Giles, Patricia Jessie (Pat) (1928 - )

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.

• 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

Related Corporate Bodies

• Centre for Research for Women (1993 - )

  Community Representative on the Board of Management of the Centre for Research of Women

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... ]