The Australian Women's Register

[Red Cross Archives series reference: V61] Inwards and outwards correspondence of the Red Cross Victorian Divisional Secretary (later Executive Director). This series reflects the wide range of operational activities of the Victorian Division of the Australian Red Cross during World War II and subsequently (only a very small number of files pre-date World War II). These activities include fundraising, domestic and international relief, prisoner of war tracing, hospitals and rehabilitation services, a wide range of other social services, blood transfusion services, coordination and recognition of Red Cross volunteers and the governance, financial and other administrative operations of the Division. File titles created by the Red Cross have been retained by the University of Melbourne Archives (refer to the Records Description List), although initialisations and acronyms which are not widely used have been expressed in full. Several filing sequences are evident within the series. Four separate sequences of alphabetically arranged files cover the period 1942-1950 (see units 1-6, 6-8, 8-9 and 20-24). From the early 1950’s onwards many file titles are prefixed by an operational activity term (for example ‘Appeals’, ‘Blood Transfusion Service’ etc.). There has been some amalgamation of files, for instance many 1947 have been amalgamated into a corresponding1948 file. Where this has been identified it has been documented. Researchers are advised to check the subsequent year’s file to locate records which have been carried forward into the next year’s filing system. Note that the National Executive Minutes (including Finance) are within Unit 127 see also (2015.0033). Researchers should note that under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 protections govern the use of the Red Cross emblem. For further information see Archives staff.