The Australian Women's Register

The Austral Salon of Music, Literature and the Arts was founded by a small group of women journalists in Melbourne as a club for women writers. It developed into a club for artistic and intellectual women interested in any of the fine arts and provided an important entre for many aspiring women musicians. The Salon continues it main aim of encouraging young artists by awarding scholarships and hosting student performances.

The Gentlewomen’s Aid Society was established in 1894 in the Williamstown home of Mrs John Clark, wife of the Reverend Clark, in an attempt to assist the many ‘gentlewomen’ who were left destitute as a result of the 1890s economic depression. Eligibility for membership rested on a recommendation from a committee member, a medical practitioner or a clergyman stating that the applicant was in genuine need of the Society’s assistance. The Society held two Sales of Work a year in a public hall to enable ‘those ladies who are dependent on their own exertions to sell their work’ and were either too frail or too old to battle the commercial world. The Society depended on donations and subscriptions to assist with operating costs. It remained in existence until 1989, when it was dissolved as a result of dwindling membership and declining demand for assistance the Society offered.

Established in July 1940 The Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service (RAAFNS) personnel expanded from 45 in December 1940 to 616 in December 1945. Miss Margaret Irene Lang was appointed Matron-in-Chief and her staff’s conditions of service were similar to those of the Australian Army Nursing Service. The nurses were originally attached to Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) bases in Australia, and later in New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. With the Medical Air Evacuation Transport Unit (MAETU), established in 1944, nurses helped with aerial evacuation of casualties and were involved with the liberation of Prisoners of War from Singapore and other areas. The service was disbanded at the end of the war, but in 1948 a peace-time service was formed and RAAF nurses have served in the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War. They continue to attend to the sick and injured at RAAF hospitals.

The Victorian Children’s Aid Society, originally named the Presbyterian Society for Neglected and Destitute Children, was established with the aim of rescuing ‘neglected and destitute children’. Its officers comprised a president, two vice presidents, a secretary and a committee. Although an initiative of the Presbyterian Church, by October 1894, it became interdenominational and independent, with its name changed to the Victorian Neglected Children’s Aid Society. The Society took in children, the majority of whom required temporary assistance and were the children of the ‘deserving poor’, and placed them with families in the country, who cared for them and educated them. Older children were taught household or farm work. It decided upon another name change in 1920, to the Victorian Children’s Aid Society. In 1991 it became Family Focus and in 1992 it merged with other children’s organisations to form Oz Child-Children Australia.

The South Melbourne Ladies’ Benevolent Society began in July 1875, when the Emerald Hill Benevolent Society formally handed over its work to a committee of women and continued to operate for one hundred and seven years. It provided relief to destitute families in the area. It was acknowledged as ‘ one of the best managed societies of its kind’.

The Princes Ida Club was established on 21 July 1888 and intended to “promote the common interests of, and to form a bond of union between the present and past women students” of the University of Melbourne. The women students’ club took its name from Tennyson’s ‘The Princess’ and their colours were lilac and daffodil. The activities of the Club included social functions, debates, and literary discussions. In 1915 the Club merged with the University Union Women’s Representative Committee.

The Children’s Welfare Association of Victoria (CWAV), established in 1912, is the co-ordinating body of non government child welfare agencies in Victoria. It is the peak body for over eighty community organisations delivering child and family support and welfare services. It aims to promote and protect the needs and rights of children and their families; to represent the needs of children and the agencies that assist them, to governments and other organisations; provide co-ordination and communication between welfare agencies and promote high standards in welfare programs. It attempts to meet these aims through holding conferences, producing publications and conducting research projects.

The Housewives Co-operative Association (later the Housewives Association of Victoria) was formed in mid-1915 and soon became one of the largest women’s organisations in the state. The movement, reacting to the spiralling cost of living during World War I, initially aimed mainly at ‘bringing the producer and consumer into direct contact’ and providing discounted goods to members. In 1921, however, it also adopted a clear political objective: ‘To advocate the equal status of women and adequate representation on all boards and tribunals dealing with the home and the cost of living.’ From the 1930s the Association focussed more on the provision of training and information relating to household management and also became more involved in broader activism to improve the civil and political status of women and with other social reform causes.

