The Australian Women's Register

On 28 June 1963 a Steering Foundation Committee was formed to set up an association for members who had served in the WRANS. The Ex-Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service was established on 20 September 1963.

The Association aims to provide social contact and to look after the welfare of members through self-help funding.

Membership of the Association is available to any female who served with the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) as well as female Navy sailors since 1985.

At the end of the World War II (the last wartime WRAN was discharged in 1948) ex-personnel set about re-establishing their lives in peacetime. For many this involved raising a family. By 1963, almost 20 years after the war’s end, a group of ‘girls’ found that there was still a common bond (from the war years) between them and decided to place an advertisement in the North Shore Times about plans to start an association.

Once established, monthly meetings were held, for many years, at “Johnny’s” Naval House at Grosvenor Street Sydney. The area known as the ground floor “Snake Pit” and the “Wrannery” on the first floor were popular meeting places. An open invitation was extended to ‘country girls’ to attend meetings when they were in Sydney.

During the 1980s Johnny’s Naval House was refurbished and now houses the Sydney Futures Exchange. Meetings were moved to the Gallipoli Club and later the City of Sydney RSL. Meetings are still held here on the second Friday of each month, 3rd Floor, City of Sydney RSL, 565 George St at 1300 hrs. Any Ex-Wran, or serving sailor is most welcome.

The Association produces a magazine (six times per year) The ‘Ditty Box’ through which information is disseminated. Members are advised of the changes in conditions/benefits and entitlements available from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Also listed are social functions and news, as well as changes to the contact registry.

During World War II June Jorgenson (née Jordan) joined the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) and was a Leading Writer in the Captain’s and Admiral’s office. She served at HMAS Penguin, HMAS Moreton, mainly at HMAS Kuttabul and HMAS Rushcutter. Following the war Jorgenson became an active member of the Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women. On 26 January 1997 Jorgenson was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to veterans through the Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women and the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service. On Anzac Day 2003, she was awarded the Commonwealth Centennial Medal.

In October 2002 June Jorgenson became a member of the working group for the “Women in War Project.”

A member of the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) during World War II, Grace Griffith enlisted on 6 March 1945 and was discharged on 28 October 1946.

Serving as a writer on HMAS Penguin, Kuttabul and Torrens, her training included activities that she may not have participated in had she remained in ‘civvy’ street.

After being ‘demobbed’ some veterans were given scholarships to university and Teachers College, and Griffith was given one to the Conservatorium of Music. She achieved the position of being a Piano soloist with the Conservatorium’s orchestra.

In 1950 Grace Griffith and Ernest McDonald married, they had four children including twins and now have nine grandchildren. During this time she returned to Netball as a player – a sport she had competed in while single. In 1966 McDonald was asked to be state secretary of the netball association. She held this position at a time when she was also state selector and state delegate. Later when the Randwick Netball Association was starting she was asked to be president, a position that McDonald held for 27 years before retiring in 1997. Over this period the Association had the largest contingent of Australian players from any one Association in Australia.

During her time as president McDonald was given a Community Service Award in 1986 and in 1997 a Civic Reception and a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition for years of service as president of Randwick Netball Association and to sport in the City of Randwick.

Grace McDonald was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on 26 January 1996 for her services to netball. On 26 July 2000 she was awarded the Australian Sports Medal.

In 2002 Grace McDonald became secretary of the Council of Ex-Servicewomen’s Associations New South Wales(NSW) and she represented the Association on the working group for the “Women in War Project.”

Aileen Lynch (née Ryan) a public servant since 1917, was appointed officer-in-charge of the Women’s Australian National Services. She inaugurated a scheme on which the Australian Women’s Land Army (AWLA) was based.

In 1941 she became superintendent of the AWLA in New South Wales (NSW). Appointed Commonwealth superintendent in July 1942, Aileen Lynch remained at this post until she was officially relieved of her position on 9 April 1946. After the war she resumed her former occupation in the Premier’s Department.

The Army Nursing Service Reserve was established in 1899 and attached to the New South Wales Army Medical Corps. This was the first official female army nurses’ organisation in the Australian colonies. Nurse Nellie Gould was appointed lady superintendent of the Reserve. On the 17 January 1900 Nurse Gould left with thirteen nursing sisters to serve in the Boer War as part of the British Army. The nursing contingent returned to Australia in 1902. The Reserve was replaced by the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS), that was formed post Federation.

Rosemary Calder served as First Assistant Secretary (Head) of the Office of the Status of Women from 2000-2003.

