The Australian Women's Register

Summary

Ethel Osborne and her husband William, who had been appointed professor of physiology and histology at the University of Melbourne, migrated to Australia in 1904. Osborne, a foundation member of The Catalysts, visited the Lyceum Club while travelling through London. At the inaugural meeting of the Lyceum Club in Melbourne she was elected vice-president. Back in England during World War I Osborne worked with the British Ministry of Munitions of War. Here she conducted investigations for the Health of Munition Workers’ Committee and the Industrial Fatigue Research Board. Upon her return to Melbourne she was invited to report to the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration on the conditions of employment of women workers in the clothing industry, for a case which won some workers a 44 hour week. Osborne then studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, practising at the Queen Victoria Hospital for Women and Children, the (Royal) Melbourne Hospital and privately. Osborne became a foundation member of the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy council, serving as treasurer, vice-president and president. When the college’s new premises were opened in 1927, its hall was named after her. Before retiring, in 1938, Osborne represented Australia at the Pan-Pacific Women’s Conference (Honolulu 1928 and 1930), attended the Congress on Industrial Accidents and Diseases (Geneva) the International Congress of Industrial Relations (Amsterdam), the Disarmament Conference (Paris) and investigated employment problems in Yorkshire.

Events

• 2003

  Married William Osborne at Armley Church of England and they were to have four children

• 1904

  Settled in Australia

• 1901

  Obtained BSc. from Leeds University

• 1910

  Foundation member of The Catalysts

• 1910

  Visited the Lyceum Club, London and reported back to the Catalysts group

• 2012

  Attended inaugural meeting and elected vice-president of the Lyceum Club, Melbourne

• 1919

  Invited to report to the Australian Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration on the conditions of employment of women workers in the clothing industry

• 1923

  Graduated MB BS from the University of Melbourne

• 1931

  Graduated with a Diploma of Public Health from the University of Melbourne

• 1924

  Published her report on the health of female workers in the printing and allied trades, commissioned by the union

• 2012 - 1937

  Foundation member of the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy Council

• 1915 - 1917

  President of the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy Council

• 1928

  Represented Australia at the Pan-Pacific Women’s Conference in Honolulu

• 1921

  Visited the United States of America and investigated industrial hygiene and medicine, women’s unionism and home economics

• 1930

  Programme secretary and liaison officer for the League of Nations and the International Labour Office at the second Pan-Pacific Women’s Conference, Honolulu

• 1931

  Attended the Congress on Industrial Accidents and Diseases (Geneva), the International Congress on Industrial Relations (Amsterdam), the Disarmament Conference (Paris), and investigated employment problems in Yorkshire

• 2031

  Appointed substitute delegate to the League of Nations assembly

• 1932

  Medicial locum in England and substitute delegate to the League of Nations assembly

• 1937

  Attended four public health congresses in England and an international congress on cancer research in Brussels

• 1938

  Retired with her husband to their property at Kangaroo Ground

• 1925

  Commonwealth delegate to the international congress on industrial accidents and diseases, Amsterdam

• 1928

  Commonwealth delegate to the international congress on industrial accidents and diseases, Budapest

• 2008

  Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women

• 1919 - 1929

  President of the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy Council

• 2027

  When the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy new premises were opened, its hall was named after her

• 1928 - 1929

  While overseas she investigated dietary departments and schools for St Vincent’s Hospital