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Giles, Patricia Jessie (Pat) (1928 - )

The Honourable, BA, DUniv
Related EntriesPublished Resources
Nurse, Political activist and Politician
Born: 16 November 1928  Minlaton, South Australia, Australia

Pat Giles commenced her working life as a nurse. After completing a Bachelor of Arts as a mature age student, she was an Organiser with the Hospital Employees Union of Western Australia from 1974 until 1981. In that year Giles was elected as an Australian Labor Party (ALP) Senator for Western Australia, and held the position for twelve years. During this time she was directly involved in the United Nations Decade for Women meetings, leading the government delegation to Nairobi in 1985.

Giles was a founding member and inaugural convenor of the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL) WA in 1973 and was the first woman on the executive of the West Australian Trades and Labour Council. She was a member, later Chairperson, of the first Australian Council of Trade Unions Women's Committee. In 2004 Giles, who has continued to be a strong activist for women both within Australia and internationally, will complete her third and final term as President of the International Alliance of Women.


Career Highlights
Alternative Names:
  • White, Pat (maiden name, 1928 - 1953)

Events
1950

Obtained Certificate in General Nursing

1951

Obtained Certificate in Midwifery

1952

Obtained Certificate in Infant Welfare

1953

Married Keith Giles (FFARCS, FFAARCS) (diss. 1976), they had four daughters

1971 - 1974

Vice-president of the WA Council of State School Organizations

1971 - 1981

Executive member of the Health Education Council of WA

1973 -

Inaugural convenor and member of WEL Perth

1974

Graduated with a BA from the University of Western Australia

1974

First woman to chair a committee on Discrimination in Employment & Occupation

1974 - 1981

Organiser of the Hospital Employees' Union WA

1975

First woman elected to the executive of the WA Trades & Labour Council

1975 - 1980

Service industries representative on the WA Trades & Labour Council

1975 - 1981

Member of the Homeless Persons Advisory Committee in WA

1976 - 1979

Member of the Administrative Committee for the ALP (WA)

1978

Member of the first ACTU Women's Committee

1978 - 1981

Member of the Review Committee for the WA Legal Aid Commission

1979

First woman to argue an important general issue before the WA State Industrial Commission (Maternity Leave which was granted to women in private employment, January 1980)

1979 - 1981

Member of the Community Advisory Committee in Industrial Relations for the University of WA

1979 - 1981

ACTU representative member of the first tripartite committee on women's employment in Australia (sub-committee of the National Labour Consultative Committee on Women's Employment)

1981

Western Australian delegate to the ALP National Conference

1981 - 1993

Sentator (ALP) for Western Australia

1983 - 1985

Junior Vice-President of the ALP

1986

Temporary Chairman of Committees

7 May 2004

Speaker at the 19th Mary Owen Dinner

 
Sources used to compile this entry: Grahame, Emma, 'Giles, Pat', in Caine, Barbara (ed.), Australian feminism : a companion, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1998, p. 426 and Lofthouse, Andrea (ed.), Who's who of Australian women, Methuen Australia, North Ryde (NSW), 1982, p. 199.
 
Related Entries for Giles, Patricia Jessie (Pat)

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Published Resources

Book Sections

  • '[Patricia Jessie Giles - biography and key parliamentary speech]', in Watson, Judyth. (ed.), We hold up half the sky : the voices of Western Australian ALP women in Parliament, Australian Labor Party W.A, Perth, 1994, pp. 75-81. [ Details... ]
  • Grahame, Emma, 'Giles, Pat', in Caine, Barbara (ed.), Australian feminism : a companion, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1998, p. 426. [ Details... ]

Conference Papers

  • Giles, Patricia, 'Irene Greenwood: 1899(sic)-1992, a hero of the feminist movement', in National Labor History Conference, The Frontier of Labor, Perth, 2 October 1997. [ Details... ]

Journal Articles

  • '[Patricia Jessie Giles - awarded Honorary Degree by Murdoch University. Career details]', Murdoch News, Autumn 1996, 1996, p. 11. [ Details... ]
  • 'Interviews with famous feminists.', Broadsheet (Women's Electoral Lobby (W.A.)), August 1997, 1997, pp. 9-11. [ Details... ]
  • Giles, Patricia, 'Irene Greenwood; a hero of the feminist movement 1899-1992.', Papers in labour history, No. 21, Jan/Feb, 1999, pp. 56-69. [ Details... ]
  • Skene, Judy., 'One thing led to another : a life of activism in support of women's rights, an interview with Pat Giles.', International review of women and leadership, Special issue, December 1999, 1999, pp. 19-28. [ Details... ]

sound recordings

  • Reid, Stuart, 1953-, [Interview with Patricia Giles, politician], 1 sound cassette. Transcript (typescript, 14 leaves), 1988. [ Details... ]

See also

  • Cadman, Kerith A (ed.), Who's who in Australia, 1988, 26 edn, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1988, 960 pp. [ Details... ]
  • Lofthouse, Andrea (ed.), Who's who of Australian women, Methuen Australia, North Ryde (NSW), 1982, 504 pp. [ Details... ]
  • Speed, Sally., [Interview with Pat Giles and Wendy Fatin], 1 sound cassette. No transcript/synopsis., 1982. [ Details... ]

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Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.Prepared by: Anne Heywood
Created: 17 April 2002
Modified: 25 May 2006

Published by National Foundation for Australian Women on Australian Women's Archives Project Web Site
Comments, questions, corrections and additions: awap@womenaustralia.info
Prepared by: Acknowledgements
Updated: 23 December 2008
http://womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0371b.htm

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