The Victorian Association of Benevolent Societies was formed as the result of the amalgamation of the Association of Victorian Benevolent Societies, which was established in 1911 and the Central Council of Victorian Benevolent Societies, which was formed in 1930. It became ‘the representative body for all affiliated branches in the country’. Mrs Eva Tilley, JP, was its founding president. The Association’s objectives were to present a united front on proposed legislation and regulation which might affect the work of the Benevolent Societies. The Association occupied rooms at 167 Collins Street, Melbourne. It worked to increase the number of local Benevolent Societies in order to meet the increasing need in the post World War Two period to relieve the distress of the unemployed, deserted wives and children, and into the 1960s, single mothers. It remained in operation until 1987, when reduced funding and lack of people prepared to assume positions on the executive, forced it to close. Its last address was Room 101, 10th Floor, Capitol House, 113 Swanston St, Melbourne.

The Melbourne Orphan Asylum was established in 1853 to provide residential care for orphans. It evolved out of the Dorcas Society, which was the first women’s organisation to be established in Melbourne in 1845 on the initiative of Mrs George Cooper and Mrs William Knight and the St James’ Visiting Society. It aimed to assist the most vulnerable members of society by providing emergency support for families and almost unintentionally launched into residential care work with children. The St James’ Visiting Society became the St James’ Orphan Asylum and Visiting Society in 1851, and in 1853 the Melbourne Orphan Asylum.

The Caulfield Ladies’ Benevolent Society was established in August 1930 when the decision was made to form separate societies for St Kilda and Caulfield in an attempt to meet the increasing demand for welfare in the area as a result of the effects of the Great Depression. It operated under the administrative umbrella of the Victorian Association of Benevolent Societies and its predecessors. Mary Armstrong was the inaugural president. The Society held weekly meetings to deal with cases and a fortnightly business meeting.

The Preston Ladies’ Benevolent Society was formed in 1888 with the aim of relieving ‘distress among the less fortunate’ in the Preston area. Mrs L Lyons was the inaugural president. Other early members included Mesdames Richardson, Robinson, Carson, Warr, Showers, Harrap, Bell, Dale, Howe, Rundle, McKenzie, Hattam and Stone. It held monthly meetings where the cases were discussed , but no applicants were refused assistance. One of the Society’s roles was to work with the Almoners from the hospitals to supply special cases with invalid food. Mrs Allchin, a long serving president, held the position for forty-nine years and died in December 1946. The Society operated under the umbrella of the Victorian Association of Benevolent Societies.

The Charity Organisation Society of Melbourne was established in 1887 to help co-ordinate Melbourne’s charitable organisations and to foster the ideal of ‘self-help’ in the poor. The Society’s 21st Annual Report expressed the view that ‘to strengthen a man’s backbone rather than provide him with crutches, should be the aim of charity’. It has been claimed that it contributed to the development of social work as a profession, based on suitable training in appropriate disciplines. In 1947, the organisation became known as the Citizens Welfare Service of Victoria, reflecting a change in its approach towards casework counselling. It is now known as the Drummond St Relationship Centre.

The Tailoresses’ Association of Melbourne, Australia’s first female trade union, was established at a meeting held in Trades Hall on 15 December 1882. At this meeting women met in response to attempts by the Melbourne clothing manufacturer Beith Shiess & Co to reduce piece-rate wages. A strike was called on 15 February 1883 when clothing manufacturers had not responded to the log of claims. As each manufacturer accepted the log, employees resumed work. The strike is generally regarded as instrumental in the establishment of the Shops Commission and the eventual passage of the Factory Act. When the new Factory Act was passed in 1885, the recommendations of the March 1884 Royal Commission regarding outwork were not incorporated and working conditions in the industry were not substantially affected by its operation. In 1906, the Tailoresses’ Union amalgamated with the Tailors’ Society.

On 15 December 1982 the Honourable Pauline Toner, Victoria’s first woman Cabinet Minister, unveiled a plaque to commemorate the centenary of the Tailoresses’ Union. The plaque was placed at the entrance to the offices of the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia (formerly Clothing & Allied Trades Union of Australia) in Leicester Street, Carlton.

