The Australian Women's Register

Summary

Alison Gent, née Hogben, was born at Rose Park, Adelaide and brought up by her widowed working mother. She attended Walford School and went on to gain an MA at Adelaide University. She married an Anglican priest in 1947 and they had five children. In 1970, Alison returned to part-time tutoring and saw publicity about the proposed Women’s Liberation Movement, and she became heavily involved in its activities. In 1980, the year that Alison and her husband separated, she began a discussion group about the ordination of women, her interest stemming in part from her personal frustration. She became involved in the Movement for the Ordination of Women, which began in Adelaide in 1984. She remains a committed Christian and feminist.