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WOMEN WORKING TOGETHER |
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THIS SITE CONTAINS
1 to 5 - Winning the vote
Chapter 1: The Vote or Bust 1788-1908
Chapter 2: Who Were the Suffragists?Chapter 3: 'United and Representative Agitation'
Chapter 4: Anti-Suffragists 1900-1910Chapter 5: Onwards to Success 1884-1908
6 to 10 - Social Justice and peace
Chapter 6: Moving into the Public World
Chapter 7: 1914-18 War - Pro Peace, Pro and Anti War
Chapter 8: Women's Work in WW1
Chapter 9: 1919-1935 - Surviving
Chapter 10: 1935-1945 Still Surviving
11 to 15 - Finding our voice as women
Chapter 11: 1945 and after - In Our Own Right
Chapter 12: 1970's Protesting - Working Together Again
Chapter 13: Finding Our Voice - Women's Liberation
Chapter 14: Working Collectively
Chapter 15: The 1970's & 80's Broader Women's Movement
16 to 20 - Our legacy our strength our struggle
Chapter 16: In Our Own Hands - Our Bodies
Chapter 17: Whose Right to Choose?- Our Selves
Chapter 18: Environment Matters
Chapter 19: 1990's When the Women's Movement is Quiet
Chapter 20: What a Legacy We Inherit!
Appendix 1: Papers and Interviews
Appendix 2: Songs from the Women's Movement
WOMEN FROM THE
WOMEN'S MOVEMENT
MENTIONED IN THIS WORK.
Abigail Adams
Ada Brougham
Adela Pankhurst
Adrian Howe
Agnes Murphy
Aileen Goldstein
Ailsa O'Connor
Alayne Park
Alex Butler
Alice B Toklas
Alice Henry
Alice Moon
Alice Suter
Alice Walker
Alice Weekes
Alina Holgate
Alisa Burns
Alison Alexander
Alison Dickie
Alison Richards
Alix McDonald
Alma Morton
Alma Thorpe
Andrea Coote
Annie McKenzie
Alva Geike
Amanda Bede
Amanda Biles
Amanda Graham
Amelia Ceranas
Amelia Lambrick
Amira Ingliss
Amy Castilla
Angelina Austin
Angelina Wonga
Ann Jackson
Anna Brennan
Anna Howie
Anna Morgan
Anna Pha
Anna Shaw
Anna Stewart
Anne Barker
Anne Carson
Anne Conlon
Anne Gowers
Anne Phelan
Anne Riseborough
Anne Stewart
Anne Summers
Annette Bear-Crawford
Annie Lister
Annie Lowe
Annie McKenzie
Anthea Hyslop
Antonie Stolle
Ariel Couchman
Audrey Oldfield
Barb Friday
Barbara Creed
Barbara Hall
Barbara Jones
Barbara Kerr
Barbara Marsh
Barbara Van Meurs
Barbara Wishart
Beatrice Faust
Bella Lavender
Belle McKenzie
Bertha Main
Beryl Carter
Bessie Harrison-Lee
Bessie Rainer Parkes
Bessie Rischbieth
Bette Olle
Betty Richmond
Bev Kingston
Bon Hull
Brettena Smyth
Brienne Callahan
Brigid McCaughey
Bronwyn Pike
Candy Broad
Carmel Shute
Carmen Callil
Carmen Lawrence
Carole Ford
Carole Wilson
Caroline Huidobro
Caroline Landale
Carolyn Allport
Carolyn Jay
Carolyn Worth
Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Reed
Caryl Friedman
Cath Mayes
Cath Stone
Catherine Anne Spence
Catherine Blackburn
Catherine McLennan
Cecilia John
Charlotte P Gilman (Stetson)
Cheris Kramarae
Cheryl Griffin
Chris Cathie
Chris Chapman
Chris Sitka
Chris Zsizsman
Christina Frankland
Christina Stead
Christine Haag
Churls Kramarae
Claire Berry
Clara Weekes
Clare Wright
Claudia Wright
Colleen Hartland
Constance Stone
Cynthis Carson
Dale Dowse
Dale Spender
Daphne Gollan
Deb Schnookal
Deborah Jordan
Deborah Wardley
Di Fruin
Di Otto
Di Surgey
Diane Crunden
Diane Kirby
Diane Sonnenberg
Dianne Edwards
Dianne Scott
Dianne Wells
Dimity Reed
Divna Devic
Dominica Whelan
Dora Coates
Doris Blackburn
Doris Challis
Doris McRae
Dorothy Turner
Dr Adrian Howe
Dr Aletta Jacobs
Dr Clara Stone
Dr Clare Isbister
Dr Constance Stone
Dr Helene Stocker
Dr Georgina Sweet
Dr Gwen Fong
Dr Janet Bacon
Dr Jocelynne Scutt
Dr Lyn McKenzie
Dr Marie Stopes
Dr Mary Glowrey
Dr Mary Stone
Dr Tamara McKean
Duggie Silins
Edie Turnevich
Edith Hedger
Edith Morgan
Edith Taylor
Edna Ryan
Eileen Capocchi
Eileen Kampukuta Brown
Eileen Unkari Crombie
Eleanor Dark
Eleanor Harding
Eleanor Hobbs
Eleanor M Moore
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Coady
Elizabeth Hooke
Elizabeth Jackson
Elizabeth Ramsay-Laye
Elizabeth Reid
Elizabeth Rennick
Elizabeth Wallace
Elizabeth Wheelahan
Elizabeth Windshuttle
Ellen Julia Gould
Ellen Kleimaker
Ellen Ward
Elphinstone Dick
E McAllister
Emily Dobson
Emily Greene Balch
Emily Munyungka Austin
Emily Pankhurst
Emmaline Pankhurst
Emmy Evald
Ethel Barringer
Eugenie Davidson
Eva Eden
Eva Cox
Eva Figes
Eve Fesl
Eve Gray
Evelyn Gough
Evelyn Greig
Farley Kelly
Fiona Colin
Fiona Moorhead
Fleur Finney
Flo Kennedy
Flora Eldershaw
Florence Kelly
Frances Fraser
Frances Kissling
Fraulein Von Heymann
Freda Durham
Freda Gamble
Freda Steinberg
Frida Kahlo
Florence Miller
Gay Harris
Gayle Tierney
Gaylene Sneadon
Geraldine Briggs
Geraldine Robertson
Georgina McEnroe
Germaine Greer
