- Entry type: Research Collection
- Entry ID: AWE4751
Australian Women in War, The Australian Women’s Register
(1900 – )- Occupation ANZSRC
Summary
Australian Women in War consists of lists of Australian women and women’s organisations who participated and assisted in the Boer War, World Wars and subsequent conflicts, with links to biographical, bibliographical and archival information about a small selection of them.
Funding for the project which created this dataset was provided by the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Office of the Status of Women.
Stage one of this project commenced in April 2002 when the Department of Veterans’ Affairs invited ex-service women’s and related associations to form a working group. Many of the military and civilian associations were established during and after World War II. Association members, along with representatives from consulting institutions, met in October and November 2002 and commenced the task of recording the history of the associations.
In collaboration with the Commemorations Branch of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs it was decided that the project should trace the involvement of women during Australia’s military conflicts. The initial funding from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Saluting Their Service program covered entries nominated by the working group. The Office of the Status of Women provided additional funding which enabled an Australia wide focus.
At the working group meetings the consulting institutions’ representatives worked with association members and completed ‘capturing their stories’ forms, which focused not only on their service career but also the periods before and after. It was from the information obtained from these forms that the project staff compiled entries. Members were encouraged to write their own entry and also those of other members of their service or association. Copies of the form were also distributed to branches of the associations throughout Australia. A range of sources was used to supplement the detail provided, in particular records of the consulting institutions and other published resources.