The Australian Women's Register

Built by the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society as a meeting hall in 1887, the building now known as Storey Hall, located on the Swanston Street campus of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, Victoria, has a long, colourful history that includes its importance as a site for women’s social and political protest. Notably, during World War I, the venue was leased to the Women’s Political Association, who scheduled public meetings and rallies. The organisation’s purple, white and green flag was hoisted on the roof of the building ‘as a symbol of the sisterhood of women.’ Various International Women’s Day Functions have been held at the venue subsequently.

In honour of the building’s importance to Victorian feminist activism, The Ashton Raggatt McDougall renovation in the 1990s made a feature of the feminist colours.

The Victorian Association of Benevolent Societies was formed as the result of the amalgamation of the Association of Victorian Benevolent Societies, which was established in 1911 and the Central Council of Victorian Benevolent Societies, which was formed in 1930. It became ‘the representative body for all affiliated branches in the country’. Mrs Eva Tilley, JP, was its founding president. The Association’s objectives were to present a united front on proposed legislation and regulation which might affect the work of the Benevolent Societies. The Association occupied rooms at 167 Collins Street, Melbourne. It worked to increase the number of local Benevolent Societies in order to meet the increasing need in the post World War Two period to relieve the distress of the unemployed, deserted wives and children, and into the 1960s, single mothers. It remained in operation until 1987, when reduced funding and lack of people prepared to assume positions on the executive, forced it to close. Its last address was Room 101, 10th Floor, Capitol House, 113 Swanston St, Melbourne.

The Melbourne Orphan Asylum was established in 1853 to provide residential care for orphans. It evolved out of the Dorcas Society, which was the first women’s organisation to be established in Melbourne in 1845 on the initiative of Mrs George Cooper and Mrs William Knight and the St James’ Visiting Society. It aimed to assist the most vulnerable members of society by providing emergency support for families and almost unintentionally launched into residential care work with children. The St James’ Visiting Society became the St James’ Orphan Asylum and Visiting Society in 1851, and in 1853 the Melbourne Orphan Asylum.

The Caulfield Ladies’ Benevolent Society was established in August 1930 when the decision was made to form separate societies for St Kilda and Caulfield in an attempt to meet the increasing demand for welfare in the area as a result of the effects of the Great Depression. It operated under the administrative umbrella of the Victorian Association of Benevolent Societies and its predecessors. Mary Armstrong was the inaugural president. The Society held weekly meetings to deal with cases and a fortnightly business meeting.

The Preston Ladies’ Benevolent Society was formed in 1888 with the aim of relieving ‘distress among the less fortunate’ in the Preston area. Mrs L Lyons was the inaugural president. Other early members included Mesdames Richardson, Robinson, Carson, Warr, Showers, Harrap, Bell, Dale, Howe, Rundle, McKenzie, Hattam and Stone. It held monthly meetings where the cases were discussed , but no applicants were refused assistance. One of the Society’s roles was to work with the Almoners from the hospitals to supply special cases with invalid food. Mrs Allchin, a long serving president, held the position for forty-nine years and died in December 1946. The Society operated under the umbrella of the Victorian Association of Benevolent Societies.

The Charity Organisation Society of Melbourne was established in 1887 to help co-ordinate Melbourne’s charitable organisations and to foster the ideal of ‘self-help’ in the poor. The Society’s 21st Annual Report expressed the view that ‘to strengthen a man’s backbone rather than provide him with crutches, should be the aim of charity’. It has been claimed that it contributed to the development of social work as a profession, based on suitable training in appropriate disciplines. In 1947, the organisation became known as the Citizens Welfare Service of Victoria, reflecting a change in its approach towards casework counselling. It is now known as the Drummond St Relationship Centre.

The Anglican Mission to the Streets and Lanes of Melbourne was established in 1886 by the Bishop of Melbourne as the Diocesan Mission to the Streets and Lanes of Melbourne. The Council, the governing body of the Mission comprised mainly women with the exception of the Bishop of Melbourne and the Chaplain. The Council’s aim was to employ deaconesses commissioned by the Bishop to ‘visit in the lanes and courts and bring the message of the Gospel to the poor and fallen and by the force of their sisterly sympathy, compel the outcast to come in’. It wanted to include people who were not reached already by the ordinary parochial organisations, especially the category described as ‘fallen women’. Miss Emma Silcock ( known as Sister Esther) assumed responsibility for the Mission in 1888. She was also the founder of the Community of the Holy Name in Victoria. By 1900 the Mission had a staff of six deaconesses and one probationer. Its first address was 171 Little Lonsdale St. It moved to a new building in Spring St in 1913 and in 1958 to Fitzroy St Fitzroy. In 1997 it merged with the Mission of St James and St John and the St John’s Homes for Boys and Girls to form Anglicare.

