The Australian Women's Register

Georgina Sweet was Australia’s first female Acting Professor (Biology, University of Melbourne, 1916-1917). She was Associate Professor of Zoology at the University of Melbourne from 1920 to 1924. Sweet’s research included the zoology of Australian native animals and the parasites infesting Australian stock and native fauna. She was appointed OBE – Officer of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 3 June 1935, for services to women’s movements.

Winifred Waddell worked with Native Plant Preservation Groups during the 1950s. She was responsible for securing the first Wildflower Sanctuary, at Tallarook, in 1949. She was appointed MBE – The Order of the British Empire – Member (Civil) – 1 January 1964, for preservation of natural flora.

Lady Joyce Ethel Price’s outstanding contribution to the Girl Guides both in Australia and worldwide was first recognised at a commonwealth level in 1968 when she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 1977 she also received the Girl Guide Fish Award; and in 1978 her efforts were further recognised when she was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George – Commanders (CMG).

Born in Perth in 1906, Dame Rachel Cleland lived an active life which was centred around politics and community organisations. At one time considered the matriarch of the liberal party, in her later years Dame Rachel was very vocal on her opposition to the logging of old-growth forests. She insisted that the Liberal party under Menzies would never have taken the same stance as the current party on such issues. Dame Rachel’s community work with women and children was recognised in 1959 when she was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and again in 1966 when she was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 1980 Dame Rachel became the only western woman to be appointed as a Dame of the British Empire (DBE) by the government of Papua New Guinea for the volunteer work she did for many Papua New Guinea organizations and for helping involve women in public affairs.

Essie Coffey was a Muruwari woman born in southern Queensland. She was co-founder of the Western Aboriginal Legal Service and served on a number of government bodies and Aboriginal community organisations.

Lucy Bryce worked at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne 1922-1928, 1934-1946, and at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories 1939-1944. She was also a clinical pathologist and Director of the Blood Transfusion Service 1929-1954. She was appointed Commander of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 1 January 1951, for her work as director of the Victoria Blood Transfusion Service.

From 1900-1934 Florence Chatfield was matron and then superintendent of the Diamantina Hospital for Chronic Diseases, Queensland. She was also supervisor and organiser of the Queensland Government Baby Clinics from their inception in 1918. In 1904 she presided over the founding meeting of the Queensland Branch of the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association (now Royal Australian Nursing Federation), and worked for it in many ways for over 40 years. She was appointed OBE – Officer of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 1 January 1932, for her work as superintendent of the Chronic Diseases Hospital.

The Imperial System of Honours and Awards is a scheme of honours bestowed on citizens or foreigners by the British monarch. This system has a long history, rooted in Roman traditions of awards for military service. Over the twentieth century the honours system has gradually evolved to recognise civilian service and other achievements.

Until 1975, the British Imperial system was the only system for recognition of the service of Australian citizens to Australia. Today, the Imperial system has been largely replaced by the Australian system, established in 1975. Imperial Honours continued to be awarded to Australians on the recommendation of some States until 1989. The Queen still bestows some honours personally.

Australian State and Federal governments named the festivities around the Bicentenary of the invasion of Australia on 26 January 1788 by the British the ‘Celebration of a nation’. Various communities took a dissenting view, notably many Indigenous groups who united on 26 January 1988 to stage the largest Indigenous protest in the history of colonised Australia. This took the form of a peaceful march of 100 000 Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Sydney. It was part of a history of Indigenous observation of this day inaugurated by the 1938 Day of Mourning. As the Indigenous poet and campaigner Oodgeroo Noonuccal asked at the time of the Bicentennial, ‘from the Aboriginal point of view, what is there to celebrate?’. In 1987, Oodgeroo returned her MBE in protest against the upcoming 1988 Bicentennial celebrations.

