The Australian Women's Register

Wendy McCarthy is an experienced businesswoman who has assumed many major leadership roles in both the public and private sectors for nearly forty years. Her first experience as a political lobbyist came about when, newly pregnant, she and her husband joined the Childbirth Education Association (CEA) in Sydney, campaigning for (amongst other things) the rights of fathers to be present at the births of their babies. Since then, she has had three children, and been an active change agent in women’s health, education, broadcasting, conservation and heritage and Australian business.

Her senior executive and non-executive positions have included: CEO – Family Planning Association of Australia (1979-84); Member – National Women’s Advisory Council (1978-81); Member – Sydney Symphony Orchestra Council; Director – Australian Multicultural Foundation. She has held executive and non-executive director roles in many of Australia’s leading private and public institutions including Executive Director, Australian Federation of Family Planning Associations; Deputy Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for eight years; General Manager of Marketing and Communications, the Australian Bicentennial Authority; Chair of the National Better Health Program; Executive Director of the National Trust; Director Star City; Chair of the Australian Heritage Commission; and Chair of Symphony Australia. In 2005 she compiled ten years as Chancellor of the University of Canberra.

In 2013 she is Chair of Circus Oz, McGrath National Youth Mental Health Foundation and Pacific Friends of the Global Foundation. In 2010 Wendy became a Non-Executive Director to GoodStart Childcare Limited. In 2009 after 13 years of service to Plan International, she retired from her most recent role as Global Vice Chair. She is Patron of the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance.

Wendy’s contribution to Australian life has been recognised in various ways. In 1989 she became an Officer of the Order of Australia for her contribution to community affairs, women’s affairs and the Bicentennial celebrations and in 1996 she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Australia. In April 2003 she was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal.

Marie Kirk was a leading figure in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union both in Victoria and nationally and helped to establish the Victorian Union in 1887. She held numerous executive positions in the organisation. She was also a strong supporter of women’s rights, a member of the Victorian Women’s Franchise League, and helped to establish the National Council of Women of Victoria in 1902. She supported equal pay, raising the age of consent for girls, and also took a keen interest in the welfare of women prisoners and in the kindergarten movement.

A lobby group that promotes women’s sexual and reproductive health choices in relation to unplanned pregnancy, Children by Choice (CbyC) was established in 1972 as an offshoot of the Queensland branch of the Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRA), to offer family planning advice and counselling to women confronted by the reality of an unplanned pregnancy. At this time, legislation dating back to 1899 criminalised abortion and most Queensland women had to travel interstate to obtain one. This legal reality led to staff at CbyC expanding their range of activities to include offering counselling and medical referral services to doctors at St Anne’s Hospital in Sydney. By 1975 CbyC had developed a package deal with Ansett Airlines and Population Services International (PSI) to help women to travel to Sydney for abortions. It was not the original intention for CbyC to become an abortion referral service, but this became the Association’s best known activity at that early point in its history.

Despite having bricks thrown through the windows of their premises and their funding slashed periodically throughout the last three decades, CbyC have continued to provide essential counselling services to the women of Queensland. ‘The survival of Children by Choice has been a story of struggle and sacrifice.’

SDN Children’s Services Inc. was the first organisation in Australia to provide all day care for children. The Sydney Day Nursery was established in 1905 in Woolloomooloo on the initiative of a group of young women with an interest in young children’s care and education as a result of their involvement in the Sydney Kindergarten Union. The organization aimed to ‘preserve family life, to educate mothers in child health and to save babies from death and from becoming State wards’. The Day Nursery catered for infants and toddlers ranging in age from a few weeks to three years. By 1927 the Association had established five centres. It changed its name in 1931 to become the Sydney Day Nursery and Nursery Schools Association Inc. and in 1934 it established the Nursery School Teachers Training College. It changed its name again in 1999 to become SDN Children’s Services Inc. This new name reflected an expansion of services for children other than centre based long day care.

The Federated Associations (later Association) of Australian Housewives was formed in 1923 and held its first national conference in 1926. Its purpose was to provide a link between the various state-based Housewives Associations. The first of these was established in Victoria in 1915. New South Wales followed suit in early 1918, South Australian and Western Australia in the 1920s and, after a couple of false starts, Canberra, Tasmania and Queensland in the 1930s. Each of these associations was broadly dedicated to representing the interests of housewives, through political lobbying as well as various efforts to help members keep their household costs down, including domestic advice and member discounts. Although their primary function was always to reduce the cost of living and to control ‘profiteering’, they very quickly proclaimed themselves to be political organisations, though always ‘non-party’. With the wider objective of gaining representation of women at all levels of government and public administration, and influencing public policy in the areas dealing with the home, women and children, their domain of interest rapidly came to include every sphere of public life, national and international.

With a combined membership of 115,000 by 1940-41, it was for a short time the largest women’s organisation in the country.

Travellers Aid Australia (previously the Travellers’ Aid Society of Victoria) is a non-profit, independent organisation, providing a range of services and assistance for travellers, including those with special requirements or in emergency situation. Founded in 1916, it initially offered support and protection for women and girls arriving in Melbourne from overseas, interstate and country Victoria. It was not until the late 1960s that they expanded their work to include men. The Society now assists travellers of either sex.