Gertrude Bussey
Gertrude Stein
Gill Alecto
Gillian Waite
Gina Lewis
Gisela Kaplan
Glen Tomasetti
Greta Pearce
Gudren Drewsen
Gwendolen Swinburne
Harriet Taylor Mill
Hazel Donelly
Heather Jeffcoat
Heather Osland
Helen Anderson
Helen Caldicott
Helen Dow
Helen Durham
Helen Palmer
Helen Reddy
Helen Robertson
Helen Shardey
Helen Sexton
Hellen Cooke
Henrietta Dugdale
Henry Handel Richardson
Hetty Gilbert
Ilka Elkemann
Ina Higgins
Irina Dunn
Isabel McCorkindale
Isabella Goldstein
Isabella Martinis
Ivy Makinta Stewart
Jaala Pulford
Jacinta Allen
Jackie Fristacky
Jacqui Katona
Jan Armstrong Cohn
Jan Bassett
Jan Harper
Jan Mercer
Jan Testro
Jane Addams
Jane Alley
Jane Greig
Jane Mullett
Janet Bacon
Janet Bell
Janet Elefmiotis
Janet Lindsay Greig
Janet McCalman
Janet Michie
Janet Strong
Janey Stone
Janice Brownfoot
Janice Munt
Janine Bourke
Janne Reed
Jean Bedford
Jean Daley
Jean Henry
Jean McLean
Jean Melzer
Jean Sims
Jean Taylor
Jean Thompson
Jeanette Fenelon
Jeanette Powell
Jeanette Rankin
Jeni Thornley
Jennifer Clark
Jennifer Feeney
Jennifer Lee
Jennie Baines
Jenny Bacon
Jenny Barwell
Jenny Lee
Jenny Mikakos
Jenny Rimmer
Jenny Tatchell
Jesse Marlow
Jessie Ferguson
Jessie Henderson
Jessie Mcleod
Jessie Street
Jenny Pausaker
Jessie Street
Jessie Taylor
Jill Jolliffe
Jill Parkes
Jill Reichstein
Jill Roe
Jo Ellis
Jo MacLaine-Cross
Jo Phillips
Jo Wainer
Joan Coxsedge
Joan Curlewis
Joan E Basquil
Joan Goodwin
Joan Elkington
Joan King
Joan Kirner
Joan Rosanove
Joan Rowlands
Joanna Rea
Joanne Duncan
Jocelyne Clarke
Joe Dolce
Josephine Butler
Josie Lee
Joy Damousi
Joyce Barry
Joyce Johnson
Joyce Nicholson
Joyce Stevens
Jude Perera
Judi Willis
Judith Smart
Judy Cassar
Judy Morton
Judy Power
Judy Maddigan
Judy Small
Julia Church
Julia So So
Julianne Fogarty
Julie McCrossin
Julie Shiels
Juliette Mitchell
Kamla Bhasin
Karen Bird
Karen Gillespie
Karen Milgram
Karen Overington
Karen Silkwood
Karina Veal
Kate Darian-Smith
Kate Gilmore
Kate Jennings
Kate Miller
Kath Williams
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Suzannah Prichard
Kathie Gleeson
Kathie Sarachild
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Kathleen Maltzahn
Kathryn Sutherland
Kathy Gill
Kathy Wilson
Katrina Veal
Kay Daniels
Kaye Darveniza
Kay Hamilton
Kay Hargreaves
Kay Setches
Kaz Cooke
Keitha Carter
Kerry Blundell
Kerryn & Jenny
Kris Wilkinson
Lady Helen Munro-Ferguson
Lariane Fonseca
Laura Daniele
Laura Van Nooten
Laurie Bebbington
Lena McEwan
Lesbia Harford
Lesley Hewitt
Lesley Podesta
Lesley Stern
Lesley Vick
Leslie Cannold
Leslie Henderson
Lexie Methereall
Libby Brook
Libby Minifie
Lilian Alexander
Lilian Wald
Lily D'Ambrosia
Linda Aarchen
Linda Rubenstein
Linn Van Hek
Lisa Neville
Lisa Shuckroon
Liz Beattie
Liz Byrski
Liz Dowling
Liz Taylor
Lois Bryson
Lois Young
Lorri Manning
Louisa Lawson
Louisa Remedios
Louise Asher
Louise Walford
Lorna Scarles
Lucy Kowing Wilton
Lucy Paling
Lydia Becker
Lyla Barnard
Lyn Chambers
Lyn Hovey
Lyn McKenzie
Lynne Kosky
Mabel Drummond
Mandy Paul
Maree Gladwin
Margaret Bevege
Margaret Baskerville
Margaret Geddes
Margaret James
Margaret Mead
Margaret McKenzie
Margaret McLean
Margaret Roadknight
Margaret Thorp
Margaret Tims
Margaret Tucker
Margot Oliver
Maree Gould
Maria Mies
Marian Sawer
Marian Simms
Marian Vickers
Marie Kirk
Marie McInnes
Marie Rowan
Marion Harper
Marilyn Beaumont
Marilyn Hillgrave
Marilyn Lake
Marsha Thomson
Marylin Waring
Marilyn Wise
Marj Oke
Marjorie Barnard
Marjorie Barrett
Marjorie Waters
Mary Astell
Mary Bartlett
Mary Brodney
Mary Crooks
Mary Fullerton
Mary Gilbert
Mary Grant
Mary Killury
Mary Leigh
Mary Merkenich
Mary Murnane
Mary Owen
Mary Page Stone
Mary Rogers
Mary Salce
Mary Wolstonecraft
Mary Wooldridge
Matron Brown
Maxine Morand
May Brodney
May Langbridge
May Scheidt
May Smith
Megan McMurchy
Melanie Hall
Melinda Freyer
Melvina Ingram
Meredith Tax
Mesdames: Wallace; Baines;
Lavender; Webb; Singleton;
Morris; Gardiner; Reynolds,
Reid.
Mesdames Savage and Bella Lavender
Miles Franklin
Millicent Garrett Fawcett
Miss A Hume
Miss Anderson
Miss C H Thomson
Miss Cuthbertson
Miss D McRae
Miss E Goldstein
Miss E Hedger
Miss Effie Smart
Miss E Nesbit
Miss Geraldine Rede
Miss H Bridger
Miss H McGowan
Miss Harriet Newcomb
Miss Hilda Moody
Miss Jane Adams
Miss Janet Michie
Miss Jeanette Rankin
Miss Judd
Miss L Savage
Miss Lawler
Miss Lillian Locke
Miss Lillian Wald
Miss Mary Fullerton
Miss Miriam Geach
Miss Olive Gray
Miss R Smethurst
Miss Rapier
Miss Selina Cooper
Miss Simmons
Miss Wollen
Miss Stoddart
Miss V Bonner
Misses: Lewis; McMahon; Helsby;
Moody; Wise; Pascoe; Stewart;
Goodwin; Grant etc.
