The Australian Women's Register

The Australian Junior Red Cross shares the honour, with Canada, of being the first of their kind. Established in August 1914, the Australian Junior Red Cross was founded by Mrs Eleanor MacKinnon in New South Wales. Initially Juniors supported soldiers using existing Red Cross facilities. Gradually the movement supported children of soldiers, children who were sick, and children in need in their own right. The first movements were formed with the aims of improving health, preventing disease and mitigating suffering. This increasingly extended to personal health, an ethos of citizenship and service, and international friendship, over the years.

The School Circles of the Junior Red Cross, run by their own office-bearers and led by a patron, were affiliated to their nearest branch of the British Red Cross Society. In 1919, the Junior Red Cross received a national mention through the annual report of the New South Wales Division. In the 1930s, all States became involved and membership expanded. With more than 120,000 members in 1936, a national publication was planned, a “Younger Set” ran recreational clubs, and the Junior Red Cross was providing children’s homes and an almoner for patient after-care, depending on the State.

The Junior Red Cross expanded in World War II, again contributing to soldiers’ comfort. By 1946, plans were underway for a national secretary of the Junior Red Cross and a Links of Service to retain school graduates. By 1964, the Junior Red Cross was thriving in Papua New Guinea, then an Australian territory, and had a branch of the air in Western Australia. In the 1970s, it changed its name to Red Cross Youth and sought to make young people more central to the organisation as a whole, leading to greater Asian-Pacific and international initiatives. In 1995, Junior Red Cross and the Student Community Initiative Project became part of the new Youth and Education Service (YES) Department. Focusing on people under 30 years of age, the Department currently encompasses Red Cross Community Action, the Red Cross Community Challenge, the Red Cross Community Leaders Program and the Youth Connect Unit. Youth is a focus of Strategy 2005.