The Australian Women's Register

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 Victoria Inc. was formed in 1970 with the aim of drawing together women engaged in writing. By 1971 the society claimed 35 members and in 1973 it began producing its own newsletter. By 1974 membership increased to over 80. Initially affiliated with the existing Society of Women Writers in New South Wales, in 1980 a federal body, The Society of Women Writers (Australia), was formed with the state societies becoming branches. In 2000 the federal body was disbanded and the state societies became independent incorporated bodies.

As of 2004 the Society’s website described its aims and activities thus:
‘The main aim of SWWV is to draw together women engaged in the writing profession and to strengthen ties between women writers in Australia and overseas. SWWV seeks to do this by the regular conduct of: workshops, poetry and prose readings, seminars, conferences, book launches and literary competitions.’ It also runs postal workshops.

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.

Winnie Quagliotti was raised on Coranderrk Aboriginal station in Victoria, and moved to Dandenong in the late 1960s. She was a grand-niece of William Barak, chief of the Wurundjeri (Woiworung). As a spokesperson for her people, she was known throughout Australia. She was chairperson of the Aboriginal Housing Board, a founding member of the Dandenong Aboriginal Cooperative, and a founder of the Burrai Child Care Centre and the Aboriginal Family Aid Support Unit.

Joan Winch grew up in Fremantle, Western Australia. In 1977 she gained a Bachelor of Applied Science in Nursing at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University). She went on to study midwifery and child care, becoming a triple certificated sister.

Since 1975 she has been continually involved in the Perth Aboriginal Medical Service. In 1982 she started up a mobile unit, driving around the Swan Valley fringe dwellers’ camps, servicing medical needs and assisting Nyungars to hospitals. In 1983 she founded the Aboriginal Health Workers Program, Marr Mooditj college, in Perth, integrating traditional Aboriginal approach to health and healing with western medicine.

Joan Winch was awarded her PhD in Aboriginal Studies from the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in May 2011. On the recommendation of each of her examiners, she also received a commendation from the Chancellor. Her PhD was executively approved on the 11th of May, four weeks before her 76th birthday. Her doctoral thesis presented a history of Marr Mooditj using an auto-ethnographic approach.

Dr Winch was named WA Citizen of the Year in 1986, State and National Aboriginal of the Year in 1987, and in the same year received the World Health Organisation Sasakawa Award for Primary Health Care Work on behalf of Marr Mooditj. She served as Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies between 1999 and 2001. In 2008 she received Curtin University’s John Curtin Medal for her services to the community.

Ida West was born on Cape Barren Island, Tasmania, in 1919. She attended school at Lughrata, 7 kilometres north of Wybalenna. She married in 1939, and the family moved around the island, living in tents, as her husband had various outdoor jobs with the municipal council. Later, Ida lived in Burnie and Hobart, working as a cleaner while raising the children alone. She became actively involved in community life and acquired an extensive knowledge of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture. She was a board member of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, and served as its acting president. Her autobiography, Pride against Prejudice: Reminiscences of a Tasmanian Aborigine, was first published in 1984.

Kathy Ware was born in 1949 at Springsure in Queensland. She grew up in Gladstone and Cairns, later working in various offices, as a kindergarten aide and as a teacher’s assistant in a TAFE adult literacy program.

She joined the federal Department of Social Security in Cairns, and later became an assistant to the National Aboriginal Conference (NAC) representative for the Cairns region. After the NAC was disbanded, she worked with the Commonwealth Employment Service for two years.

In 1987 she took up an appointment as the administrator of Deeral Aboriginal and Islander Corporation at Babinda, 50 kilometres southeast of Cairns, and has since worked on the expansion of the corporation’s facilities and enterprises.

Ida Toby, also known as Queen, was born in 1899 at either Walgra or Carandotta station in Queensland. She was of Warluwarra and Wangka-Yutjurru (of Wangkamana group) descent. Her ‘skin’ was Bilarrindji and her Dreaming was Emu; she had a black birthmark on her elbow in the shape of a legless emu. She grew up along the Georgina – on Walgra, Carandotta, Roxborough and Glenormiston stations. She was married first to Deamrah, and then to his younger brother Belia. She had two children and raised three step-children. The family travelled about Carandotta, as the brothers worked together for years poisoning dogs on the station, until they both died in c1962.
Between 1967 and 1975 Ida Toby provided valuable linguistic information on the Warluwarra and Wangka-Yutjurru languages. She also had an acting ability which helped her make up and act out imaginary conversations in those languages.
She died in 1976.

Dosina Nona married Peo (‘Bul-Bul’) Nona of Badu in 1960. A song composed for their wedding has become part of the Islands musical heritage. She nursed her husband until his death from renal disease in 1987.

