The Australian Women's Register

Doctor of Laws honoris causa, Macquarie University, 2000. Left school aged 14. Married at 16. Resumed study aged 37, and completed the Leaving Certificate in 1963. Worked as a machinist in the clothing trade. Qualified as a dental nurse in 1961 and worked in this capacity at Larundel Psychiatric Hospital for 15 years. Qualified in Chiropody in 1967. Employed as a clerk in the Meat Industry Union, and as a mail sorter at the General Post Office. D’Aprano was involved in campaigns around Equal Pay for women, the gender-bar at public bars, the Miss Teenage Quest, entitlements of pregnant workers and women’s participation in left-wing and workers’ movements. D’Aprano was also involved in establishing the Women’s Liberation Centre in Little Latrobe St, Melbourne, and was a representative of the Women’s Liberation Movement on the International Women’s Year committee, 1975. She self-published an autobiography, ‘Zelda: the Becoming of a Woman’ in 1977; republished by Spinifex Press as ‘Zelda’ in 1995; Spinifex also published D’Aprano’s ‘Kath Williams – The Unions and the Fight for Equal Pay,’ in 2001. D’Aprano has spoken in numerous forums around Melbourne, as well as on radio and at conferences and has written many articles for magazines, particularly the Women’s Liberation Newsletter. In 1995 she received a Special Mention Award from the Centre for Australian Cultural Studies (Canberra) for ‘An Outstanding Contribution to Australian Culture’.