Misses: Mulcahy; Delaney; Townsend;
McGrath; Clements; Collins; Triffle; Cohen; McLean
Moira Rayner
Mollie Baine
Mollie Dyer
Molly Hadfield
Monika Wells
Morag Loh
Madame E Lorton Campbel
Mrs Anna B Howie
Mrs Bella Lavender Halloran
Mrs Beresford Jones
Mrs Bochinon
Mrs Brown
Mrs Catherine P Wallace
Mrs Chesterfield
Mrs Crawford
Mrs Crutchfield
Mrs D Irwin
Mrs D Monsbourgh
Mrs D Nankivell
Mrs Dwyer
Mrs E Hampton
Mrs E M Nimmo
Mrs E Pethridge
Mrs E Rothfield
Mrs Elliot
Mrs E W Nicholls
Mrs Emily Jackson
Mrs Evelyn Gough
Mrs F J Nicholls
Mrs F Williams
Mrs Florence Kelly
Mrs Fryer
Mrs Fisher
Mrs G Cameron
Mrs Goldstein (senior)
Mrs H A Dugdale
Mrs Harrard
Mrs Harrison Lee
Mrs Jamieson
Mrs Janet Strong
Mrs Jessie Vasey
Mrs Joan Rosanove
Mrs Josephine Butler
Mrs Kelly
Mrs Langdale
Mrs Laura Howie
Mrs Lister Watson
Mrs Lowe
Mrs Lucy Paling
Mrs M Hartley
Mrs M B Wollaston
Mrs M Mayall
Mrs Mabel Drummond
Mrs Malcolm
Mrs Martin
Mrs Mary Baird
Mrs Maudsley
Mrs M McGowan
Mrs Moody
Mrs Moore
Mrs Nance Wills
Mrs Naylor
Mrs O'Dowd
Mrs P Eden
Mrs Press
Mrs Pymm
Mrs Renwick
Mrs Robertson
Mrs Rosanov
'Mum' Shirl
Mrs Singleton
Mrs Smythe
Mrs Steele
Mrs Strong
Mrs Warren Kerr
Mrs Z Lees
Muriel Heagney
Myra Roper
Nan Chelsworth
Nancy Kessing
Nancye Smith
Narelle Dwyer
Nawal El Saadawi
Nettie Palmer
Nicole Steinke
Nina Bondarenke
Norma Grieve
Olive Gray
Olive Schreiner
Onnie Wilson
Pam Brewster
Pam Roberts
Pamela Branas
Pamela Curr
Pat Freeman
Pat Gowland
Pat Martin
Patricia Filar
Patsy Adam-Smith
Paula Trechler
Pauline Kennedy
Pauline Pickford
Peggy Cullinan
Penny Cooke
Penny Farrer
Penny Ryan
Peta Tait
Petra Munro
Philippa Hawker
Ponch Hawkes
Prof. Jo Wainer
Prof. Margaret Thornton
Rachel Avery
Rachel Hesley
Rae Walker
Raelene Frances
Ramona Koval
Rebecca West
Renate Howe
Renate Klein
Renee Miller
Renee Romeril
Rhoda Bell
Rigmor Berg
Rivka Pile
Roberta Meilleur
Robin Morgan
Robin Royce
Robyn Archer
Robyn Martin
Robyn Rowland
Romawati Senaga
Ros Bowden
Rose Scott
Rosemarie Gillespie
Rosemary Brown
Rosie Ferber
Ruby Rich
Ruby Tuesday
Ruth Bermann
Ruth Crow
Ruth Ford
Ruth Schnookal
Sabine Fernheicher
Sadie Kirsner
Sally Mendes
Sally Wilkins
Sandra Bloodworth
Sandra Onus
Senator Olive Zakharov
Sharon Jones
Sheila Bayard
Sheila Ricci
Sheila Wynn
Shirley Andrews
Shirley Swain
Sister Gladys Sumner
Sister Blake
Sister Brown
Sister Hannah
Sophie Slater
Stephanie Moore
Sue Jackson
Sue Mountford
Sue Pennicuik
Sue Reid
Sue Russell
Susan Anthony
Susan Hawthorne
Susie Grezik
Susy Potter
Suzane Fabian
Sylvia Azzopardi
Sylvia Plath
Sylvie Leber
Sylvie Shaw
Tammy Lobato
Tanya McIntyre
Teresa Magna
Terri Jackson
Terry Carney
Tess Lee-Ack
Tess Maloney
Thelma Fry
Thelma Lees
Thelma Prior
Thelma Solomon
Therese Radic
Theresa Lynch
Tjunmutja Myra Watson
Tjuta Ivy Makinti Stewart
Tracey Gurd
Tricia Caswell
Tricia Szirom
Trish Crick
Trudy Wise
Una Stannard
Val Ogden
Val Osborne
Vandana Shiva
Verity Bergmann
Vweronica Shwarz
Vida Goldstein
Virginia Geddes
Virginia Woolf
Vivien Brophy
Vivienne Binns
Wendy Lovell
Wendy Lowenstein
Wendy Poussard
Win Graham
Winsome McCaughey
Yolana Sutherland
Yosano Akiko
Yvonne Margarula
Yvonne Smith
Zara Wildenaur
Zelda D'Aprano
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CHAPTER 15 - The Broader Women's Movement'Eventually, I believe, we will overcome.'
Yvonne Smith
Published 1986 by, and available from, the Union of Australian Women (Victoria)1...TAKING TIME - A Women's Historical Data Kit
Yvonne Smith: 'The Women's Historical Data Kit is intended as an introduction to the history of the social and political integration of women into Australian society ... The information dealt with in the Kit is restricted mainly to Federal and Victorian data (1861-1987), particularly with reference to legislation. It does not claim to list all significant dates or names but to act as a guide in the uncovering and recognition of the part that has been played by women and women's organisations in shaping the past and present.
During the eighties when I was working with Betty Olle in the Union of Australian Women office I felt the UAW needed a project which would help to finance the organisation and meet some of the needs of the women's movement. We needed a computer and modern aids if we were to keep up with the changing world. It seemed that we were getting a lot of telephone calls from young women wanting information, historical details, school project work, when and how things happened etc. One day I had an urgent call from a solicitor who was in court. He wanted to know the date of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Another time someone wanted to know about the Menhennit ruling on abortion. There was definitely a need for this type of information to be at our fingertips – a women's historical data kit. I set about getting funding and compiling it.
