The Australian Women's Register

The West Australian Housewives’ Association was formed in 1920 for the purpose of protecting the interests of housewives. The final meeting of the Executive was held 3 April, 1984.

Ebenezer Mission Station began on 10 January 1859, with the school opening on 17 January with one pupil. Two other boys joined the school the next day. Sixty people were at the Mission station by the end of March. However, it was obvious that the Aboriginal people had no intention of staying there permanently. It was not until the middle of April that the three pupils came back to the school.
Despite these beginnings, with circumstances beyond their control, the Wotjobaluk and Wergaia from the area began to settle on the station and the 1901 report to the Board states that 40 people were registered as permanent residents. The schoolteacher, Miss Isabel Tyre taught 30 children.
In 1904, the Mission was closed and the Moravian Mission Board wrote to the Board for the Protection of Aborigines, thanking them for their support and asking the government to make a permanent reserve of the burial land because it had five of their missionaries buried there. The Lake Hindmarsh Land Act (1904) revoked the Reserve and the land was made available for selection, however, the cemetery was made a Permanent Reserve.
Ebenezer Mission was the home to many Aboriginal women, some of whom became prominent Aboriginal spokespersons.

The Society of Women Writers (Australia), was formed in 1980 with the five existing state Societies (in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania) becoming branches of this new national organisation. The Society’s main aim was to draw together women writers (including poets, journalists, playwrights, fiction and non-fiction writers) to support each other in their writing endeavours. It is also aimed to maintain the status of the writing profession, promote a knowledge of literature, and strengthen ties between Australian and visiting writers.

Australia’s first Society of Women Writers had been founded in New South Wales in 1925. During the 1960’s and 1970’s branches were established in all Australian states. The new national body was intended to coordinate activities across the country. It organised numerous seminars, conferences and writing competitions. In 2000 the Society was disbanded, and its branches reformed as independent, incorporated societies (the New South Wales branch having already done this in 1987).

The Society of Women Writers New South Wales Inc., established in 1925 and incorporated in 1987, is the longest-standing literary society in Australia. Dame Mary Jean Gilmore, writer, teacher and pioneer of many causes, is credited with initiating the Society (she was a member of its first executive committee).

The Society’s main aim was to draw together women writers (including poets, journalists, playwrights, fiction and non-fiction writers) to support each other in their writing endeavours. It is also aimed to maintain the status of the writing profession, promote a knowledge of literature, and strengthen ties between Australian and visiting writers.

The Society of Women Writers Tasmania Inc. began in the late 1980s as a Magazine Branch of the Society of Women Writers (Australia), although a small group had been operating prior to this, possibly since the 1960s. It became an independent incorporated body when the national society was disbanded in 2000.

As of 2004, the Society’s website described itself as ‘an organisation oriented towards the art of writing in all its forms’ which aimed ‘not only help and support [women] in our writing endeavours but to reach as professional a standard as possible.’ They produce five Postal Magazines – Appleseed, Coffee Break, Overflow, Ripples, and Chrysalis.

In the early 1970s Elizabeth Furner founded the Brighton Writers’ Workshop from which the Society of Women Writers (Australia), South Australian Branch was formed in 1976. It promotes interest and skills in writing for women by regular meetings and workshops. It became an independent incorporated body, the Society of Women Writers South Australia Inc., when the national society was disbanded in 2000. The Society’s main aim is to draw together women writers to support each other in their writing endeavours, and various seminars, workshops and other activities are organised towards this end.

The Society of Women Writers Western Australia Inc. began in 1977 with five members as a Magazine Branch of the Society of Women Writers (Australia). In 1981, with a membership of approximately fifty, it became a full Branch, and it 2000 it became a
an independent incorporated body when the national society was disbanded. The Society’s main aim is to draw together women writers to support each other in their writing endeavours, and various seminars, workshops and other activities are organised towards this end.

Monica Clare was the daughter of an Aboriginal shearer and an English women who died in childbirth when Monica was two years old. Taken into care at the age of seven, she and her brother grew up in a variety of foster homes in Sydney. After learning the finer arts of domestic service, Monica went out to work as a waitress and a factory hand.

In the 1950s, Monica became interested in Labor Politics. Her second husband, the trade unionist Leslie Clare, encouraged this interest and also encouraged her to be active in Aboriginal politics. She became the Secretary of the Aborigines Committee of the South Coast at Wollongong during the 1960s and, subsequently, of an Aboriginal committee called the South Coast Illawarra Tribe, from 1968 to 1973.

