The Australian Women's Register

M U Australia (known for most of its history as the Mothers’ Union) is part of the worldwide Mothers’ Union which is an organisation within the Anglican Church. First established in England in 1876, its early objectives were:
1. To awaken in all mothers a sense of their great responsibility in the training of their boys and girls-the fathers and mothers of the future.
2. To organise in every place a band of mothers who will unite and prayer and seek by their example to lead their families in purity and holiness in life.
The first Australian Mothers’ Union was formed in Cullenswood, Tasmania, in 1892. The movement spread quickly across the country, becoming a major organisation both for Anglican women and within the broader women’s movement in the years up to 1960. Apart from Christian outreach, the Union has been involved in wide range of social and political reform activities, mostly relating to the welfare of women and children, as well as charitable work.

Endeavour Forum was established in Melbourne in 1979 as Women Who Want to Be Women, largely through the efforts of Babette Francis. It is a Christian, pro-life, pro-family lobby group with members in all Australian states. According to its website, the group was set up to ‘counter feminism, defend the unborn and the traditional family.’ Although outlawing abortion is high on their agenda, the group’s broader aim is to prevent economic forces such as high taxation ‘destroying families’. In particular it lobbies for the right of women to choose to be full time homemakers without suffering what they see as economic discrimination. While. it supports equality of opportunity for men and women in employment and education, it opposes affirmative action or positive discrimination.

The Girl’s Realm of Service and Good Fellowship was an Australian branch of a Guild founded in London in 1900. Its main aim was to encourage girls to help other girls. In 1934 their stated aim was to assist girls who show promise and ability to undertake an approved course of training when lack of means from any other source would prevent them from so equipping themselves. The Guild ceased to exist in 1976 and donated its assets to the University of New South Wales for a scholarship.

The Australian Nursing Federation Employees’ Section formed in 1953 out of an amalgamation of the Australian United Nurses Association [formed in 1949] and the Royal Victorian College of Nurses Employees’ Association. From 1971, this new body was commonly known as the Australian Nursing Federation and in 1975 it amalgamated with the Royal Victorian College of Nurses to become the new Royal Australian Nursing Federation. The ‘Royal’ prefix was dropped again in the 1980s.

Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, daughter of the viceroy, the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, was president and founder of the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society. The wife of Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson (1860-1934), Governor-General of Australia 1914-1920, she established the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society on 13 August 1914. During World War I the ballroom of Melbourne’s Government House was taken over by Lady Munro Ferguson’s work for the Society. In 1918 she was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) for her work during World War I. Following the end of her husband’s term as Governor-General, on 6 October 1920, the Munro Fergusons returned to Scotland.

In 1926, Lord and Lady Somers sailed to Australia following Lord Somers’ appointment as Governor of Victoria. The couple disembarked the R.M.S. Cathay at Port Melbourne, where they were escorted by launch to an official landing amid much celebration at St Kilda Pier. At “Stonnington”, the Vice-Regal residence in Glenferrie Road, Malvern, 220 scouts formed a guard of honour lining the driveway and school children gathered to welcome the new Governor and his wife.

The formation of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association – South Australian Branch was preceded by the formation of a national Australian Local Government Women’s Association in Canberra in 1951. A non-party organisation, it was inspired particularly inspired by the belief that more women should be involved in local government partly because this arm of government was especially relevant to housewives and mothers.

First aid training, a core activity of Australian Red Cross, is largely a State activity. In World War I, Australian women were encouraged to enrol people with first aid certificates in Voluntary Aid Detachments. By the 1960s, Victoria had an education program in the area, which was covered, in the 1980s, by Health and Safety Education. Emergency first aid is included in Emergency Services. In 2004, accredited first aid courses were provided at an individual and industry level, with specialised training including critical incident simulations, and Red Cross continuing to sell First Aid kits.

The Association of Civilian Widows of Australia originated in Western Australia in 1953 at a meeting convened by the Women’s Service Guild. Its formation was largely due to the efforts of Mrs Invy Kent. Over the following two years Apex helped to establish a National Executive and over 200 branches of the Association across Australia. The Association is non-party political and non-sectarian and its objects are to promote the interests of the widow and her child wherever possible. It also engages in welfare work for its members and holds fund raising and social meetings. It’s motto is ‘Friendship and Service.”