When I was dealing with Aboriginal women's history there was a problem. Their struggle had been based so much on land rights and women's rights were dependent on their relationship to land. This couldn't be incorporated into any women's history. I got in touch with Eve Fesl and asked if she would agree with putting in a timeline history, which she provided. The result, minus an index and some of Eve's material – because we were over budget and pages – is TAKING TIME, Women's Historical Data Kit, Compiled and Edited by Yvonne Smith, published by the Union of Australian Women, Victoria.2...1969 UNITED COUNCIL OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN (UCAW)
Snapshots of Aboriginal Fitzroy: 'A pamphlet circulated in 1969 lists the office bearers for the group as being Marg Tucker (President); Eleanor Harding (Vice President); Joyce Johnson (Secretary) and I. King as Treasurer. The UCAW stated: "We are a group of Aboriginal women who feel that it is long past the time that our voices should be heard on Aboriginal affairs, voicing the deepest needs of our people, our families and especially our youth" City of Yarra website
3...1972 GOVERNMENT FUNDED SERVICES BEING ESTABLISHED
Pauline Pickford: 'Labor Government elected - 'During the Whitlam era many major improvements were made for all women. Women's Centres were establishes, free contraceptives were provided ... for urban women ... job opportunities were widened and in many ways new advantages could be seen ... Aboriginal organisations sprang up in almost every sphere - medical, legal, welfare and children's services etc. Aboriginal women are playing a dominant role in these organisations.' Recollections of older women Koories who were involved in the earlier 1930's land rights struggles, as remembered by Pauline Pickford. page 77 Taking Time UAW
'WACC papers: ' Domestic violence was rife and by the mid-1970s referrals to refuges became crucially important. ... Gradually groups like the Women's Refuge Referrals Service became funded, so operated independently. A lot of the womyn's services we now take for granted started with Women's Liberation energy and unfunded groups. They started with unpaid work and the energy of many, many women who set up refuges and referral services, legal and medical services, rape crisis centres and activist collectives around a whole range of issues.' Melbourne University archives
Victorian Women's Refuge Group - Caryl Friedman and Amanda Graham: Thoughts of the Children - " ... they let you muck around and they teach you how to make things. There are people to talk to and things to play with outside. It's pretty good 'cos you're safe and Dad can't find you. You can have your room to yourself when you're upset. I like that. Sally is cross sometimes when she gets angry with me - if I annoy her too much. I wish we had a swimming pool, a dog, and lots more cakes." A young resident.' Childcare Resource Guide June 1980
Private papers
BACK TO TOP5...POLITICAL ATTACKS ON FEMINIST REFUGES
Western Union Refuge Group: 'We believe Right to Life, Festival of Light, Women Who Want to be Women and Women's Action Alliance are working to vilify, undermine and stop funding for feminist women's refuges.' Women's Liberation newsletter University of Melbourne
Rouge: 'No longer can we ignore the rise of right-wing women's groups. No longer can we as a movement dismiss them as "middle class" or "ineffectual." Anti-feminist women's groups are growing, they are recruiting, they are hindering our work - they are subverting and co-opting the women's liberation movement.' Rivka Pile papers, University of Melbourne archives
Western Union Refuge Group: 'When so much time is spent fending off attacks by politically motivated pressure groups, and so much more of our time is spent negotiating with Government, we should also spend time to understand the implications and motivations behind our opposition.
Rouge: 'WAA does not attack the existence of refuges, or the fact that such a need exists - it is to the (so-called) "political" nature of refuges that the attacks are directed.' 'The National Civic Council, through Women's Action Alliance, has long waged a war against what they called in Newsweekly May 23 1979 "politicised women's refuges." University of Melbourne archives
Women's Action Alliance Response to advertisement in the Age January 8 1979 (Raised in Parliament by Senator Margaret Guilfoyle) -
'The refuge operates as a feminist collective, and the positions involve organising political actions around women's issues, as well as co-ordinating the day to day running of the house. Is this kind of activity, exploiting the unfortunate persons concerned, what is envisaged by the Government in its substantial financial assistance to women's refuges?' Rivka Pile papers, University of Melbourne
Jane Alley, Cris Chapman, Virginia Geddes, Kathy Wilson:' Women's Liberation Halfway House and Western Region Women's Refuge will have their funding terminated on March 31 '80. The government funding gained by the Halfway House collective in 1975 was for the purpose of running a Halfway House even though the setting up of the house was only one of a number of aims set out by the collective. The other aims include developing a collective structure, obtaining welfare, legal, medical and housing rights for women, making ourtselves aware of our rights to independence and self-management, gathering information about women's oppression and using this in the struggle to liberate women (see Ch 14:2) ...
To operate Refuges as welfare agencies would not act towards managing the conditions of women in society, and as such would not threaten the system, but may in fact actively support it ...
Behind Closed Doors - Close or Concede? ... Continuing our struggle against the power structures which oppress women while at the same time providing a welfare service has always been a difficult task for the Women's Liberation Halfway House collective ...
'The Power of the Right Wing - The move towards welfare has been reinforced by the well directed by the organized right-wing, such as the National Civic Council and the Women's Action Alliance whose conscious aim is to depoliticize refuges. These groups regard feminist refuges as the visible manifestation of the women's movement, committed among other things to the breakdown of the nuclear family. The emergence of groups such as the WAA was a direct response to the growth of Women's Liberation. Over the past year, the organized right-wing has launched several attacks on feminist refuges. In the La Trobe valley the local WAA, who planned to set up their own refuge, fought against the establishment of a non WAA aligned refuge to the extent of taking their case to the ombudsman. Western Region Women's Refuge was attacked for advertising for co-ordinators who would be involved in organizing political activity around women's issues.' Scarlet Woman March '80 Ilke Elkemann papers University of MelbourneMarilyn Lake and Farley Kelly: 'The women's movement is often accused of not caring for the woman who stays at home, or of "driving women out of the home into the workforce". Neither of these accusations is true or fair. Many of the women's movement activities are directed to helping women at home. Feminists work towards child care for the woman at home as much as for the woman who goes to work outside the home.' p 445 Double Time - Women in Victoria - 150 Years Marilyn Lake and Farley Kelly Penguin 1985
But many feminists saw women's role in the home as problematic -
Zelda D'Aprano: 'It is essential that with the changed role of women having been firmly established, the early conditioning process of housewife/mother must cease, for it is from this that the greatest damage is done, not only to women, but to the whole of society.' State Library of VictoriaWestern Union Refuge Group: 'We would like to make some connections between right wing groups, the nuclear family and women. The right wing groups use an ideological attachment upon women to reinforce the nuclear family structure, as well as to maintain social control and to divert attention from the real issues that are at the basis of the social and economic crisis.' The resurgence of conservative attitudes towards women was taking its toll on women's participation in any form of public organisation, and the 'communist scare' continued to divide those women who remained active. ' p.128 For Love Or Money: a pictorial history of women and work in Australia Megan McMurchy, Margot Oliver, Jeni Thornley ed Irina Dunn design Pam Brewster Penguin 1983
Rouge: 'It is essential for feminists to examine closely and expose the distortions of Women's Action Alliance letters, articles and actions. They are NOT working in our interest. Women's Action Alliance (and its assorted 'umbrella' groups) must not be allowed to operate as 'feminist' groups. It must be exposed for what it is - an alliance between reactionary and conservative forces, dedicated to the destruction of women's liberation and the return of women to their "homes, families and pride of femininity ... ' Rivka Pile papers, University of Melbourne archives
Scarlet Women's Collective: '(Women's Action Alliance) is an insidious arm of a semi-secret organisation whose full-time members have managed to hinder and wreck work done in vast areas of progressive women's liberation activities. It has tremendous reception in the press (particularly the Women's Weekly) ... it has managed to create 'controversy' and divisions over 'educational and moral issues'. Through clever manipulation of feminist terms, aims and principles, it has worked to co-opt the movement, recruiting large numbers of women. This is vital to their success.' University of Melbourne archives
Rouge: 'Women members of National Civic Council are the spokespeople for all Women's Action Alliance campaigns - even if the policies are decided by men. As women they add authenticity and make the connection between their own lives and the conditions of women ... This is one reason why women's liberation subversion remains such a high priority within the organisation.' University of Melbourne archives
8...THE NATIONAL CIVIC COUNCIL
Rouge: 'More than most right-wing groups, the NCC has a strong nexus within the family - it's members are mainly Roman Catholic, maintaining a strict "morality" about sexuality. This is one reason why women's liberation subversion remains such a high priority within the organisation ... Women are trained through NCC courses ... -
Anne Blandthorne (Anne Black) of Women's Action Alliance presented this to the National Civic Council -
Victorian State Conference October 21-22 1978: 'Perhaps the greatest step that we have taken is to establish a Women's Bureau in the Shop Assistant's Union. Under the guidance and direction of Jim Maher, ... the five women associated on a full time basis with the bureau have been able to lay the foundations for the presenting of an alternative philosophy to that of the women's liberationists within the movement. The Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association has adopted a three point policy on women's issues. It will campaign for equal rights and opportunities for working women, it supports a homemakers allowance for women who wish to stay at home and it believes that wherever possible children should be looked after by the family.' October 1978 Women's Liberation NewsletterThis is particularly poignant as the Shop Assistants' Union was established in 1902 by female activists to organise workers in an occupation dominated, as it still is, by women - see The Women of Oz the changing role of women in Australia by Joy Damousi pub Australia Post c1994.
