- From
- 1911
- Occupations
- Voluntary organisation
- Alternative Names
- West Australian National Council of Women (former name)
- Western Australian National Council of Women (former name)
- Website
- http://www.ncwwa.org.au
- Location
- 160 Hay Street East Perth WA 6892 (PO Box 6224 East Perth WA 6892) Ph: 08 9325 8897 Fax: 08 9325 8897 e-mail: ncwwa@iinet.net.au
Summary
The National Council of Women of Western Australia was founded in 1911, largely due to the efforts of Lady Edeline Strickland (wife of the Governor of Western Australia) who became its first president. It is a non-party, non-sectarian, umbrella organisation for a large and diverse number of affiliated women's groups in Western Australia.
It functions as a political lobby group, attempting to influence local, state and federal government. The Council has supported a wide range of social reform activities, particularly those related to education and to women's, children's and family welfare. While not an overtly feminist organisation, it provided a major focus for, predominantly middle-class, women's activism until at least the 1940s. Unlike many other states, however, the Council had strong competition from the Women's Service(s) Guild of Western Australia for leadership of the women's movement.
Its initial aims were:
1. 'To establish a bond of union between the various affiliated societies.
2. To advance the interests of women and children and of humanity in general.
3. To confer on questions relating to the welfare of the family, the State and the Commonwealth.'
