National Council of Women of Australia (1931 - )

The National Council of Women of Australia was founded in 1931, with Ivy Moss as President, to act is an umbrella organisation for the existing National Councils of Women in each state. The first of these, the National Council of Women of New South Wales, had been formed in 1896. Like all National Councils of Women, it functions as a political lobby group, attempting to influence local, state and federal governments as well as participating in international activities through its affiliation with the International Council of Women (established in 1888 at Seneca Falls in the United States of America) which has consultative status with the United Nations.

The national Council grew out of the Federal Council of the National Council of Women, which had been established in 1924 ‘with the object of enhancing the power of the [state] Councils in dealing with matters of Australian concern.’ Later, Councils established in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory also affiliated with this national body. Until the 1940s at least, the Council was a major focal point for middle-class women’s activism.

The current aims of NCWA are:
To work for the removal of all discrimination against women and to promote the equal status of women and men in law and in fact.
To act as a link for networking and a co-ordinator between State and Territory Councils of Women.
To act as a voice or Agent of communication at national and international levels on issues and concerns of women.
To develop national policies and responsibilities on behalf of women on an Australia wide basis.
To maintain the affiliation with the International Council of Women and monitor the implementation of its plans of action and policies at national level.

Each State and Territory has its own brnach of the National Council of Women, and these in turn have affiliated with them a number of women’s organisations with a wide diversity of aims and goals. But the common linkage is to improve the status of and conditions for women and their families in Australia.

To ensure that Australia was accorded a National presence on the International scene, the National Council of Women of Australia was established by the State and Territory Councils in 1931 to deal with issues affecting women and their families at a National and International level.

This body was preceded by the Federal Council of the National Council of Women, 1924-31 – records of which are contained in MS 7583, NLA, (http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/7583.html).

Board of Directors

• Jackson, Mavis (1913 - 2000)

  [1957 - 1960]

Founding member

• Aronson, Zara Baar (1864 - 1944)

Member

• Alley, Diane Berenice (1927 - )

  President of the National Council of Women of Victoria Inc.

  [1977 - 1979]

• Breen, Marie Freda (1902 - 1993)

  President of the National Council of Women of Victoria Inc.

  [1955 - 1957]

• Dolling, Alison (1917 - )

  Editor of quarterly Bulletin 1977-1979

• Frost, Phyllis Irene (1917 - 2004)

  President of the National Council of Women of Victoria Inc.

  [1961 - 1964]

• Giese, Nancy (1922 - )

  President of the National Council of Women of Northern Territory

  [1970 - 1972]

• Hallenstein, Phillipa May (1918 - )

  President of the National Council of Women of Victoria Inc.

  [1968 - 1970]

• Longmore, Lydia (1874 - 1967)

  member of the South Australian branch of the National Council of Women; convened its child welfare committee

• Moss, Alice Frances Mabel (1868 - 1948)

  President of the National Council of Women of Victoria

  [1928 - 1938]

• Norris, Ada May (1901 - 1989)

  President of the National Council of Women of Victoria Inc.

  [1951 - 1954]

• Weber, Ivy Lavinia (1892 - 1976)
• Zelling, Sesca Ross (1918 - 2001)

  President of the National Council of Women of South Australia

  [1957 - 1960]

President

• Baylor, Gracia (1929 - )

  [1997 - 2000]

• Brookes, Ivy (1883 - 1970)

  [1948 - 1953]

• Byth, Elsie Frances

  [1944 - ]

• Davey, Margaret Lurline (1915 - )

  [1976 - 1979]

• Gibson, Gladys (Ruth) (1901 - 1972)

  [1953 - 1956]

• Hamilton, Annie Dorothy (1910 - )

  [1964 - 1967]

• McConnell, Joyce Marion (1916 - )

  [1973 - 1976]

• Miethke, Adelaide Laetitia (1881 - 1962)

  [1936 - 1941]

• Moss, Alice Frances Mabel (1868 - 1948)

  [1931 - 1936]

Secretary

• Gibson, Gladys (Ruth) (1901 - 1972)

  Honorary

  [1939 - 1941]

Subordinate

• National Council of Women of Queensland (1905 - )
• National Council of Women of Victoria (1902 - )

  [1931 - ]

Vice President

• Hallenstein, Phillipa May (1918 - )

  [1968 - 1971]

• Zelling, Sesca Ross (1918 - 2001)

  [1954 - 1957]

Related Corporate Bodies

• Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria (1908 - )
• The United Associations of Women (1929 - )

Related Events

• The Australian Women's Conference for Victory in War and Victory in Peace (1943)

Book Sections

• Brown, Robin and Panetta, Jane, 'A view of the Australian consumer movement from the middle of the Web', in In the Consumer Interest: a Selected History of Consumer Affairs in Australia 1945-2000, Society of Consumer Affairs Professional in Business, Melbourne, 2000, pp. 9-28. [ Details... ]

Journal Articles

• Smart, Judith, 'Homefires and Housewives: Women, war and the politics of consumption', Victorian Historical Journal, vol. 75, no. 1, 2004, pp. 96-109. [ Details... ]

See also

• Burchill, Elizabeth, Australian nurses since Nightingale 1860-1990, Spectrum Publications Pty Ltd, Richmond (Vic.), 1992, 258 pp. [ Details... ]
• Caine, Barbara (ed.), Australian Feminism: A Companion, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1998, 607 pp. [ Details... ]
• Lake, Marilyn, Getting Equal: The History of Australian Feminism, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, New South Wales, 1999, 316 pp. [ Details... ]
• Norris, Ada, Champions of the impossible : a history of the National Council of Women of Victoria, 1902-1977, Hawthorn Press, Melbourne, 1978, 221 pp. [ Details... ]
• Ridley, Ronald T, Jessie Webb, a memoir, University of Melbourne, Department of History, Parkville, Vic., 1994, 208 pp. [ Details... ]
• Suzanne Fabian, Morag Loh, Left-wing ladies : the union of Australian women in Victoria 1950-1998, Hyland House, Flemington, Vic, 2000, 196 pp. [ Details... ]