On Friday, 11 September 1925 in response to the statement made about them by retired naval officer Captain Oswald Carter, the waitresses of the Refreshment Services Branch of the Victorian Railways went on strike. Carter held a senior post in the railways and reported to the chief of the Refreshment Services Branch that he found [the staff] ‘lazy, dirty and unmanageable’. He further added: ‘I propose to get in touch with the Immigration Authorities with a view to ascertaining the possibilities of getting suitable servants. I do not think that girls from Melbourne are likely to give satisfaction.’

The waitresses demanded an apology and went on strike until they received one. The male leaders of the Australian Railways Union – Victorian Branch commenced negotiations on behalf of their members and after two days a satisfactory settlement with management was arranged when an apology was obtained.

The Queen’s Fund was established as ‘the chief permanent Jubilee Memorial of Victoria in commemoration of the completion of the Fiftieth year of the Queen’s reign, raised by women, managed chiefly by women, for the good of women, and in honour of the long reign of a good woman, during which the general position of women has been in a hundred ways improved’. Elizabeth Loch, its founder and inaugural president stated that the Fund existed ‘solely for the relief of women in distress’. The Fund still operates and celebrated its centenary in 1987. Meetings are held monthly at the Melbourne Town Hall. The 1987 Annual Report noted an increase in applications to the fund. This was attributed to larger numbers of separated and divorced women who received no maintenance to care their children.

PLEASE NOTE: THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S REGISTER IS NOT AN AGENT FOR THE QUEEN’S FUND. YOU MAY CONTACT THEM BY MAIL AT:

GPO Box 2412
Melbourne VIC 3001

The Catholic Welfare Organisation (CWO), an initiative of the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix on the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939, foresaw the need to establish service canteens, hostels and rest rooms, in addition to catering for the spiritual needs of servicemen and women. Its objectives were to promote the spiritual welfare of the Catholic members of the fighting forces and to cater for the material welfare of all the fighting forces, regardless of creed. On the retirement of the inaugural president, Dr A L Kenny, Mary Daly was appointed to the position in 1941. She held that office until the completion of the work of the Catholic Welfare Organisation in 1948.

The Australian Red Cross Society (ARCS) was formed just after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, initially as a branch of the British Red Cross Society. Its first president was Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, wife of the then governor-general. Via a network of state branches and division, also presided over by women, the organisation extended its influence throughout the community of Australian women, urban and rural, to the point where women constituted the vast majority of its membership, as well as featuring prominently in its leadership. Although the organisation was involved in a range of activities, including the establishment of agencies overseas dedicated to supplying families in Australia with information about wounded and missing soldiers, it is probably best known for its success in mobilising volunteers to create the much appreciated and eagerly anticipated ‘comfort’ parcels that were sent to servicemen overseas. From the date of its inception until the armistice the ARCS dispatched 395,695 food parcels and 36,339 clothing parcels. Thousands of women contributed their time and money to make this possible

The Victorian Division of the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society was formed on August 21, 1914. Lady Margaret Stanley, the wife of the Governor of Victoria, was the first president. The wife of the Governor has continued to preside and women have maintained an active role in all aspects of the Australian Red Cross. They have continuously taken leadership roles in branches, units and regional committees, as well as in council and senior management.

The Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society, the first women’s suffrage society in Australia, was founded in 1884 largely due to the efforts of Henrietta Dugdale and Annie Lowe. Dugdale, very much a ‘freethinker’, claimed to been Victoria’s first activist for women’s suffrage-having publicly advocated women’s suffrage since 1868, along with married women’s property rights and the admission of women to the universities. In 1883 she published a utopian novel, A Few Hours in a Far Off Age, which she used as a vehicle for her then radical ideas about education, marriage, Christianity and rational dress for women. The Society’s platform was ‘To obtain the same political privileges for women as now possessed by male voters’. It had both male and female members.

The Australian Women’s Suffrage Society was founded in 1888 by Brettena Smyth. Smyth had previously been a member of the Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society but some members apparently objected to her outspoken opinions on birth control precipitating her decision to form a breakaway suffrage group. The new Society was very much linked with Smyth’s advocacy of every woman’s right to information about and access to contraceptives and she distributed advertisements for contraceptives, which she sold from her drapery and druggist shop in North Melbourne, at the Society’s meetings. Smyth had become convinced that the major problem facing most women was not the lack of political rights so much as frequent and involuntary childbearing. The Society had both male and female members. Particularly, Dr William Maloney, a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly who introduced several (unsuccessful) women’s suffrage bills into parliament between 1889 and 1894. The Society apparently disbanded with Brettena Smyth’s death in 1898.