The World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, New South Wales Commission, Women’s Work Department was established to organise exhibits of women’s work from New South Wales to be sent to the Columbian Exposition.

The Women’s Voluntary National Register was set up under the Commonwealth Minister for Defence to encourage women to register their capacities for the particular service they wished to give in doing war work

The ANZAC Fellowship of Women was founded in 1921 by Dr Mary Booth, with the object of fostering the commemorative character of ANZAC day as an inspiration to future generations. Booth remained president of the group until 1956. In 1930 a London branch was also established. From 1931-41, and again from 1950, the ANZAC Festival Committee was established to emphasise the value of the Arts in helping to foster the ANZAC tradition. The group also established the Empire Service Club for Boy Settlers in 1923, which organised welcome parties for ‘Dreadnought’ boys and represented the first welfare work instituted for them.

The Women’s Abortion Action Coalition Melbourne, established in 1972, was associated with the Women’s Abortion Action Campaign Sydney. Using methods similar to those of the Sydney organisation, it held public meetings, demonstrations, conferences and lobbied members of parliament to campaign for support for repeal of the abortion laws in Victoria. The Women’s Abortion Action Coalition attracted the participation of the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) women and reached the stage where between 1974 and 1976 almost all the members comprised SWP members. After a socialist feminist day held in early 1978, a new WAAC group emerged in Melbourne.

The Girls’ Secondary Schools’ Club was formed in Sydney in 1927, registered under that name in 1928 and incorporated as a limited liability company. It provided a meeting place in the city for members of the ex-student unions of, initially, ten independent girls’ schools. Membership rose from 400 in 1928 to 1800 after World War II. The club rooms were initially located in Castlereagh Street until 1930, when the Club relocated to the Gowings building in Market Street, Sydney, where it remained until its closure, due to falling membership and increased costs, in 1994.

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 Sydney Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded in 1882, at a meeting hosted by Mr Eli Johnson, a visiting American temperance lecturer. From 1884, other local Unions were started in suburbs of Sydney as well as in country areas of New South Wales. In 1890, a Colonial Union, to be known as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of New South Wales, was formed to embrace the whole colony. The local Union, however, was to remain as the important unit of power.

The Union is primarily dedicated to promoting total abstinence from alcohol and other harmful drugs and all members sign a pledge to this effect. However, under its broader agenda of ‘home protection’ and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, and in its belief that the dangers of alcohol could not be tackled in isolation, the group has pursued a very wide-ranging reform agenda mostly relating to the welfare of women and children. Importantly, influenced by its sister organisation in the United States, the Union became a major supporter of the campaign for women’s suffrage in Australia as it was believed that power at the ballot box was the only way to achieve their goals. While at its most influential in the years up to WWI, the movement continues today.

Mavis Thorpe Clark was a prolific writer of children’s fiction who, in late life, also wrote for adults. In the process of researching her first adult book, Pastor Doug, the biography of Sir Douglas Nicholls, she created a large archive of letters and correspondence of relevance to indigenous scholarship.

The first local Union in Queensland was formed in Brisbane in September 1885, inspired by the visit of Mary Leavitt, the world missionary of the American Union. Mrs W. Steele was elected first president. The following year The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of Queensland was formed at the first Colonial convention. The Union is primarily dedicated to promoting total abstinence from alcohol and other harmful drugs and all members sign a pledge to this effect. However, under its broader agenda of ‘home protection’ and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, and in its belief that the dangers of alcohol could not be tackled in isolation, the group has pursued a very wide-ranging reform agenda mostly relating to the welfare of women and children. Importantly, influenced by its sister organisation in the United States, the Union became a major supporter of the campaign for women’s suffrage in Australia as it was believed that power at the ballot box was the only way to achieve their goals. At its first meeting in 1886 various Departments of work were formed around Scientific Instruction, Sabbath Schools, Literature Distribution, Hygiene and Press. By 1890 the group had joined the campaign for women’s suffrage and a Suffrage Department was formed. While at its most influential in the years up to WWI, the movement continues today.

Lena Santospirito was one of the first Italo-Australian women to assume a leadership role in the provision of welfare and community services to Melbourne’s Italian community. The Australian born daughter of Italian parents who migrated to Australia in the 1890s, Mrs Santospirito was the first woman (and layperson) to be appointed President of the Archbishop’s Committee for Italian Relief. She held this position between 1946 and 1955, a period that coincided with the beginnings of mass migration from Italy to Australia. Her energy and generosity in this role, as she combined it with her responsibilities as a wife and mother, were recognised by the Italian government in 1958 when she was awarded the Italian Star of Solidarity.

After her resignation from the committee in 1955, Mrs Santospirito continued her community work for various religious and charitable organisations. She passed away in 1983 and is remembered for her tireless work, her faith and the generosity she showed to so many people in Melbourne’s Italian community.

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.