Dosina is a community worker. She lives on Thursday Island in Torres Strait, where she is president of the Mothers Union, an Anglican church organisation representing Torres Strait women. In 1990 she represented the diocese of Carpentaria at a conference of South Pacific Mothers’ Unions in Papua New Guinea. As a Mothers Union organiser, Nona has been responsible for arranging the catering for many large-scale church festivities, including the consecration of Kiwami Dai as bishop in 1986.

Angelina Noble was born in c1890 near Winton in central Queensland. After being abducted by an itinerant horse dealer, she eventually came under the notice of the police in Cairns, and was sent to Yarrabah mission. An expert horsewoman, she accompanied her Aboriginal missionary husband James Noble, in 1904, on a gruelling overland expedition from Yarrabah to choose the site for a new mission on the Mitchell River, where 1,554 square kilometres of land had been gazetted as an Aboriginal reserve. From there they went to Roper River for three years, to help establish a new church missionary society.

Further pioneering work began in 1913 when Reverend E. Gribble requested their assistance in establishing a new mission at Forrest River (Oombulgurri) in Western Australia. They stayed there until 1932, before returning to Queensland to assist with work on Palm Island. Angelina was widowed in 1941 and, after a short period at Palm Island, died at St Luke’s Hospital in Yarrabah in 1964.

Shirley McPherson was born in 1948 in Perth, Western Australia. A champion schoolgirl athlete, she also excelled academically and won a teaching bursary on completing her leaving certificate at Dominican ladies college, Dongara. She completed a three-year accountancy course at the Western Australia Institute of Technology in 1967 and, in 1974, opened her own tax consultancy business in Perth. When the family moved to Geraldton, she worked as a tax agent there.

She was appointed a commissioner of the Aboriginal Development Commission in 1983 and became full-time chairperson in 1986. Despite the commission’s growing budgets and staff levels, McPherson’s nine fellow commissioners were dismissed by Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Gerry Hand, in 1988, and she only retained her position because it was an appointment made by the Governor-General. The new commissioners twice passed motions of censure against her.

Disappointed, McPherson resigned in 1989 and returned to Western Australia. She resumed accountancy and also worked as a consultant on Aboriginal affairs to the state government.

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.

The National Council of Jewish Women, South Australia Section was founded in 1929 due to the efforts of a group of South Australian women who had attended the first national conference of the Council of Jewish Women in Sydney in May of that year. They persuaded Fanny Reading, founder of the Council, to visit Adelaide in September to assist with this aim. Reading met with Mrs Isabella Solomons, wife of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation President and herself president of the South Australian Women’s Zionist Society and who had formed the Adelaide Ladies Jewish National Fund in 1928. Solomons became the first president of the newly formed Section, remaining in this position until 1946.

From its earliest days, the Council in South Australia was concerned with both Zionist and community work. It raised funds for various Jewish causes and charities (both Jewish and some non-Jewish), as well as holding social events. After WWII, they sought to assist Jewish migrants arriving in South Australia and from the 1950s initiated various services for the aged such as meals on wheels.

A relatively small organisation, membership of the group has never exceeded 60.

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, 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, Brisbane Section was formed in 1927 with Mrs E Isaacs as its founding president. Among the Section’s earliest activities were the formation of a Literary and Discussion Circle, and committees for Sewing, Hospital work, Catering, Entertainment, Immigrant Welfare, a Jewish Bush Book Club and a Girls Committee. As this indicates the Section encompassed a broad range of social, educational and welfare interests. They engaged in numerous fund raising endeavours, and concentrated on local philanthropic projects for both the Jewish and non-Jewish community. After the establishment of Israel, they also devoted their efforts towards support for the new Jewish State.

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.

Established in 1927 by Dr Fanny Reading MBE, the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (Vic) provides community support to vulnerable people, promotes a harmonious multicultural society, works to advance the status of women and supports projects in Israel. Inspired by Jewish values, the NCJWA (Vic) aims to create a better world for women.

Programs the NCJWA (Vic) runs include:

• Caring Mums, a home-based, non-denominational free service that provides emotional support to mums of newborn babies and women during pregnancy.
• Empowering Single Jewish Women and Effective Relationship Programs, which aim to support single women to manage the emotional upheaval post separation and promote the development of positive relationship skills.
• Support for the elderly programs.
• Support for Women from the former Soviet Union.
• Interfaith Activities.
• Status of Women activities, which involves a commitment to promoting human rights through equality, access and equity for women and girls within the Jewish and broader communities.
• Support for Israel fundraising activities.
• Opportunity Shop activities.

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.