• Entry type: Organisation
  • Entry ID: AWE0499

Council of Action for Equal Pay

(From 1937 – 1948)
  • Occupation Social action organisation

Summary

The Council of Action for Equal Pay (CAEP) functioned as a single issue pressure group with affiliates from trade unions and women’s organisations. Its primary aim was to agitate for the implementation of equal pay through the dissemination of information and to support individual organisations in their fight for equal pay. Its formation marked the first conscious movement for equal pay in Australia. Muriel Heagney, a strong advocate of ‘the rate for the job’ was influential in its establishment and was the driving force of the organisation as its honorary secretary-treasurer from 1939 until its demise.

Published resources

  • Journal Article
    • Gender, class and work: the Council of Action for Equal Pay Campaign in Australia during World War 11, Johnson, Penny, 1986
  • Thesis
    • Muriel Heagney and the Council of Action for Equal Pay 1937-1948, Francis, Rosemary, 1989
    • Feminism and class: a study of two Sydney women's organisations during the Great Depression and Second World War, Ranald, Patricia, 1981
  • Resource

Archival resources

  • State Library of Victoria
    • Papers, 1936-1968 [manuscript].

Related entries


  • Secretary
    • Heagney, Muriel Agnes (1885 - 1974)
  • Related Organisations
    • Australian Railways Union - Victorian Branch
  • Related Women
    • Powell, Eileen (1913 - 1997)