The Anglican Mission to the Streets and Lanes of Melbourne was established in 1886 by the Bishop of Melbourne as the Diocesan Mission to the Streets and Lanes of Melbourne. The Council, the governing body of the Mission comprised mainly women with the exception of the Bishop of Melbourne and the Chaplain. The Council’s aim was to employ deaconesses commissioned by the Bishop to ‘visit in the lanes and courts and bring the message of the Gospel to the poor and fallen and by the force of their sisterly sympathy, compel the outcast to come in’. It wanted to include people who were not reached already by the ordinary parochial organisations, especially the category described as ‘fallen women’. Miss Emma Silcock ( known as Sister Esther) assumed responsibility for the Mission in 1888. She was also the founder of the Community of the Holy Name in Victoria. By 1900 the Mission had a staff of six deaconesses and one probationer. Its first address was 171 Little Lonsdale St. It moved to a new building in Spring St in 1913 and in 1958 to Fitzroy St Fitzroy. In 1997 it merged with the Mission of St James and St John and the St John’s Homes for Boys and Girls to form Anglicare.

The Wonthaggi Miners’ Women’s Auxiliary, the first Women’s auxiliary of a mining union, was established at Wonthaggi, Victoria during the Wonthaggi Coal Strike. The strike, which commenced on 6 March 1934, lasted for five months. Miners’ wives established a Board Committee and the President, Mrs Agnes Chambers issued an official statement on behalf of the Committee:

the women of Wonthaggi are firmly behind their husbands in this struggle. We women have for the past two years seen our husbands’ pay reduced by more than a third…If our men quietly accept these reductions without further protest where will they end?…Our men have stood solidly in this great struggle, and the Government, realising that it cannot break the spirit of the men, now turns and threatens to take our homes from us. The Government threatens to close the mine permanently….The dispute has now been in progress 17 weeks, and it would appear that we have a long and dreary winter in front of us, but with the help of the women of Australia we can hold out. [1]

By the second week of July the Hon. R G Menzies, Deputy Premier and Minister for Railways, the State Government Department that held responsibility for the mine, agreed to negotiate. He agreed to the immediate recognition of pit-top committees and the reinstatement of the five wheelers whose dismissal provoked the strike. He also proposed that the reinstatement of two men who had been dismissed for insubordination be negotiated once the miners were back at work – a palatable concession for most miners. [2]

The women’s independent organisation and their willingness to persist further throughout the winter was a factor in resisting efforts to call off the strike before their demands had been met.

[1] Cochrane, P, ‘The Wonthaggi Coal Strike, 1934’, Labour History, no. 27, 1974, p. 28
[2] ibid p. 29

The Airline Hostesses’ Association was formed in 1957 when the Victorian Branch was established. Members of the Union were hostesses working for TAA, Ansett and Qantas, plus Ansett subsidiaries Con Air and East West. The name was changed in 1984 to the Australian Flight Attendants’ Association when the association combined with the Flight Stewards’ Association of Australia (1958 – 1984) to acknowledge the employment of male flight attendants by domestic airlines. In 1992 there was a merger with the Australian International Cabin Crew Association (1984 – 1992). The new organisation became the Flight Attendants Association.

The Victorian Branch of the Australian Railways Union (ARU), in contrast to many other male unions, did not encourage female rail workers to set up a separate section. In 1920 the Victorian Railways commenced employing women in sizeable numbers mainly as waitresses, barmaids, laundresses and cooks at various city and country railway stations. At this time, the Refreshment Services Branch was established with the introduction of new machinery into railway administrative offices, however females began to perform clerical work traditionally done by better-paid men. During World War II women began working in positions traditionally reserved for men. The Union participated in the Council of Action for Equal Pay, a body formed in 1937 to further the interests of female workers, as well as contributing to the Australian Council of Trade Union organized conferences on equal pay held in April and September 1942. Women paid junior rates for their union fees until equal pay was achieved.

On Friday, 11 September 1925 in response to the statement made about them by retired naval officer Captain Oswald Carter, the waitresses of the Refreshment Services Branch of the Victorian Railways went on strike. Carter held a senior post in the railways and reported to the chief of the Refreshment Services Branch that he found [the staff] ‘lazy, dirty and unmanageable’. He further added: ‘I propose to get in touch with the Immigration Authorities with a view to ascertaining the possibilities of getting suitable servants. I do not think that girls from Melbourne are likely to give satisfaction.’

The waitresses demanded an apology and went on strike until they received one. The male leaders of the Australian Railways Union – Victorian Branch commenced negotiations on behalf of their members and after two days a satisfactory settlement with management was arranged when an apology was obtained.