The Women's Action Alliance -
Muriel Heagney: 'Those who control the economic system react the same way to all threats to their sovereignty ...' State Library of Victoria
Jane Alley, September 1980: 'Here are some right wing and government attacks on feminist services at the moment -
- Late 1978, early 1979 Women's Action Alliance endeavours to take over the establishment of a refuge in Latrobe Valley, successfully suspending operation of the project and funding for some time.
- April 1979, workers at Western Region Women's Refuge in Victoria are asked to sign a statutory declaration that they will not be involved in political activity during working hours.
- December 1979, Victorian refuges are asked for residential addresses and visits, stricter funding guidelines, giving the government more control.' University of Melbourne archivesThe Endeavour Forum -
Whenever feminists argue for State support for bearing and raising children, anti feminists argue for some version of husband's support for wives. Anti-feminist groups such as the Endeavour Forum accuse feminists of not allowing women to be wives and mothers - they confuse the feminist aim to be more than just wives and mothers with being nothing but wives and mothers. Anti-feminist groups such as the Endeavour Forum also refer to an idealised patriarchal family when referring to real families, and claim to be feminist and anti-feminist. The website homepage is catalogued at the National Library under Endeavour Forum / Feminism - Australia / Anti-feminism - Australia / Women - Social Conditions - Australia - 20th century. (also see 15:National Foundation for Australian Women: 'Endeavour Forum (1979 - ) 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.' http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0738b.htm
Mariam Sawer and Mariam Simms: 'Anti-feminist groups such as (Women Who Want to be Women) WWWW have had close links with the National Party; its founder, Babette Francis, ran as a National Party candidate in the 1984 Federal election against a sitting Liberal member who had supported the sex discrimination Act. WWWW saw the National Party as "rock solid on family issues" and a bulwark against the "unisex society" created by the "social engineers" of the Hawke government, aided by trendies in the Liberal party. Changes in traditional gender roles were seen as creating a "crisis" in the family and society.' A Woman's Place Women and Politics in Australia Allen and Unwin 1993
Thanks to Zelda D'Aprano, copyright International Wages for Housework Campaign, London10..WHEN 'FAMILY' MEANS PATRIARCHAL FAMILY
Vashti 25 1979: '(From the perspective of the Women's Action Alliance) '... The family is utilised as the only way of ensuring warmth and security in what is seen as a stressful, immoral world. In order to uphold the family as "the natural and fundamental unit of society", right-wing groups launch campaigns against anything which seems to detract from this role, such as community child care, creches rather than pre-schools, equal opportunity programs, abortion, refuges, homosexuality, family law Acts, anti discrimination, anti sexism, and any women's liberation programme. In some of these campaigns such as the pressure for pre-schools, that is, sessional kindergartens as opposed to community childcare or creches, blatant discrimination against working women is revealed.
Rather than correcting the imbalance and offering equal opportunity of child care for mothers at home, it actively prevents working women finding childcare for their children and actively keeps them out of the workforce, or else further exploits women through cheap and often inadequate day care.' University of Melbourne archives
Women's Action Alliance Report to the NCC: 'The future of the child lies in the family. It is on this premise that we will be meeting our opponents - people that believe that the future of the child lies in: 24 hour child care centres; the hands of teachers to manipulate at will; the hands of so-called parents, living in lesbian or homosexual relationships. In fact in any hands other than what we know to be the family.' Women's Report to NCC State Conference Melbourne October 1978 University of Melbourne
11..WORKING WOMEN and WAA 'HOMEMAKER'S ALLOWANCE'
Nearly a century ago it was promoted as a 'Wages for Wives'. The feminists at the time successfully resisted it and promoted, and got, a maternity allowance - child endowment; and as an entitlement for all women, not a charity for poor women. Later, a half a century ago, it was the Australian Women's National League who promoted it, and Muriel Heagney argued against it with the similar or the same feminist arguments as are presented here, when the Women's Action Alliance (WAA) is promoting a 'homemakers' or 'housewife's' allowance.
Lyn Hovey: 'Women Are On the Move - Housewife's Allowance - A few weeks ago over 1,000 women met at the Old Ballroom to pledge support for the housewife's right to stay at home. The meeting was called by the Women's Action Alliance which says it aims to strive for 'freedom of choice' for women between taking up a career and staying at home (as Women's Liberation wants). The Alliance strongly opposes zero population growth and the Family Law Bill, which it fears could break down family structures. A glance over the Alliance's policies shows that they are right-wing formulations to counteract the effects Women's Liberation has had on women's consciousness and the way this is reflected by changing government policies. Two of the speakers at the rally ... attacked the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), after distorting feminist ideas to get their point across ... The misrepresentation of Women's Movement Views goes on as nuseum.
The Alliance President ... said that the meeting represented all those women who haven't spoken out before because they are intimidated by' trendy' Women's Liberation. Unfortunately they didn't get the opportunity to speak out at this meeting. The speakers were previously selected, motions came from the stage and no-one was able to speak from the floor ... We'Ve heard it all before! By the Right-to-Life in regard to abortion campaigns, from the Save-the-Family organisation in opposition to the Family Law Bill, from the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), the NCC etc.' Women's Liberation Newsletter June '75 University of Melbourne Also see 13:26
Rivka Pile: 'Incidental to above, John Maynes, Federal president of the Clerks' Union, says of women staying at home "It's the cheapest form of childcare". Moore/Danaan papers University of Melbourne
This quote comes from Rouge, a feminist publication --
Rouge: 'One of the most important campaigns of WAA is the establishment of a "homemakers allowance" of $40 per week so that "single-income families will not be disadvantaged." This campaign MUST be exposed.