The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders developed out of a conference of interested groups who met in Adelaide in 1958. The meeting resulted in in the formation of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement and the election of the executive. Membership was opened to Aboriginal advancement organisations and to other organisations which supported the Council’s platform to repeal discriminatory legislation at state and federal levels; amend the federal constitution to enable the Commonwealth Government to legislate for Aborigines; improve the lives of Aboriginal people through housing, equal pay, education and adequate rations in remote areas; and advocate land rights. In 1964, the organisation was renamed to include Torres Strait Islanders in the title, becoming the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

One of FCAATSI’s major campaigns was for constitutional change, which was instrumental in establishing the 1967 Referendum. FCAATSI membership was divided in 1970, after motions were put to reserve membership of the executive and voting rights at general meetings to people of Aboriginal or Islander descent. The National Tribal Council, run by and for Indigenous Australians, was subsequently formed as a separate organisation. In March 1978 FCAATSI changed its name to the National Aboriginal and Islander Liberation Movement, but this organisation never met. The same year, the federal government cut funding to the organisation, and it was disbanded.

Dr Helen Mayo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 3 June 1935 for her maternal and child welfare activities. She worked well past retirement age and established several children’s health facilities.

Lydia Longmore was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 1 January 1957 with the citation ‘Mother’s Clubs in South Australia’. She was best known for her specialised teaching for infants.

In February 1967, Prime Minister Harold Holt agreed to hold a national referendum in May 1967 as the result of a sustained campaign by the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) which was agitating for amendments to the constitution. There were two changes proposed, both of which were accepted by a vast majority of voters: (1) to remove a discriminatory clause in Section 51 (xxvi) which had prevented the Federal Government from legislating for Aboriginal people. This clause had meant States could enact their own laws relating to Aboriginal people; in this way Aboriginal people had been discriminated against and excluded from social services under State law; (2) Section 127, which excluded Aboriginal people from being counted in national censuses, was deleted.

Despite legislation enacted on 10 August 1967 as a result of the referendum, the effects of the constitutional changes were not immediate; some States were reluctant to repeal discriminatory laws, and did not do so for many years. The federal government was slow to act on its new powers. The ‘yes’ vote had also been concentrated in certain areas leaving a substantial ‘no’ vote in other areas.
The 1967 referendum has nevertheless been mythologised in Australia’s history as a high-water-mark of popular support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, and reflects the sustained efforts of generations of Indigenous advocates.

Sources: Horton (ed), 1994, Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia.
McGinness, 1991, ‘What FCAATSI fought for’

MumShirl was an Aboriginal woman who dedicated her life to welfare services. She visited countless Aboriginal prisoners in jail and raised 60 foster children. She was nominated a Member of the British Empire and Member of the Order of Australia for her work.

Margaret Tucker was co-founder of the Australian Aborigines League and was the first Aboriginal woman appointed to the Aborigines Welfare Board.

Anna Bage was a talented scientist who worked her way through the junior ranks of the Department of Biology at the University of Melbourne to became a forerunner of women in public life in Queensland to where she moved in 1914 to take up the position of lecturer in charge of biology in 1913. In 1914 she became principal of the Women’s College, a position she held for the next 32 years. She was committed to the cause of encouraging women to become tertiary educated and travelled widely throughout Queensland to promote her college to rural communities. She was a member of many women’s interest groups, and played a lead rolein the formation of the Queensland Women Graduates’ Association (later the Queensland Association of University Women). She was president of the Australian Federation of University Women in 1928-29.

Anna Bage’s interests were many and varied. A nature lover, patron of the arts and motoring enthusiast, Bage was also a member of several women’s sporting associations. She managed the first hockey team in Australia to travel interstate, from Melbourne to Adelaide in 1908, and was president of the Queensland Women’s Hockey Association in 1925-31.

She was appointed OBE – Officer of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 12 June 1941 for public service.

Edith Barrett ran a small general practice in Melbourne but devoted her energies to voluntary work concerning the health and welfare of women and children. She founded the Bush Nursing Association in 1910 with her brother James and was associated with the Red Cross from 1914-1937. She was appointed OBE – Officer of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 15 March 1918 for her work with the Red Cross Society. She was also appointed CBE – Commander of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 24 May 1918 for her work with the Red Cross Society.