The Queen’s Fund was established as ‘the chief permanent Jubilee Memorial of Victoria in commemoration of the completion of the Fiftieth year of the Queen’s reign, raised by women, managed chiefly by women, for the good of women, and in honour of the long reign of a good woman, during which the general position of women has been in a hundred ways improved’. Elizabeth Loch, its founder and inaugural president stated that the Fund existed ‘solely for the relief of women in distress’. The Fund still operates and celebrated its centenary in 1987. Meetings are held monthly at the Melbourne Town Hall. The 1987 Annual Report noted an increase in applications to the fund. This was attributed to larger numbers of separated and divorced women who received no maintenance to care their children.

PLEASE NOTE: THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S REGISTER IS NOT AN AGENT FOR THE QUEEN’S FUND. YOU MAY CONTACT THEM BY MAIL AT:

GPO Box 2412
Melbourne VIC 3001

The Catholic Welfare Organisation (CWO), an initiative of the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix on the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939, foresaw the need to establish service canteens, hostels and rest rooms, in addition to catering for the spiritual needs of servicemen and women. Its objectives were to promote the spiritual welfare of the Catholic members of the fighting forces and to cater for the material welfare of all the fighting forces, regardless of creed. On the retirement of the inaugural president, Dr A L Kenny, Mary Daly was appointed to the position in 1941. She held that office until the completion of the work of the Catholic Welfare Organisation in 1948.

The Queensland Women’s Electoral League (QWEL) was an organisation formed in the last stages of the campaign to obtain woman suffrage for white women in Queensland. While the league claimed to have all women’s interests at heart, and that it was to be apolitical, it was very much a liberal-conservative organisation. Although its stated aims included the desire to ‘advance political knowledge among women’, they also included the desire to ‘encourage and preserve private enterprise, and to combat unnecessary interference by the State’. Labor women who attended the QWEL launch in 1903 left once the political agenda became obvious. They went on to form the Women Workers’ Political Organisation in opposition. The Women’s Christian Temperance Organisation, in response to this political wrangling, called upon its own members to avoid ‘the venom of party politics’ and concentrate on the task at hand.

The Catholic Women’s League Australia (CWLA) was established in 1975. It evolved from the Australian Council of Catholic Women, which began in 1928. Its major objectives are to enable women to participate more effectively in working for and building Christianity by promoting the spiritual, cultural, intellectual and social development of women. It aims to foster ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue and provides a national forum for the voice of the Catholic Women’s League Organisations in Australia.

The South Australian International Women’s Day Committee was founded in 1938. Mrs Elizabeth M. (Betty) Fisher compiled the Women’s Roll of Honour for the 20th Century in 2001.

The Female Middle Class Emigration Society, founded by Maria Rye and Jane Lewin in 1862, was one of a number of organisations that emerged in the late nineteenth century and sought to tackle the perceived ‘surplus women’ problem in the United Kingdom. Like the Colonial Intelligence League, and the South African Colonisation Society, its aim was to assist unemployed, educated British women with emigration by finding them employment, usually as governesses or clerks, in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. These three organisations amalgamated in 1919 to form the Society for the Overseas Settlement of British Women.

The Female Orphan School was set up in George Street, Sydney, by Governor King in 1801 to house destitute young girls. When it was officially opened on 17 August, 1801, 31 girls aged between the ages of 7 and 14 were in residence. By 1829 the population had grown to 152 and included some Aboriginal children. On 30 April, 1850 the Male Orphan School, which had been relocated at Liverpool in 1823 was closed. The remaining residents moved to the Female Orphan School site at Parramatta and the two establishments amalgamated to form the Protestant Orphan School, which operated until 1886.

The Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia evolved from the seventeen individual congregations operating in Australia before 1981. It forms part of the world-wide network of Mercy Sisters. Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland in 1841. In 1846 the Sisters of Mercy came to Australia. Ursula Frayne, a friend of Catherine McAuley, arrived with six Sisters and settled in Perth , Western Australia, later moving to Melbourne. By 1954 the seventeen distinct autonomous groups had emerged through the processes of amalgamation and division. In 1953 eight of the autonomous groups formed the Australian Union of Sisters of Mercy, and in 1957 the remaining nine groups joined to form the Australian Federation of the Sisters of Mercy, which by 1981 became the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia. The Mercy Sisters describe this structure as ‘a unique mode of governance continuing to express the traditional Mercy thrust towards decentralisation and unity but giving a clearer sign of the equally strong concern for a deep unity of spirit.’ The Sisters of Mercy are committed to those most vulnerable in our society and wish to share God’s loving kindness with others.