1. It is a blatant attack on married women workers - WAA claims that such an allowance will "free" women to return to full-time "motherhood". This coincides with "Newsweekly's" campaign that married women are a major cause of youth unemployment ...
2. "Homemakers Allowance" institutionalises our role as domestic "servants" being paid a pittance to maintain a home, care for children etc. It reinforces women's position within the nuclear family. One of the most outspoken proponents has been Dr Claire Isbister, much featured in the Australian Women's Weekly. She is consistently quoted in WAA literature and Newsweekly ...
We must ... counter this blatant attack on married women in the workforce. We can't ignore the WAA "Giving Mothers Freedom of Choice" campaign.' University of Melbourne archivesPat T: 'It appears to me that if wages for housework became a reality then when I wasn't working (and lots of times I don't) and was doing most of the housework, from choice and convenience, then I would become, in the files of the bureaucracy, a houseworker/wife. It would then be so much harder to resist this definition of myself. I would find myself responsible for the housework. I am not a houseworker/wife. i do not want that responsibility and it appears that wages for housework would force that definition upon me.' Tess Maloney papers University of Melbourne
Housework should be people's work, not women's work.
Private CollectionWomen's Liberation Newsletter: 'Now for a bit of history. The wedding ring was originally (in the time of marriage by capture) a rope tied around the woman's waist or ankles to subdue her. Later on it became a token of purchase as the groom presented the ring at betrothal time. The girl wore this insignia of bondage on her left hand specifically because the right hand was thought to represent power and authority, the left hand oppression and weakness.'
12..1975 - THE WORKING WOMEN'S CENTRE
'In 1975, International Women's Year, Sylvie Shaw with other women started the first Working Women's Centre. It developed the Working Women's Charter - 'To campaign among women to take an active part in trade unions and political life, so that they may exercise influence commensurate with their numbers and to campaign among male trade unionists that they may work with women to achieve these aims: See Appendix 1
They were particularly concerned about migrant working women -
Centre for Urban Research and Action: 'Some employers views (of migrant women workers) -
- "It's not hard work. I got no complaints. It's an ideal job for women to do because there's nothing skilful or hard about it."
- "The women are suited to these jobs because they can sit at the machine all day long, doing the same thing. If they were more intelligent or better educated they would become bored or go round the bend. But this class of people is suited to the job. These women come from peasant backgrounds."
- It's not hard physically. It is mentally tedious work, but that doesn't seem to worry them. They know no different." I Wouldn't Want My Wife to Work Here a study of migrant women in Melbourne industry Research Report for International Women's Year by CURA, Melbourne 1975Women Against Rape: 'Sexual Harassment at the Workplace - The Working Women's Centre, Melbourne, is being approached more and more by women workers who have been subject to some form of sexual harassment at the workplace.
Recently cases range from a woman being driven home by her boss and raped in the car at gun point, promotion and wage increases in exchange for sexual favours, to more subtle sexual advances, innuendos, comment ... The issue has to be faced, brought out into the open and talked about ... One of the bases of sexual harassment at the workplace is the fact that the boss (male) uses his position of authority to make sexual advances to female employees and this power in turn intimidates the women into silence and inaction under the threat of losing her job. We would like to make contact with women who want to talk about personal experiences of sexual harassment at work. First, as women, we can offer support. Second, we want to compile a Register of evidence (personal names and details suppressed) which will provide us with the ground work necessary to expose the sexual harassment issue publicly, which is the first step towards its eradication ...' Zelda D'Aprano papers University of Melbourne
Zelda D'Aprano: 'The (Working Women's) Centre, co-ordinated by Sylvie Shaw and Mary Owen, provided a service to all working women and functioned successfully for five years, providing numerous services and a vast output of small publications in both English and other languages. The Centre finally came under the jurisdiction of the ACTU.' Anna Pha cited inp 215 Kath Williams the unions and the fight for equal pay, Zelda D'Aprano pub Spinifex
WAA, amongst others, did not approve -
Leaflet distributed on International Women's Day: ' In the Women's Action Alliance (WAA) report to the National Civic Council, Anne Blandthorne said: 'If it had not been for the (NCC) Movement members the ACTU and the Victorian Trades Hall Council would long ago have granted recognition to the Working Women's Centre. Recognition and support from the official trade union movement would make it easier for the Working Women's Centre to operate. By refusing them recognition we have been able to very severely limit their penetration and effectiveness. They remain on the fringes only of the Trade Union movement, they are very limited in what they can do and how far they can penetrate. And that is solely due to us.' Women's Liberation leaflet, University of MelbourneWomen's Refuges Magazine, May 1979: 'Senator Harradine (Independent, Tasmania), well known right-winger, recently launched an attack on Melbourne's Working Women's Centre. He said it had not been recognised by the trade union movement and was using government funding to push issues such as abortion and contraception - which he said have nothing to do with working women. Abortion and contraception are vital issues for women, and should be taken up wherever women are organising together.' Jenny Tatchell papers University of Melbourne
Also in 1975 -
Vashti's Voice Spring '75: 'Elizabeth Reid (first Adviser on Women's Affairs to the Prime Minister, in this case PM Gough Whitlam) - Liz Reid has been forced to resign. It is apparent that attempts were being made to move her sideways - that is, out of the range of the Prime Minister and his advisers - but only in a "consultative" capacity. New title, more money, but LESS power. No wonder she resigned. A woman of principle, intelligence and fair-mindedness, Liz Reid would not compromise her commitment to the women of Australia. Vashti's Voice supports Liz Reid unreservedly in taking the action she did ...Women Protest: The proposed move by the Labor Party to make Ms Reid an individual consultant, rather than the senior officer of an expanded women's section of the Prime Minister's Department was a device to weaken Ms Reid's effectiveness and dilute the growing strength of women's organizations and women's issues in the political arena. As an adviser to the Prime Minister's Department Liz Reid had a voice in Cabinet and Australian women knew that through her, their ideas would be heard. This vital link is now lost to us ...' Barb Friday, University of Melbourne
13..NATIONAL CIVIC COUNCIL (NCC) WOMEN'S ISSUES REPORT
See Appendix 1 for NCC background by Muriel Heagney
Western Union Refuge Group: 'No longer can we believe the Women's Action Alliance (WAA) is merely another middle class WEL type group or a group of concerned housewives. The following extracts are from the Women's Issues Report, National Civic Council State Conference, October 1978 -
Women's Liberation Newsletter March '84: 'No document describes the relationship between the NCC and WAA better than the now infamous transcript of the Women's issues Report presented to the NCC Victorian State Conference in 1978. The report clearly links the NCC to both WAA and the equivalent student groups 'Moderate Feminists' (see below) and the SDA, through its Women's Bureau. It is difficult to sort out whether the NCC operatives involved really believe some of their statements or are adept at manipulation of the facts. Do they actually think that the Communist party controls the Women's Liberation Movement? Do they believe that their efforts have had so wide-ranging effects, and do they believe their own inaccurate reporting?