As a member of the Monash University alumni, she was honoured by the University in 2002 with a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa). She was appointed Adjunct Professor in the School of Political and Social Inquiry in the Faculty of Arts from 2003.

Sprinter Marjorie Jackson-Nelson was commonly known as ‘The Lithgow Flash’, after the New South Wales town in which she was brought up. Jackson-Nelson became the Governor of South Australia on 3 November 2001. She won two Olympic gold medals (Helsinki 1952) and seven Commonwealth Games gold medals for athletics. Jackson-Nelson also founded the Peter Nelson Leukaemia Research Fellowship, for which she has fund-raised since 1977.

A council member of the Invergowrie Foundation, Jane Munro has been Principal of Firbank Grammar School (Brighton, Victoria), since 1990.

Along with her sister Harriet (q.v.), Helena was educated by her father Alexander Walker Scott, an entomologist and entrepreneur. After the publication of Australian Lepidoptera, the sisters were elected honorary members of the Australian Entomological Society.

Stefania Siedlecky was one of the first two women medical officers to work at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). A general practitioner with a particular interest in women’s health, she was influential in the development of the family planning movement in NSW, joining Family Planning NSW in 1971. In 1974 she helped set up the Leichhardt (NSW) Women’s Health Centre and the Preterm Foundation, two initiatives which brought safe legal abortion to NSW. From these beginnings, she developed a national, then international, reputation. In 1986 she joined the United Nations Family Planning Association (UNFPA) Special Advisory Committee on Women, Population and Development and in 1988 conducted a review of the UNFPA program in Zambia.

Simone Young is the Conductor and Music Director of Opera Australia. She was educated at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music.

Simone has been conductor Paris Opera, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin and Vienna Staatsoper, Royal Opera House (London) and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
She was Young Australian of the Year in 1987.

Simone is married to Greg Condon and has 2 daughters.

(Source: Herd, Margaret (editor) Who’s Who in Australia, 2002 38th edition, Crown Content, Melbourne.)

[NB: the above biography was researched and written by Philida Sturgiss-Hoy]

Director-General of the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Community Services (appointed by Faye Lo Po’ (qv) in 1998). Niland is the former President of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, and founding co-ordinator of the NSW Women’s Co-ordination Unit.
(Source: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/lm/stories/s104362.htm accessed 01/02/02)

Beryl Ingold AO 2001, MBE 1979 is a former farmer from Cootamundra, New South Wales who has served on many state committees for the advancement of agriculture, education, women and the community. Born in Sydney on 4 March 1927, Ingold was educated at Cootamundra and gained a Bachelor of Applied Science, Agriculture, from the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education. She has been a member of the Riverina area consultative committee since 1996, Chair of the Orange Agricultural College of Sydney University since 1995 and the Riverina TAFE since 1994. Ingold is a life member of Country Women’s Association, patron of NSW Rural Youth since 1990.

The above biography was researched and written by Philida Sturgiss-Hoy for Women’s History Month (2002)

The current Head, Tropical Plant Sciences and Deputy Head, School of Tropical Biology at the James Cook University, Jackes also has been a member of the Academic teaching staff of the University of New England and the University of Queensland. She is the author or co-author of refereed journal papers, refereed conference papers, miscellaneous papers, articles, posters etc and environmental consultancy reports. Her books include: Poisonous Plants in Northern Australian Gardens, Plants of Magnetic Island, A Guide to the Plants of the Burra Range and Plants of the Tropical Rainforest.

Margaret Preston was the first woman to be commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales to produce a self-portrait. In 1996 one of her hand-coloured woodcuts of a Western Australian banksia from 1929 was commemorated on an Australia Day postage stamp.

Audrey and her husband Jack D. Blake were prominent members the Communist Party of Australia. Both were particularly vocal during the Liberal Party’s assault on the CPA and Jack Blake wrote numerous articles and papers on the Cold War. Audrey was the first Secretary of the Eureka Youth League when it was formed during the Second World War.

Lisa Roberts is an exhibiting artist, community artist and interactive publisher. She has created films and animations, produced exhibitions, and been involved in several performances over a long career beginning in the early 1970s.

Margaret Manion was a lecturer (1972-1978) before becoming a Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne. She has been an Emeritus Professor since 1995. She was the first woman chair of the Academic Board from 1987-1988, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor from 1985-1988. Loreto Order SL, then Chair, appointed March 1979. She was awarded an AO in 1989.