Fundraising was initially the main function of the Victorian branch, with appeals launched by the President and undertaken through Committees and branches. Initially, funds were administered by the Australian Branch. Their Central Depot became the first collection and distribution point, although Victoria was also empowered to appoint a depot for contributions. Fundraising has gradually become more specialised, with Committees focused on the hallmark Red Cross Calling, the Murray Marathon since 1969, and a Desperate & Dateless ball for over ten years. Retail has expanded from Card & Gift Shops, to ‘Been Around Before’ stores and merchandise campaigns, while corporate sponsors, are emphasised and bequests, foundations and trusts have expanded.

The Tracing and Refugee Services Department endeavour to locate, reunite and support families separated by war, conflict and disaster. In Australia, it is related to the Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau of 1915, focused largely on war service personnel until it was found useful in post-World War II migration. In 1994, Tracing and Refugees became a core service for expansion, including a Volunteer Settlement Support Group and the Young Refugees Project. The service now includes family Tracing and Red Cross Messages, Health and welfare Reports from family overseas, Family Re-union, the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Program and urgent Disaster inquiries.

The Australian Red Cross Society (ARCS) was formed just after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, initially as a branch of the British Red Cross Society. Its first president was Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, wife of the then governor-general. Via a network of state branches and division, also presided over by women, the organisation extended its influence throughout the community of Australian women, urban and rural, to the point where women constituted the vast majority of its membership, as well as featuring prominently in its leadership. Although the organisation was involved in a range of activities, including the establishment of agencies overseas dedicated to supplying families in Australia with information about wounded and missing soldiers, it is probably best known for its success in mobilising volunteers to create the much appreciated and eagerly anticipated ‘comfort’ parcels that were sent to servicemen overseas. From the date of its inception until the armistice the ARCS dispatched 395,695 food parcels and 36,339 clothing parcels. Thousands of women contributed their time and money to make this possible

The International Tracing and Refugee Services department of the Australian Red Cross endeavours to locate, reunite and support families separated by war, conflict and disaster. As such, the department services one of the most longstanding activities of the International Red Cross Movement, that of restoring family links between victims of armed conflict. In Australia, an important predecessor of the department, The Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau, was founded at the beginning of World War 1 by Australian Red Cross Commissioners Vera Deakin and Winifred Johnstone. The Bureau was established in 1915 to help trace wounded and missing men and provide information about them to their families.

The Australian Junior Red Cross was founded in New South Wales in August 1918 by Mrs Eleanor MacKinnon, initially with the aim of involving children in the support of recuperating soldiers who were using existing Red Cross facilities, and then extending to concern about the needs of the children of soldiers. Over the years, the Junior Movement’s aims have evolved to focus on the development of an humanitarian ethos amongst young people, through education programs, and activities that encourage active citizenship and community participation.

Australia’s largest provider of first aid services was the initiative of a woman. In 1914, Lady Helen Munro Ferguson appealed to women and men with first aid and nursing training to enrol in voluntary first aid detachments. The service has steadily developed to become not only an important dispenser of first aid, but a major provider of first aid training. Women have played an important leadership role in the service since its inception.

The Australian Red Cross has given special emphasis to Disaster and Emergency Services as part of the larger role of the Red Cross in caring for victims of natural disasters, conflict and human tragedies. The Australian Red Cross took up this role as a philanthropic organisation already able to operate within the armed forces and within State disaster plans. In the main, disaster and emergency services have largely been a State-based function of the Australian Red Cross, with national coordination developing over time. Their disaster preparation and response strongly involves local branches and communities, with women providing much of the ground support and assistance, such as catering and registration, and increasingly management for the Australian Red Cross.