An example of this inaccuracy contained in Anne Blandthorne's statement about the Working Women's Centre (see below) and her assertions about the so-called sackings of two prominent women activists:
Anne Blandthorne: "It was due to the work of (NCC) movement members that both _______ and ______ lost their jobs with the Victorian Public Service."
In fact, neither lost their jobs (though not for want of trying on the part of the NCC). One woman, under extreme attack, did resign. The other was never employed by the Public Service, but rather by a community group funded by a government department (they got the department wrong, too). The most serious aspect of this, however, is that employers of the second woman at different times received a dossier about her with the express aim of having her sacked. In one case, pressure was put on the employing people by a person in a government department to fire her, but the employers resisted.
This type of activity by the NCC is not isolated. What's more they appear proud of it. There appears to be at least some circumstantial evidence that interference and influence by NCC supporters was partly responsible for the Melbourne Women's Health Collective not receiving its funding through the then Hospital & Charities Commission in 1975.' University of Melbourne archives
Leaflet for International Women's Day 1978: 'The National Civic Council (NCC) is a right wing organisation whose parliamentary arm was the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) which is now defunct*. But the work of the NCC goes on. The work of the NCC in the 1950's was infiltrating the ALP and the trade unions to get rid of progressive people and politics. With the demise of the DLP*, the NCC has been regrouping and infiltrating the unions and progressive organisations such as the Australian Union of Students (AUS:). It is also moving people into the main political parties.
The politics of the NCC are fanatically anti-communist and have a right wing Catholic ideology. This is why Women's Liberation is such a threat because we challenge the existence of basic units such as the (patriarchal) family which upholds the oppression of women.' University of Melbourne archives *The DLP is not defunct in 2008
Women's Liberation Newsletter: 'The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) patently shares Hitler's policy on women: paternalistic but repressive, in theory women are limited to Kuche, Kirche and Kinder (kitchen, church and children), in practice forcing women to do the monotonous, poorly paid work which men despise - housework, factory work etc.' Ruth Bermann papers, University of Melbourne
Women's Report to NCC Melbourne State Conference: 'The National Civic Council - Women's Action Alliance viewpoint -
The Trade Unions: 'WAA has been most active in this area "challenging women's liberationists in the trade unions." Their tactic has been to establish "women's bureaus" to effectively diffuse any issues and divert energy into "management training, "pregnancy support" etc.
The Student area: 'In the student area we have established a "Moderate Feminists" group with the main Victorian person being Margaret O'Connell. Throughout the year this group has presented an alternative viewpoint to that of the Australian Union of Students (AUS) Women's departments on the tertiary campuses and has won a surprising degree of support for the views it has expressed.'
The Public Service: 'This is an area where women's liberationists are very active. Some of you may remember the name of Penny Ryan. Penny Ryan was a former Women's Advisor to the Victorian Premier's Department ... Another similar example was the recent appointment of the former Australian Union of Students women's officer Laurie Bebbington as Project Officer for the Victorian Government's Youth, Sport and Recreation Department's Committee on Social Development.
It was due to the work of movement members (B A Santamaria's "The Movement" - National Civic Council) that both Penny Ryan and Laurie Bebbington lost their jobs with the Victorian Public Service. WAA has members on several important government committees ... innumerable submissions and letters ... we are represented at the National Council of Women where an executive position is held.
Equal Opportunity Resource Centre: 'The Victorian Government is currently re-considering the whole future of the Equal Opportunity Resource Centre and that is also due to us.
The Women's Electoral Lobby: 'The final area I want to look at is WEL, which is little but a front for the extreme women's liberationists ...'
WAA general Report: '... one example is a course which has just been completed. The aim was to train some of our women members in the various areas of the women's debate. Twenty five people enrolled in the course which covered ... position, role and future of family, working women, sexism in education ... As a result ... many of our young people are better equipped to go back into the tertiary campuses or into the unions to take part in the women's debate.
It is expected that when these people leave the campuses or (obtain) full-time employment that the experience that they have gained will enable them to become operators for "Women's Action Alliance." Today we have more young people actively involved with the show ... than at any time in the past ten years.'
'WAA has been outspoken and gained recognition in many areas of debate. It has had success and will continue to have success because of its rational approach to the problems that women face today ... We are challenging the women's liberationists in the trade unions. If it had not been for (our) members work, the ACTU and VTHC would have long ago granted recognition to the Working Women's Centre ... by refusing them recognition we have been able to very severely limit their penetration and effectiveness.'
WAA has members on several important government committees ... We are represented at the National Council of Women where an executive position is held. The organisation is constantly asked to provide speakers for various organisations and functions.' University of Melbourne
Rouge: 'WAA/NCC has established "Moderate Feminist" groups in the Australian Union of Students (AUS), seeking to attack the AUS Women's Department ... They have called for the end of Women's Studies Courses (as sexist) and dismiss the expression "sexism in education" in favour of (what they call) "equality of opportunity". Women's Report to NCC State Conference October 1978 University of Melbourne
Women's Liberation Newsletter: 'Moderate Feminism? Lorrane Harrison asked the Women's Liberation Newsletter to print this propaganda and interpretation of feminism from the Women's Section Shop of the Distributive and Allied Employees Association that she found misleading, and her response.
Women's Section Shop of the Distributive and Allied Employees Association: 'Three Faces of Feminism -
1. Conservative ... who believe that every woman must make marriage and family her role and can find fulfilment only in that role.
2. Moderate ... who believe that every woman must have the opportunity to freely choose her role in society (supporting) marriage and family, equality in education and employment.
3. Radical ... who believe that a woman only develops her full potential in the paid workforce, made up of (a) femocrats and (b) the radical left.Femocrats are defined as those "who have grown comfortable and accustomed to the perks of the system, but who now occupy positions of authority in Government and have access to have influence over Government policy disproportionate to the numbers of women they actually represent. Radical Left women are defined as women "who are ideologically motivated and use women's issues as a vehicle to broaden social change".
Lorrane Jessie Harrison: 'Firstly, I have never, in all my reading, and i can assure you it is extensive in regard to womyn's issues, heard of the term Conservative feminists. I am a feminist who is horrified that you include this grouping you call Conservative feminists as feminists. Your description of this group does not fit into any category of feminist in any shape or form. This group sounds more like Women Who Want to be Women. Sure womyn have a right to believe in those ideas, but they would not fit into any group ... Feminism at its very core, especially Liberal feminism, is about choices ...