Of Lebanese descent, Marie Bashir became the first woman to be appointed Governor of New South Wales in March 2001. She was succeeded in the role in 2014 by General The Hon. David Hurley AC, DSC.

Bashir’s appointment was welcomed by both sides of politics and commended as “an inspired choice” because Bashir would be “a powerful advocate for the powerless”. In that role, Bashir departed from past practice. For Australian aborigines, Bashir launched an indigenous health initiative to support indigenous medicine and nursing students as well as supporting the progress of reconciliation. On the very day of her inauguration, Bashir agreed to become Patron of the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service, which addresses mental and social issues in the LGBT community.

Prior to her appointment she had a long and distinguished career in medicine. She was Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Sydney. Bashir became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1988 for her service to medicine, particularly in the field of adolescent mental heath. In 2001, the year she was sworn in as Governor, she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).

Throughout her career, Bashir combined work and family life. She was nominated Mother of the Year in 1971. She was married to Sir Nicholas Shehadie AC OBE, who passed away in 2018.

Pioneering Australian feminist Dr Anne Summers AO is a best-selling author and journalist with a long career in politics, the media, business and the non-government sector in Australia, Europe and the United States. Anne is a leader of the generation and the movement that has improved women’s rights in Australia. Her first book Damned Whores and God’s Police changed the way Australia viewed women. Her contribution has earned her community respect: she has received five honorary doctorates and in 1989 became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to journalism and women’s affairs. She won a Walkley Award for journalism in the same year.

Summers is a former editor of Good Weekend who regularly writes an opinion column for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She was a founder of the important feminist journal, Refractory Girl, in the 1970s.

Anne Boyd was appointed Professor and Head of Department of Music at the University of Sydney in 1990. Over twenty-five years earlier, in 1963, Boyd had commenced her studies in music at the same university with Peter Sculthorpe as her principal composition teacher.

Boyd was awarded a Commonwealth Overseas Scholarship in 1969 and, under the supervision of Wilfrid Mellers and Bernard Rands, she prepared a portfolio of compositions for her Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of York. In 1972 she was appointed Lecturer in Music at the University of Sussex, and held the position for five years. She returned to Australia in 1977 as a freelance composer before becoming Reader and founding Head of the Department of Music at the University of Hong Kong in 1981.

Boyd is a recipient of many awards including in 1996 an AM in the Order of Australia for service to music as a composer and educator. She featured in Facing the Music, a documentary about the University of Sydney’s Department of Music.

While completing her BA in Communications (Hons) at the University of Technology Sydney, Plibersek was women’s officer for the UTS Students Association. She campaigned against sexual harassment and instituted a number of measures to improve safety on campus. Before entering parliament, she worked with the Domestic Violence Unit and the New South Wales Ministry for the Status of Women. She was an electorate officer for Senator Bruce Childs and later Senator George Campbell. Plibersek was elected to Federal Parliament as the Member for Sydney in 1998, was re-elected in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010. She is currently a member of the Ministry in the Gillard Government.

Senator the Honourable Kay Patterson was elected to the Senate for Victoria in 1987. On 7 October 2003 she was appointed Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. Her other ministerial appointments have included being Minister for Health and Ageing, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Prior to entering Parliament she was Principal Lecturer and Chair with the School of Behavioural Sciences at the Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences.

Lorna Hayter studied agriculture at the University of Sydney. In 1927 she joined the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. During World War II Hayter was a member of the Women’s Australian National Services, and became Assistant Controller with the Australian Army Women’s Service. Later she hosted the Australian Broadcasting Commission weekly national program Farm and Home and became women’s editor of the Land Newspaper. On 31 December 1979, Lorna Hayter was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to agriculture and the community.

Ann Symonds was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1982-1998.

Joan Bielski was a long time activist for equality for women in employment, education and public life. A founding member of the Council for Civil Liberties, she was also a foundation member of Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL) in 1972 and continued her active involvement throughout her life.

In 1988 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to women and girls education. In 2004 she was awarded the Order of Australia for her services to women in politics and public life.

Joan Bielski was a long time supporter of the National Foundation for Australian Women.

The Jessie Street National Women’s Library is a specialist library which aims to promote awareness of the cultural heritage of Australian women. It includes a library and archival collection which focus on issues of importance to women, as well as documenting the lives and experiences of women. Its collection of books was founded by a donation of 500 feminist books. The collection now includes feminist journals, an oral history collection, fiction, posters and archival materials.