In 1929, Dr Lucy Bryce founded the first Australian blood service on the lines of the British Red Cross Society in London. By 1931 the Blood Transfusion Service, based in the Victorian Division of the Red Cross, was the recognized medium for metropolitan hospitals to obtain donors. The following year, it was operating around the clock. In 1938, the first Red Cross Blood Bank was established at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, with a number of its medical consultants, from the onset, being women.

As the International Committee of the Red Cross has been the ‘guardian’ of the Geneva Conventions on armed warfare, International Humanitarian Law is the basis of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. As a result, Australian Red Cross national Presidents and other leading women, such as Philadelphia Robertson, have been prominent in this field and in international conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement.

International development programs and aid are a core function of the national office of the Australian Red Cross. Funds were initially donated to the Red Cross Society in the nation affected by disaster, as in the Japanese earthquake of 1923. From the 1970s, the national office of the Australian Red Cross has directly appealed for, and received, funds to assist in major international operations. The Australian Red Cross Field Force of overseas workers provided relief in the field during World War II into the 1970s. In many respects, these were the forerunners of Australian Red Cross delegates, who provide specialist skills for international programs, development and assignments by Red Cross Societies. Some of these delegates come under the International Committee of the Red Cross, others under the Federation, and some under the Australian Red Cross, depending upon the project. In 2004, the International Department of Australian Red Cross had specific desks for the areas, such as the Asia-Pacific, which serve as contact points for development programs. The Australian Red Cross’s Strategy 2005 aimed to provide high quality international humanitarian assistance and development programs in partnership with governments, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and vulnerable communities.

Community services were recognised in the first national Constitution of the Australian branch of the British Red Cross Society.

The Victorian Division of the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society was formed on August 21, 1914. Lady Margaret Stanley, the wife of the Governor of Victoria, was the first president. The wife of the Governor has continued to preside and women have maintained an active role in all aspects of the Australian Red Cross. They have continuously taken leadership roles in branches, units and regional committees, as well as in council and senior management.

Operated by Australian Red Cross Victoria since 1993 and funded by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, the Asylum Seeker Assistance Scheme provides services to asylum seekers who have cleared immigration and remain lawfully in the community while their application for refugee status is being processed.
In Victoria, caseworkers work with asylum seekers in the community providing the following support:
• Crisis intervention and needs assessment
• Administration of some emergency relief and financial assistance
• Access to health care and pharmaceutical programs
• Referral to other agencies (legal, medical, specialist counselling, social, education, material-aid, housing)
General casework support and advocacy

Many community programs grew from the hospital services – Volunteer Motor Corps (now Transport Services), Home Hospitals, Rest Homes and Amelioration – of World War I. From 1927, the Red Cross Auxiliaries became a chief peace-time activity of the Victorian Division. In World War II, remedial activities became known as Rehabilitation, and a Welfare Committee arose. Welfare then became associated with Social Work, which mainly focused on soldiers until the 1970s, when it turned to disadvantaged groups. In the 1980s, Hospital and Community Services encompassed many of these activities. In 1995, this area became more specialised, becoming Community Programs in 2002.

In the 1920s, the Victorian Division increasingly moved into civil emergencies, such as bush fire relief, floods and the influenza epidemic, using pre-existing services such as the Volunteer Motor Corps. Having served in World War I, plans were also made for the Voluntary Aid Detachments to come under the Australian Defence Department in the event of war or national emergency. Around 1928, the Victorian Council appointed a specific Sub-Committee for emergency and relief work, and bushfire assistance was given to Tasmania. In the Depression, the Victorian Division assisted in State Relief, and branches offered support. The Division’s emergency response is planned in advance and co-ordinated with the Victorian authorities, particularly the State Emergency Service.

Jessie Goodes, née Tate, was born in Salisbury, South Australia. She attended St Peters Girls’ College and married in 1939. Experience working in her husband’s St Morris delicatessen meant that she was able to gain employment in a Salisbury grocery shop when she was widowed with three children. Jessie attended a local meeting arranged by the Apex Club in 1958 to form a South Australian branch of the Civilian Widows Association, and was elected President – first of the local sub-branch, and in 1959 of the state branch. Two weeks later she was in Sydney for the formation of the national body.