The United Council for Woman Suffrage was originally formed in Melbourne in 1894 largely due to the efforts of Annette Bear Crawford who became its foundation president and secretary. Its aims were: to coordinate and amalgamate suffrage societies and to lobby members of parliament and municipal councillors about women’s suffrage; to educate the public about women’s suffrage; to educate the public about women’s suffrage; to educate the public about women’s suffrage and to train women speakers to address meetings. Those involved included representatives from suffrage societies, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Victorian Trades Hall Council and the Vigilance Society. The Council conducted extensive lobbying during the Victorian municipal elections in 1896 and the Commonwealth Constitutional Conventional in Melbourne in 1898. The Council floundered with Bear Crawford’s illness and then death in 1898. The following year, however, Vida Goldstein became its organising secretary-which in 1900 became a full-time, paid position. Goldstein allowed a broader spectrum of organisations to affiliate with the Council, considerably expanding its support base-by 1900 it had 32 member organisations. While Goldstein resigned in 1901, the Council continued as an effective co-ordinating body for the suffrage campaign, often working with Goldstein’s new group, the Women’s Political Association, until Victorian women’s gained the vote in 1908.

The Victorian Woman’s Suffrage League was founded in 1894 at a meeting organised by Annette Bear Crawford in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union headquarters in Melbourne. Its platform was votes for women on the same terms as men. Its formation was prompted by the belief that the three existing groups working for women’s suffrage in Victoria (the Australian Women’s Suffrage Society, the Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union) were all associated with extremist views. Although initiated by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the League had an entirely separate existence, supposedly not linked to the prohibitionist agenda of the Union. The new League was formulated on a Christian, non-party basis. As such, it was an organisation that moderate women could comfortably join and was immediately popular. It ceased in 1908 with the granting of the vote to women in Victoria.

Endeavour Forum was established in Melbourne in 1979 as Women Who Want to Be Women, largely through the efforts of Babette Francis. It is a Christian, pro-life, pro-family lobby group with members in all Australian states. According to its website, the group was set up to ‘counter feminism, defend the unborn and the traditional family.’ Although outlawing abortion is high on their agenda, the group’s broader aim is to prevent economic forces such as high taxation ‘destroying families’. In particular it lobbies for the right of women to choose to be full time homemakers without suffering what they see as economic discrimination. While. it supports equality of opportunity for men and women in employment and education, it opposes affirmative action or positive discrimination.

The Victorian Federation of Catholic Parents’ Clubs, originally named the Victorian Federation of Catholic Mothers’ Clubs, was established in August 1958. The decision to form the federation was made at a meeting held in the Carmelite Hall in the Melbourne suburb of Middle Park. Five hundred women delegates from one hundred and six organisations associated with schools in suburban and country parishes attended. Its aims were to support and publicise the work, achievements and needs of Catholic schools in Victoria and to seek free education for all children in the schools of their parents’ choice. Its motto was ‘Love Conquers All’. It worked for forty years to achieve its aims and ceased functioning in 1998.

Kid First Australia is the trading name of The Children’s Protection Society (CPS), which was founded in 1896 as the Victorian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

An initiative of the Governor’s wife, Lady Sybil de Vere Brassey, its aims were to protect children from cruelty and neglect, to advance the claims of neglected, abandoned and orphan children to the general public, to co-operate with existing societies for this purpose and to enforce the existing laws for the protection of neglected children and juvenile offenders.

It was one of the few secular non government agencies in the child welfare field and it operated on the philosophy of persuading or, in the last resort, compelling parents to fulfil their responsibilities. It became the Children’s Protection Society in 1971. Changes to welfare policy and legislative reform in 1985 meant a change in the Society’s role but not in the objective to reduce child abuse and neglect.

In 2018 the Children’s Protection Society changed its name to Kids First Australia. Kids First Australia provides support services to children, young people, and families, such as counselling, treatment and theraputic healing for cases of absue and neglect, youth homelessness prevention, and mentoring and education services.

The Country Women’s Association of Victoria was founded in 1928. It is a non-sectarian, non-party-political, non-profit lobby group working predominantly in the interests of women and children in rural areas. It’s first president (1928-1932) was Lady Mitchell.
The Association was formed partly in response to the formation of similar groups in other states. A major objective since its foundation was to ‘arrest the [population] drift from rural areas’-a problem which persists today. Its major activities have revolved around the provision of services to its members and the improvement of amenities in rural areas.