Monica Clare worked tirelessly for the political and social equality of Aboriginal people, and their independence. She died suddenly on National Aborigines Day, 13 July 1973.

Catherine (Cathy) Freeman was born in Mackay in Queensland in 1973. As a very good runner, she won a scholarship to boarding school where she was able to have professional coaching. In 1994 she became the first Aboriginal sprinter to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, going on to win a silver medal in the 1996 Olympic Games and then gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

She is very proud of her Aboriginal heritage and has carried the Australian and Aboriginal flags around the track after winning a race, which at times has resulted in public controversy.

She was made Young Australian of the Year in 1990 and Australian of the Year in 1998. She is the first person to receive both awards.

Lake Tyers Mission was established in 1861 when the Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines approved the allocation of 2,000 acres at Lake Tyers for the purpose of providing a base for missionaries in eastern Victoria. Consisting of a manager’s residence, church, school and huts, the mission attracted a number of Aboriginal people and as such was seen by the Mission Societies as successful and flourishing.

In 1908 it was taken over by the Board for the Protection of Aborigines as a Government station. At this time the Board believed that Victorian Aboriginal people were dying out and so it instituted a policy of closing all the reserves around Victoria and sending the people living on them to Lake Tyers.

In the 1960s the Aborigines Welfare Board attempted to close Lake Tyers as a reserve, however, it met with the residents’ opposition. The Aborigines Advancement League, led by Pastor Douglas Nicholls, fought for eight years to retain Lake Tyers Reserve. The Aboriginal Amendment Act 1965 changed the status of Lake Tyers from temporary to permanent, thus strengthening Aboriginal claims to preserve it. In 1971 the fight was finally won, when freehold title to Lake Tyers was given to the Lake Tyers Trust under the Aboriginal Lands Act of 1970. Today, Lake Tyers is also known as Bung Yarnda.

The Lake Tyers Mission and later Reserve was home to many Aboriginal women, some of whom became prominent Aboriginal spokespersons.

Ramahyuck Mission was established in 1862 by the Reverend F.A. Hagenauer on a site near Maffra, Victoria. It was one of three Aboriginal Missions established by Moravian Missioners in Victoria. The local farming community opposed the mission in this location so it was moved to the Avon River, near Lake Wellington.

On 1 April 1869, the Education Department classified Ramahyuck school as half-time Rural School No. 12 and appointed Reverend Kramer as the teacher. Students enrolled at the school did extremely well which encouraged attendance. 1872, there were 19 children at the school. In 1873, the school had gained 100% of marks. In 1877, Ramahyuck Mission Station was placed at the head of the list for ‘presenting the most successful results’.

Then, in a strange move, on 13 May 1901, the Department of Education closed the Ramahyuck State School, and the remaining children were told to attend the nearby Perry Bridge school. Aboriginal people protested about their children having to move schools and the Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines appointed a teacher to conduct lessons at Ramahyuck school. The school continued under the Board until 1908 when the Mission closed and the remaining residents were sent to Lake Tyers.

Ramahyuck Mission was the home to many Aboriginal women, some of whom later became prominent Aboriginal spokespersons.

Coranderrk Station was established in 1860 when the government set aside 4,850 acres of land for use as a reserve for Aboriginal people. The site was selected by the local Aboriginal groups, the Wurundjeri, Taungerong and Bunorong people, who built the reserve within a few months, constructing their own huts, a school and dormitories for the Aboriginal children from all over the colony. They sustained themselves by growing their own vegetables and cash crops, including arrowroot and hops. Through the hard work of the Aboriginal people, Coranderrk Station was renowned for its farming produce and became the model for all future stations.

During the 1870s the Board for the Protection of Aborigines placed Aboriginal people from all over Victoria at Coranderrk Station. In 1924 it was closed as a staffed station. Nine Aboriginal people remained, with the Police Constable at Healesville as their local guardian. The rest were sent to Lake Tyers Reserve.

The area was gradually given away over the years until its status as a reserve was revoked. In 1948 the Coranderrk Land Bill released the station for private purchase. In 1998 land at Coranderrk was purchased by the Indigenous Land Corporation and returned to Aboriginal people.

Coranderrk was the home to many Aboriginal women, some of whom became prominent Aboriginal spokespersons.

