folklore Collection
- Ada Norris interviewed by Amy McGrath [sound recording]
- Jean Arnot interviewed by Amy McGrath [sound recording]
- Margaret Davey interviewed by Amy McGrath [sound recording]
State Library of South Australia
- Kathleen Hilfers : SUMMARY RECORD

Digital resources

Published resources

Resource
- Trove, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-554523
Edited Book
- Australian Feminism: A Companion, Caine, Barbara, Gatens, Moira et al., 1998
Book
- Getting Equal: the History of Australian Feminism, Lake, Marilyn, 1999
- Left-wing Ladies : The Union of Australian women in Victoria 1950-1998, Fabian, Suzane and Loh, Morag, 2000
- Champions of the impossible: a history of the National Council of Women of Victoria, 1902-1977, Norris, Ada, 1978
- Australian nurses since Nightingale 1860-1990, Burchill, Elizabeth, 1992
- Jessie Webb, a memoir, Ridley, Ronald T, 1994
Book Section
- A view of the Australian consumer movement from the middle of the Web, Brown, Robin and Panetta, Jane, 2000
- Making the National Councils of Women National: The Formation of a Nation-wide Organisation in Australia 1896-1931, Smart, Judith and Quartly, Marian, 2009
Journal Article
- Homefires and Housewives: Women, war and the politics of consumption, Smart, Judith, 2004
- Mainstream Women's Organisations in Australia: The Challenges of National and International Co-operation after the Great War, Smart, Judith and Quartly, Marian, 2012

Related entries

Board of Directors
- Jackson, Mavis (1913 - 2000)
Related Organisations
- Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria (1908 - )
- Catholic Women's League Australia Inc. (1928 - )
- The United Associations of Women (1929 - )
President
- Moss, Alice Frances Mabel (May) (1868 - 1948)
- Gibson, Gladys Ruth (1901 - 1972)
- Brookes, Ivy (1883 - 1970)
- Board, Ruby Willmet (1880 - 1963)
- Byth, Elsie Frances (1890 - 1988)
- McConnell, Joyce Marion (1916 - 1991)
- Skene, Lillias Margaret (1867 - 1957)
- Baylor, Hilda Gracia (1929 - )
- Muscio, Florence Mildred (1882 - 1964)
- Nolan, Robyn
- Bain, Yvonne (1929 - 2004)
- Christopherson, Leonie Therese (1939 - )
- Edwards, Dorothy Edna Annie (1907 - 2006)
- Giddings, Maureen
- Hamilton, Anne Dorothy (1910 - 2002)
- Wee, Hean Bee (1946 - )
- Macintosh, Laurel Jean (1924 - 2022)
- Metcalfe, Thelma Constance (1898 - 1984)
- Mocatta, Necia (1938 - 2000)
- Parker, Judith Ann (1941 - )
- Roderick, Gwendoline Blanche (1928 - )
- Scotford, Jessie Margaret (1917 - 2003)
- Findlater-Smith, Margaret
- Morris, Julie
- Baikie, Barbara
- Norris, Dame Ada May (1901 - 1989)
- Alley, Diane Berenice (1927 - )
- Davey, Margaret Lurline (1915 - 2010)
- Miethke, Adelaide Laetitia (1881 - 1962)
Member
- Moss, Alice Frances Mabel (May) (1868 - 1948)
- Dolling, Alison Mary (1917 - 2006)
- Weber, Ivy Lavinia (1892 - 1976)
- Goodman, Sylvia Mina (1899 - 1979)
- Gelman, Sylvia (1919 - 2018)
- Breen, Marie Freda (1902 - 1993)
- Frost, Phyllis Irene (1917 - 2004)
- Norris, Dame Ada May (1901 - 1989)
- Hallenstein, Phillipa May (1918 - 1994)
- Zelling, Sesca Ross (1918 - 2001)
- Longmore, Lydia (1874 - 1967)
- Giese, Nancy (1922 - 2012)
Related Women
- Best, Amelia Martha (1900 - 1979)
- Denman, Lady Gertrude (1884 - 1954)
- Victoria, Heidi (1967 - )
- Maxwell, May (Maisie) (1876 - 1977)
- Somerset, Georgie
- Dale, Marguerite Ludovia (1883 - 1963)
- Jones, Edith Emily (1875 - 1952)
- McGuire, Francis Margaret Cheadle (1900 - 1995)
- L'Estrange, Noela
- Browne, Grace Johnston (1900 - 1988)
Subordinate
- National Council of Women of Victoria (1902 - )
- National Council of Women of Queensland (1905 - )
Affiliated
- National Council of Women of the Australian Capital Territory (1939 - )
- National Council of Women of Western Australia (1911 - )
- National Council of Women of Tasmania (1899 - )
- National Council of Women of South Australia (1902 - )
- National Council of Women of New South Wales (1896 - )
- National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (1923 - )
Secretary
- Gibson, Gladys Ruth (1901 - 1972)
Related Events
- The Australian Women's Conference for Victory in War and Victory in Peace (1943 - 1943)
Membership
- Barron, Evelyn (1898 - 1985)
- Fell, Helen
- White, Elizabeth (1907 - 1988)
Related Concepts
- Women's Non-party Political Organisations
Vice President
- Hallenstein, Phillipa May (1918 - 1994)
- Zelling, Sesca Ross (1918 - 2001)
Foundation Member
- Aronson, Zara Baar (1864 - 1944)