The Women’s Abortion Action Campaign was established in Sydney in 1972 as one element of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Its main focus was to mobilize support for the repeal of abortion laws, which involved primarily public meetings, demonstrations and conferences. It also lobbied members of parliament before elections and disseminated information about the legal status and availability of abortion.

Truganini was the daughter of Mangana, chief of the Bruny Island people. A survivor of The Black Wars that accompanied European settlement in Tasmania, her life epitomises the story of colonial encounters in Tasmania, the clash of two disparate cultures and the resistance and survival of indigenous Tasmanians.

After losing her mother, her sister and her prospective husband at a young age, all of them the victims of colonial violence, Truganini worked hard in the early 1830s to unify what was left of the indigenous communities of Tasmania. An intelligent, energetic and resourceful woman, she worked with white authorities to protect other survivors of The Black Wars who had been forcibly removed from their homelands. In 1830 George Augustus Robinson, a Christian missionary was hired to round up the rest of the indigenous population and he settled them on Flinders Island. Truganini and her husband, Woorrady, helped Robinson in this venture in the hope that removing them would protect them from further violence. Unfortunately, the shock of resettlement, combined with the unsanitary conditions the people were forced to live in, proved fatal and the resettlement program did not work. The result was the virtual annihilation of the one hundred or so people left – mainly due to malnutrition and illness.

Truganini went with Robinson to Port Phillip in 1839 where a similar settlement was attempted with mainland nations, again with disastrous results. This time, having learnt from the Tasmanian experience, Truganini joined with the Port Phillip people when they resisted Robinson’s plans but she was captured and sent back to Flinders Island.

In 1856 there were only a few remaining indigenous survivors left in Tasmania, Truganini among them, who were taken to Oyster Bay. By 1873, except for Truganini, all of the people taken there had died. Truganini was moved to Hobart where she died in 1876. She had no known descendants.

Even in death she was not left in peace. Her skeleton was on display in the Tasmanian Museum from 1904 to 1907. It was not until 1976 that her remains received a proper burial. Aboriginal rights workers cremated Truganini and spread her ashes on the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, close to her birthplace.

Despite being labelled as such for many years, Truganini was not the ‘last Tasmanian Aborigine’, as the population of mixed descent Aboriginal people living in Tasmania readily attests to. Nevertheless, the story of her life and death remains immensely important, not only as a symbol of the plight of indigenous Australians, but as an example of the insensitivity of museum practices.

Diane E. Barwick was born in Canada in 1938. She arrived in Australia in 1960, and received her doctoral degree from the Australian National University, Canberra. Her work on the history of Aboriginal communities in Victoria (particularly Coranderrk, Framlingham and Lake Tyers) resulted in a number of publications, including her book Rebellion at Coranderrk, published posthumously in 1998. She contributed many articles, book chapters, pamphlets, manuscripts and photographs to Aboriginal scholarship, and was the co-founder of the journal Aboriginal History, which she also edited from 1978 to 1982. She was also actively involved in a number of Aboriginal issues, and was on the Aboriginal Treaty Committee.

Throughout her career, she worked to make history more accessible to Aboriginal people through genealogies and biographies. In 1984 she published a journal article, “Mapping the Past: An Atlas of Victorian Clans, 1835-1904”, which was a major reference for the compilation of a large Aboriginal biographical index at the AIATSIS. Her work was stopped short by her death in 1986.

Joy Lindrum Gillan is a writer and member of The Society of Women Writers (Australia). Lindrum Gillan was President of New South Wales Branch of the Society, 1984-1986, and Federal President of the Society, 1986-1988.

The Society of Women Writers (Australia), Canberra Magazine Branch existed for four years, 1984-87. Upon the demise of the Branch, members joined the Fellowship of Australian Writers.

Florence James (1902-1993) was a novelist, editor and reviewer. She was born in New Zealand and educated at Sydney University where she began her long association with Dymphna Cusack. Together James and Cusack wrote two books, ‘Four Winds and a Family’, a story for children, and ‘Come in Spinner’ which won the Sydney Daily Telegraph prize in 1948.
Florence James went to England in 1927. She shared a bedsitting room with Christina Stead for a short time, and worked mainly as a journalist and independent literary agent until her return to Australia in 1938. James went to England again in 1947 and from 1951 worked as an independent literary agent and reader for Constable and Co. and for Richmond, Towers and Benson Limited. While in London she acted as a talent scout for Australian and New Zealand writers including Mary Durack, Nene Gare, Maurice Shadbolt, David Martin and Sylvia Ashton-Warner.
James maintained a close friendship with many of the women she met at University and with the writers whose work she promoted. In the early 1970s she became an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. James married William (‘Pym’) Heyting in 1932. They divorced in 1948. They had two daughters. Florence James died in 1993.

Kathleen Margaret Maria Sherrard, MSc, was a demonstrator and lecturer in geology at the University of Melbourne for over a decade in the years after World War I. She also published articles on palaeontology.

After her marriage and relocation to Sydney she served on a Commonwealth Committee on Nutrition, 1944-1945, and took an active role in many women’s organisations, particularly the Australian Federation of University Women and United Associations of Women, as well as scientific workers organisations.

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.