Jane Bell was lady superintendent of Melbourne Hospital 1910-1934. She was responsible for many innovations, including replacement of male orderlies by sisters in the operating theatres; the appointment of tutor-sisters to instruct trainees and of a house-sister to supervise the nurses’ quarters; the introduction of a six-week preliminary course; and pay for trainee-nurses. She was appointed OBE – Officer of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 1 January 1944 for her work as president of the Royal Victoria College of Nursing.

Agnes Bennett practised in Wellington, New Zealand from 1905 and was Chief Medical Officer at St Helens Maternity Hospital 1908-36.

Mary Booth graduated in Arts from the University of Sydney before studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh (graduating in 1899). On her return to Australia she lectured in hygiene at girls secondary schools in Sydney, and for the Department of Public Instruction and the Sydney Teachers College 1904-1909. In 1910-1912 she helped establish the first school medical service in Victoria and was later involved in household health and welfare. She was the founder and office bearer of many patriotic associations, such as the Anzac Fellowship of Women (president 1921-1956). She was appointed OBE – Officer of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 4 October 1918, for her work with the Friendly Union of Soldier’s Wives.

Booth also founded the Women’s Club in Sydney in 1901, the Centre for Soldiers Wives and Mothers in 1915 and the Memorial College of Household Arts and Science in 1936, and was involved with the University of Sydney Society for Combating Venereal Disease, the League of Nations Union, the New Settlers’ League and the Australian Institute of International Affairs. She had a keen interest in eugenics and was a member of the Anthropometric Committee of the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science from 1908.

Grace Browne was Director of the New South Wales Division of Maternal and Baby Welfare 1937-1964 and was a part-time lecturer in Maternal and Child Health at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Sydney 1946-1964. She was president of the Australian Federation of Medical Women, and also president of the Australian Federation of University Women. Grace Browne was appointed MBE – Member of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) – 13 June 1959, for her work as director of Baby Welfare in the New South Wales Health Department.

Faith Bandler has campaigned for Aboriginal and Islander rights throughout her life, firstly through the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship and later through the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). She has written novels and children’s literature as well as many non-fiction works relating to Aboriginal rights. Her biography, Faith: Faith Bandler, gentle activist, written by Marilyn Lake, was published in 2002.

Oodgeroo Noonuccal was born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, on Minjerribah (the Stradbroke Islands). Oodgeroo Noonuccal means Oodgeroo of the tribe Nunuccal; spelling variations include Nunuccal, Noonuckle and Nunukul. In 1970, Oodgeroo Noonuccal (under the name Kathleen Walker) was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) for services to the community. She returned it in 1987 in protest against the forthcoming Australian Bicentenary celebrations (1988).

In 1972, Phillipa Hallenstein was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the community and to women’s organisations.

Sheila Mary McClemans pioneered entry into the legal profession for Western Australian women. Throughout her life, in addition to her legal career, Sheila held a range of high-level positions, including director of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, and became the role model for many Australian women inside and outside the armed forces. During her lifetime Sheila’s efforts never received the full recognition they deserved within the legal profession. She was denied the traditional rewards of QC, Judge or Dame. The Commonwealth, however, recognised the value of her service to the law and women’s affairs, appointing her an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1951 and a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1977. She was also awarded the Silver Jubilee Medal (SJM) in 1977.

Florence Taylor was the first woman architect, structural engineer and civil engineer in Australia. For her contribution to architecture and civil engineering, Taylor was appointed an Officer of the British Empire on 8 June 1939 and later a Commander of the British Empire on 10 June 1961.

Vera Scantlebury Brown, commonly known as Dr Vera, was appointed the first Director of Infant Welfare for the Victorian Department of Health in 1926. She remained dedicated to this position until her death. The position was only part-time due to her marriage, a custom of the time when it was considered that married women did not need to work outside the home. Vera Santlebury Brown was honoured with her appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 9 June 1938 for her work in the fields of infant and maternal welfare.