The inaugural meeting of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association (AWPA), was held at the Royal Aero Club of New South Wales at Bankstown on 16 September 1950. Thirty-five women became charter members. Nancy Bird Walton, the catalyst for the formation of the Association was elected founding president, with Maie Casey wife of the Governor-General at the time, R. G. Casey, its patron. The aims of the Association include encouraging women to gain flying licenses of all types, maintaining pilot networks in state and local areas where women in aviation can meet and exchange information, promoting training, employment and careers in aviation and assisting in the future of aviation through public interest, safety and education. Full membership is open to any female pilot who holds or has held a pilot’s licence.

Dora Hunter was raised by two missionaries, Miss Hyde and Miss Butler, firstly at Quorn and then at Eden Hills, South Australia. She started working as a servant in a private home, and later got a job in a kindergarten. Following that, she worked as a Child Care Worker at the Central Methodist Mission in Adelaide for nine years. She did two years’ training in the Aboriginal Task Force at the Institute of Technology in Adelaide, and worked in a Government position as an Aboriginal Community Worker. She has been involved with the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship and the Young People’s Branch of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. She enjoys playing music, and has often played in old people’s homes and children’s homes as well as at church meetings.

Patricia O’Shane was born in Northern Queensland in 1941. A noted activist for Indigenous rights, her achievements in the public sphere have been remarkable. She was the first Aboriginal Australian barrister (1976) and the first woman to be appointed to the New South Wales Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board (1979). When she was appointed permanent head of the New South Wales Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in 1981, she became not only the first Aboriginal person but also the first woman to become a permanent head of ministry in Australia.

Caroline Archer was born in 1922 and is best known for her leadership in the 1970s of the One People of Australian League (OPAL), an organisation that sought to promote the interests of Aboriginal people. She was appointed executive officer of OPAL in 1972, becoming the first Aboriginal person to hold the position.

Fanny Reading, medical practitioner and activist for Zionist and Jewish women’s causes, was born near Minsk in Russia in 1884. After her family migrated to Australia, Reading taught Hebrew to private students before entering the University of Melbourne to study music and later medicine. Graduating in 1922, she moved to Sydney to join her brother’s medical practice. In 1923, inspired by the visit of Zionist emissary Bella Pevsner, she founded the Council of Jewish Women – a Zionist organisation which was also active on a range of women’s issues, both Jewish and non-Jewish.

In 1925 she travelled to the United States, Europe and Palestine, and helped organise a conference for the International Council of Jewish Women. In 1929 she organised a conference in Sydney at which the National Council of Jewish Women was formed.

The National Council of Jewish Women, Western Australia Section was founded in 1929, largely as the result of a visit of by Fanny Reading to Perth expressly for the purpose of amalgamating the existing Western Australia League of Jewish Women with the National Council. While this aim was not achieved, Fanny Beckler became the founding president of the Western Australia Section of the Council (the League continued for several years before disbanding). A Council Juniors was also formed. In its early days the Western Australia Section devoted itself to assisting Jewish migrants and then to war work. In the years after WWII, the Council organised more social events, undertook more fund raising and offered services for the elderly. The Council continues today as a non-profit, voluntary, organisation for Jewish women, acting for their advancement and for social justice generally.

The National Council of Jewish Women, New South Wales Division was established in 1923. Originally called the Council of Jewish Women, in 1927 a national body (The National Council of Jewish Women of Australia) was formed and a separate New South Division of this organisation established.

Fanny Reading, the first president, immediately set about implementing service programs for the local Jewish community. An immigrant welfare committee was established, which was the first to provide any assistance for Jewish immigration in Sydney. Funds were raised for the relief of Polish Jewry. Other work included teaching Sunday Schools, visiting people in hospital, and assisting with other fundraising projects, both Jewish and non-Jewish, as well as social events particularly for Juniors. The Council in Sydney was particularly involved in supporting the Zionist cause and then with support for Israel. By the 1960s, it had several groups operating across Sydney and one in Newcastle.

Over its long history, the Council has been involved in an enormous array of issues, as well as charitable, educational and social activities. The Council continues today as a non-profit, voluntary, organisation for Jewish women, acting for their advancement and for social justice generally.

The Business and Professional Women’s Club of Melbourne was founded in 1925 – the first such Club in Australia. Miss Nellie C Martyn, Managing Director of the Steel Company of Australia (later to become BHP Billiton) was elected Inaugural President. Membership was open to women holding a responsible position in professional, business, industrial or educational organisation, and to women giving distinguished service to the community. The initial purpose of the Club was to ‘give business and professional women the opportunity to meet in a friendly way and discuss questions of general interest to the community. Its more specific aims were soon defined as:
a) to develop a wider acquaintance between members of the community and to facilitate the exchange of ideas
b) to secure the recognition of the value to the community of women’s work and service
c) to obtain the active interest of women in the civic, social, political and moral welfare of the community.

