The Australian Women's Register

Ailsa Thomson Zainuddin is a writer and academic who taught at the Faculty of Education at Monash University, specialising in the history of education. Her undergraduate courses at Monash on the history of education in Southeast Asia and the history of education for girls and women, were among the first of their kind in Australia. Her published writing in these fields includes the text-book, A Short History of Indonesia. Ailsa has maintained a close and enduring association with Indonesia, the country where her husband Zainu’ddin was born and raised, and where she herself lived and worked during the 1950s. Ailsa was awarded a PhD for They Dreamt Of A School, the centenary history of Methodist Ladies’ College, Kew; the school she herself attended.

Alice Sewell was the first woman to win the Wyselaskie Scholarship in classical and comparative philology and logic from the University of Melbourne.

Alice was very much involved in organisations promoting the interests of women and alongside Ethel Osborne, recommended the establishment of a women’s club along the lines of London’s Lyceum Club.

Alice is also remembered for her involvement in the Country Women’s Association.

Anne Harrison spent the duration of her professional life in the medical library of the University of Melbourne. She joined the staff as Assistant Librarian in 1948 and was promoted to Librarian in Charge the following year. She completed her librarianship studies in 1966.

At a time when most library staff were employed as ‘general staff’, Anne’s staff record notes that she was a ‘Senior Librarian (Lecturer Status)’.

Anne planned and executed the Central Medical Library Organization, which won her national acclaim. She also helped pioneer Medline in Australia and was a foundation member of the Australian Medical Librarians Group.

June Howqua was awarded her MD in 1947 from the University of Melbourne. Her most significant appointment as a physician was as at the Queen Victoria Hospital, where she devoted three decades of her life. She took the position of the Vice-President of the Board of Management from 1979 to 1983 and membership of the Standing Committee of Ethics in Human Experimentation and IVF. She was twice President of the Honorary Medical Staff.

Jean Kerr was the first woman in Australia to graduate in accountancy and the first to hold a full-time lectureship in Accounting.

She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1957 and Reader in 1968. After retiring at age 60, Jean continued to publish material that achieved worldwide recognition.

Jean Laby was the first woman to be awarded a PhD in Physics from the University of Melbourne. She combined a lectureship in the Department of Physics with a senior lectureship in the RAAF Academy at Point Cook, Victoria. Jean was the only woman on staff at the Academy.

Jean was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2009.

Diane Lemaire was the first woman to take her Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Melbourne in March 1944.

Diane worked as a Technical Officer in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Division of Aeronautics and after the war took up a position at the National Physical Laboratory in England. In 1962 she received the Amelia Earhart Fellowship, despite not being a member of Zonta International. Diane retired in 1986.

Phillipa Maddern studied medieval English history at the University of Melbourne. In 1985 she took her Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford University, before returning to Melbourne in 1986.

Phillipa took up a position at the University of Western Australia in 1989, where she became a much-loved and respected lecturer on medieval history, as well as a teacher of English to newly-arrived migrants. She was also a mentor to many.

In 2009 Philippa became a Winthrop Professor of History; a position one step above Professor. Two years later she became the foundation Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for History of Emotions.

Monica Maughan’s acting career spanned many media and genres, including stage, television, cinema, comedy, drama and ballet.

Throughout her career she was awarded two ‘Erik’ awards, three Green Room Awards and two AFI awards.

Myra Roper was Principal of the University of Melbourne’s Women’s College for 14 years. She led a varied life as both an educator and public intellectual.

Myra served on the ABC Advisory Committee, the Elizabethan Theatre Trust and the Melbourne State College boards. She was also President of the Committee for Australia-China Relations and in 1958 was a member of the first Australian women’s delegation to China.

Myra received an AM in 1985 for her service to international relations.

In her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, Lisa Darmanin took home silver in the mixed multi-hull Nacra 17 class alongside teammate and cousin Jason Waterhouse.

Tamsin Cook was the youngest swimmer selected on to the 2016 Australian Olympic Team when the then 17-year-old handled the pressure to take home a silver medal.

Leah Neale made her Olympic debut in Rio, winning a silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

The Australian Council for Women (ACW) was established in late 1993, replacing the National Women’s Consultative Council, to co-ordinate planning in Australia for the Fourth World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing in September 1995 and to consult with women and transmit their concerns and ideas to the government. Council members travelled widely in Australia, meeting women and consulting with community groups.

On International Women’s Day 1994 the ACW launched its Purple Postcard survey, asking women to list one concern, and sent questionnaires to non-government organisations. The major issues emerging from the survey were fear of violence, breast cancer, and the cost and availability of child care.

In February 1995, the ACW released its report listing strategies to tackle these issues of concern, to be included in Australia’s presentation to the UN Fourth World Conference. The ACW Chair, Sandra Yates, was a delegate to the Beijing conference and advisor to the Australian official delegation which was led by Dr Carmen Lawrence, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women and Minister for Health. The Council was disestablished on 31 December 1995.

The Gippsland Women’s Network (GWN) was incorporated in 2006. It had its beginnings in the 1970s-1980s during a time of rural recession, when farming women in the Gippsland area of Victoria began an active role in lobbying the Australian government for financial support, putting together proposals for ways to better market the products of their region. From those early days, the GWN has broadened its role to encompass a variety of activities aimed at raising the profile of women in the rural sector. This has included developing projects and running seminars and workshops aimed at fostering the establishment of community networks, and empowering rural women to take a more active role in creating a sustainable future for their communities.

Professor Marian Simms is internationally prominent for her work in the fields of gender studies and political science, ethics governance and Indigenous research policy. She has held senior academic and administrative roles in Australia and New Zealand and has long-standing interests in research culture and governance in New Zealand, Sweden, South Africa and Australia. She is a former president of the Australasian Political Studies Association (APSA), a former editor of the Association’s journal, and has published prodigiously. Marian has attended the Women’s Caucus of APSA from its inception. From 2011 to 2016 she was Executive Director for Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences at the Australian Research Council.

Professor Carole Pateman is a British-born political scientist and academic who is internationally renowned for her contribution to feminist political theory and democratic theory. Carole taught in Australia from 1972 to 1990, during which time she played a central role in introducing feminist critique to Australian political science. In 1979, she and Marian Sawer co-founded the Women’s Caucus of the Australasian Political Studies Association (APSA) to improve the status of women in the profession of political science and make women visible in the political system.