Originally known as Livingstone House in Carlton, then as Livingstone Home in Cheltenham in 1891, the Methodist Homes for Children provided temporary care for abused or neglected children while waiting for them to go to homes in the country. The Committee, which comprised mainly women, wanted to ensure that the children were cared for in a home like atmosphere rather than that of an institution. As demand for such accommodation increased, children remained at the Homes until they completed their education. On their move to Burwood in 1953,The Homes were subsequently known as Orana, The Peace Memorial Homes for Children and from 1989 Orana Family Services. In 1989, at the request of the State government, the organisation moved to its present location in Meadow Heights.

The Victorian Section of the St Joan’s International Alliance, was established on the initiative of Margaret Flynn an Australian member of the English section of the St Joan’s International Alliance. An avowedly feminist organisation, it was open to all Catholics who agreed with the stated object of action ‘to secure the political, social and economic equality between men and women and to further the work and usefulness of Catholic women as citizens’. A New South Wales sector was established in 1946, with South Australia and Western Australia following suit in 1950. The first national conference was held in Sydney in 1951.

The Koorie Heritage Trust emerged in 1985 from a need for a greater awareness, understanding and appreciation of Koori culture in south-east Australia and for Koori people to manage their own cultural heritage. The Trust has a range of cultural, education and oral history resources, and is a valuable resource for both the Koori and the wider community. The Koorie Cultural Centre showcases the continuous living culture, heritage and history of Koori people of south-east Australia. The Library contains over 6,000 books, papers, videos and government documents spanning from the 1850s to the present day. The Oral History Unit preserves the history of Koori individuals, families and communities from across Victoria. The one permanent and two temporary exhibition galleries showcase emerging Koori artists, touring exhibitions and exhibitions from the Trust’s collections. The retail shop, Koori Pty. Ltd., promotes Koori culture by stocking a range of products from local Koori artists and cooperatives as well as Aboriginal designed material from other states across Australia.

Whilst initially of fundamentally religious character — inherited from founding principles (i.e. Emma Robarts’ Prayer Union founded 1844) – the Young Women’s Christian Association of Melbourne (YWCA of Melbourne) began as other Young Women’s Christian Association’s – predominantly in response to urbanisation and the particular challenges this posed for women (particularly working women). The Association’s life span (before a name change in 1999) saw that focus shift in concert with changing economic and social issues; from urban challenges, to suburban ones and finally to state wide issues (hence the name change to Young Women’s Christian Association Victoria).

The Young Women’s Christian Organisation of Melbourne reclassified itself in 1999 as Young Women’s Christian Organisation Victoria (Y.W.C.A. Victoria). This name change signified a broadening of scope for the organisation which, since 1999 has tended to focus on social reform campaigns of a more vigorously political nature than its prior incarnation. Examples of this include: drug policy recommendation delivered to state and federal governments (2001); reconciliation marching (2001); asylum seeker and refugee action (2001-2004); and paid maternity leave campaigns (2001-2004.

The Community of the Holy Name was founded within the Diocese of Melbourne and was the first Anglican Order in Australia. Emma Caroline Silcock ( Sister Esther) established the community, which was one of only four such communities in Australia. The Melbourne Diocese did not recognise it until 1912 when it was given its charter. The Sisters continue to work in parishes, as Chaplains in hospitals and nursing homes, as well as in spiritual direction and leading retreats.

Lake Tyers Mission was established in 1861 when the Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines approved the allocation of 2,000 acres at Lake Tyers for the purpose of providing a base for missionaries in eastern Victoria. Consisting of a manager’s residence, church, school and huts, the mission attracted a number of Aboriginal people and as such was seen by the Mission Societies as successful and flourishing.

In 1908 it was taken over by the Board for the Protection of Aborigines as a Government station. At this time the Board believed that Victorian Aboriginal people were dying out and so it instituted a policy of closing all the reserves around Victoria and sending the people living on them to Lake Tyers.

In the 1960s the Aborigines Welfare Board attempted to close Lake Tyers as a reserve, however, it met with the residents’ opposition. The Aborigines Advancement League, led by Pastor Douglas Nicholls, fought for eight years to retain Lake Tyers Reserve. The Aboriginal Amendment Act 1965 changed the status of Lake Tyers from temporary to permanent, thus strengthening Aboriginal claims to preserve it. In 1971 the fight was finally won, when freehold title to Lake Tyers was given to the Lake Tyers Trust under the Aboriginal Lands Act of 1970. Today, Lake Tyers is also known as Bung Yarnda.

The Lake Tyers Mission and later Reserve was home to many Aboriginal women, some of whom became prominent Aboriginal spokespersons.