It was explicitly founded to provide a space for (largely elite) women’s networking, and to work for their professional interests.
Subsequently it devoted itself more specifically to issues relating to the status of women, particularly in employment.
The Club continues to work to elevate the status of women generally, remove discrimination and to present the views of business and professional women to government. It still also operates to provide a space for women’s networking.

The Business and Professional Women’s Club of Sydney (later BPW Sydney Club) was founded in 1939 with Dr Constance D’Arcy as its first president. Its general aims were to promote the interests of business and professional women; to alert them to their responsibilities in their own country and in world affairs; and to raise or maintain standards of education for women.

Like other such clubs, it was explicitly founded to provide a space for (largely elite) women’s networking, and to work for their professional interests. It has also worked for equal pay and employment opportunities for women. The club continues to work to elevate the status of women generally, remove discrimination and to present the views of business and professional women to government. It still also operates to provide a space for women’s networking.

The Business and Professional Women’s Club of Perth (later BPW Perth Club) was founded in 1946, largely due to the efforts of Clara Behrend (an advertising executive) who had been a member of the Club in Melbourne. She organised a meeting at which some 30 women joined the new Club and the lawyer Margaret Battye was elected president. Membership grew rapidly, reaching 148 by 1958, but was only open to women who earned a salary or were self employed. Early members included teachers, nurses and hairdressers as well as business managers and other professionals.

Its activities were initially mainly social, but in the 1950s the Club took part in campaigns for equal pay, and also took an interest in broader social issues such as gambling, facilities for disabled children and new migrants, as well as fund raising for various causes. They became increasingly focussed on improving women’s working conditions and increasing their career prospects. It has campaigned on inequalities in superannuation and for affirmative action. It has investigated facilities for women returning to work and encouraged girls to take up non-traditional employment. Like other such clubs, it was explicitly founded to provide a space for women’s networking, and to work for their professional interests.

The Business Girls and Professional Women’s Club of Newcastle (later the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Newcastle, and then BPW Newcastle Club) was formed in 1931 with the stated aims of assisting the Young Women’s Christian Association and the community, and of stimulating thinking and increasing knowledge of current affairs. Its foundation president was Marjorie Mulvey, Initially its focussed on social activities and on social service – operating a Free Children’s Library and providing scholarships for under-privileged girls. Subsequently it devoted itself more specifically to issues relating to the status of women, particularly in employment. Like other such clubs, it was explicitly founded to provide a space for women’s networking, and to work for their professional interests.

The National Italian-Australian Women’s Association, established in 1985 by the founding president, Franca Arena, aims to recognise and promote the contribution of Italo-Australian women to Australian society. It has organised two international conferences in Sydney in 1985 and 1988, and published Forza e Coraggio/Give me strength (1989), a selection of Italian migrant women’s experiences.

Franca Arena was born in Genoa, Italy, and migrated to Australia in 1959. She was the founding member of the Migrant Women’s Association, president of the National Italian-Australian Women’s Association, founder of the New South Wales Ethnic Community Council, won a Churchill Fellowship, and was Commissioner of the Education Commission of New South Wales. In 1981, she was the first woman from a non-English speaking background to be elected to the New South Wales Parliament, where she served for seventeen years. Arena resigned from the Australian Labor Party in November 1997, remaining in parliament as an Independent until her resignation from Parliament in March, 1999.

Lady Phyllis Cilento was born in Sydney on 13th March 1894 and educated in Adelaide, graduating MB, BS from the University of Adelaide. She did postgraduate work at hospitals and clinics in Malaysia, New Guinea, London, Paris and New York. Later moving to Brisbane with her husband, (doctor and medical administrator, Sir Ralph Cilento) she became a prominent member of the Queensland women’s movement and highly influential in broader areas of public health. She was a medical columnist, broadcaster, journalist and author of several books. Her interests lay in nutrition, vitamin therapy, family planning and antenatal and childcare. She founded the Queensland Mothercraft Association in 1930; the Queensland branch of the Business and Professional Women’s Club and was president of the Queensland Medical Women’s Association (1938-1947).

The Zonta Club of Perth, a women’s service club, was founded in 1971. It is part of Zonta International, a world-wide organisation of business and professional women working together to advance the legal, political, economic and professional status of women. Zonta clubs support Zonta International service and award programmes, and also provide support for local community projects by fundraising or active involvement, particularly those dealing with women’s issues such as economic self-sufficiency, legal equality, access to education and health, and eradication of violence.