Your term Moderate feminists I would classify as Liberal feminists ... You mention Femocrats as part of Radical feminism. I am positive you will have a lot of angry womyn who classify themselves as Femocrats, but not radical feminists ... Radical feminists don't believe that a womyn only develops her full potential in the paid workforce. Your statement on Radical Left womyn is an assumption, not a fact.' University of Melbourne
15..MORE PATRIARCHAL REACTION -Women Who Want to be Women
This is Women Who Want to be Women (WWWW)'s statement of who they are -
WWWW - Babette Francis: 'Women's Action Alliance (WAA) was formed in 1974 by a group of women whom most but not all are Catholics. One of the founders, Marianne Crowe, stood for election on the Democratic Labor Party Senate team headed by Frank McManus. WAA became active following the Women and Politics conference in Canberra in August 1975, and received advice and co-operation from Bob Santamaria's National Civic Council.
Women Who Want to be Women was founded just prior to WAA's second conference, at a dinner party at my home on 22 March 1976 ... Although three of the founding members of WWWW were also members of WAA, it was not a breakaway group but represented a perception that another organisation was needed because WAA had no official policy on abortion.
We could not merely work through a Catholic organisation such as the Catholic Women's League, as many opponents of abortion and abortion funding are non-Catholics; nor through Right to Life Groups, as these are single-issue lobbies whereas WWWW aims to improve the status and socio-economic conditions for women so that pregnancy is a joy and not an unbearable burden ... WWWW feminists regard themselves as representing a third stage of feminism in this century, the first two stages being emancipation and liberation.' p 444 Marilyn Lake Farley Kelly ed Double Time Women in Victoria - 150 Years Penguin 1985
Women's Liberation Newsletter Dec '82: 'Women Who Want to be Women (WWWW) Don't Want Women's Studies -
Let's Get Rid of Women's Studies is the title of a virulent, bigoted and illogical article which is being distributed to tertiary institutions around Australia by WWWW. The article's author is Michael Levin, Professor of Philosophy at City College NY ... Levin is expected to tour most Australian states next year. The covering note from WWWW signed by (Mrs) Jackie Butler states "Those responsible for accrediting various courses at your institution may possibly find Prof Levin's arguments relevant" ... Levin states on the first page "Conceived in academic sin, Women's Studies has never gained legitimacy. It is never, as its name might imply, the dispassionate study of women. It is always the advocacy of feminism" (Let's hope he is right). He then has a serve at the books used -
Our Bodies Our Selves - "A how-to manual about lesbianism, birth control, venereal disease and rape".
The Second Sex and The Dialectic of Sex - "Explicitly Marxist tracts".He spends a great deal of the article declaring that Women's Studies Courses aren't "neutral and hard" academically (as if all other courses are) and if that shouldn't as an argument then women have done nothing to study anyway! The article is punctuated by some pretty "off" cartoons and Levin seems a bit obsessed by the idea of lesbians, Marxists and quilt makers taking over our universities.'
Marian Sawer and Marian Simms: 'The Women's Information Referral Service (WIRE) had been set up in 1984 "to provide women with information and support to enable them to make key decisions in their lives". Marian Sawer and Marian Simms A Woman's Place Women and Politics in Australia Allen & Unwin 1993
Jean Taylor: 'Having a telephone for referral, information and support and a building in which to meet were always two of main ingredients for the feminist revolution. Gradually groups like the Women's Refuge Referrals Service became funded, so operated independently. A lot of the womyn's services we now take for granted started with Women's Liberation energy and unfunded groups. They started with unpaid work and the energy of many, many women who set up refuges and referral services, legal and medical services, rape crisis centres and activist collectives around a whole range of issues.' Women's Web Women's Stories, Women's Actions www.womensweb.com.au
Mary Bartlett/Christine Haag - Women's Information and Referral Exchange: 'Dear Sisters, WIRE has recently been taken to the Equal Opportunity Board by ... Women Who Want to be Women .... We believe the case to have been an exercise in political propaganda on the part of WWWW, and an attempt to discredit WIRE in the eyes of the public, to jeopardize our funding and to divert our financial and emotional resources. WIRE decided legal representation was necessary for the Hearing as this is a test case, which will determine whether feminist service provision groups will be permitted to have only those women with compatible political (for Affirmative Action in this case) beliefs providing that service.
Clearly, the case has significant ramifications for all women's groups, and the decision will affect the autonomy of all groups and their ability to deal with individuals with views antithetical to the group. If we lose, any group which is government funded or on government land may well be required to accept any woman as a member of the group, without being able to use political (feminist) views as a basis for selection. ...' University of Melbourne
WIRE lost.
17..VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT ADVISER ON WOMEN'S AFFAIRS RESIGNS
Undated,unnamed press clipping: 'The State Government's Adviser on Women's Affairs, Ms Penny Ryan, has resigned - accusing the Hamer administration of "tokenism" ... Ms Ryan claimed yesterday she had been "frozen out" by a deliberate campaign which made her job useless. She said the Government was not serious about helping women and had only used her to promote an unrealistic image of concern.
"There were so many restrictions put on me that my position was ineffective", she said yesterday. "All I was doing was helping Hamer maintain the image that he was doing something for the women of Victoria - which he is not. It would have been futile to continue". University of Melbourne archives
18..REFUGES - 'WE THEREFORE REJECT GOVERNMENT FUNDING ...'
Letter to the Hon. W. Jona, Minister for Community Welfare Services, 19 December 1979 from the Victorian Women's Refuge Group: 'We are informing you that following the meeting of the 17th December between officers of your department and members of the Victorian Women's Refuge Group, the Women's Liberation Halfway House Collective finds it is no longer possible to operate a refuge consistent with its principles and to accept government funding. We therefore reject government funding for 1980-1981 under the conditions under which it is presently being offered.
The Department's offer of confidentiality is illusory. The Department's claim to a pre-emptive right of visiting and inspection is unacceptable. The limitation of the list of nominees to people who have had no relationship with refuges, and minimal understanding, if any, of the aims and objectives of the collective is unacceptable. The Department's interpretation of the principle of parliamentary accountability is fundamentally antagonistic to community initiative and therefore unacceptable. Interference in Halfway House's administration and policy is implicit in each of the Government's demands, and we reject it.
We reject these conditions as being inconsistent with the stated aims of the Department of Community Services' Refuge Program, and with the principles and philosophies of the Women's Liberation Halfway House Collective ... ' Women's Liberation archives University of Melbourne
Yvonne Smith: 'Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL)) formed in February with initial aim of carrying out a survey of candidates for the 1972 federal election.' page 29 Taking Time Union of Australian Women
WEL website: 'WEL 'one arm of the total women's liberation or feminist movement' Joyce Nicholson: ''WEL was a political lobby, not a political party. We were strictly non-party, and after much discussion decided against fielding WEL candidates for parliament. We felt we would be more effective if we pressured all members, all parties and all power groups to treat women equally, to look specifically at women's problems.
We worked always for feminist aims, and some of us regularly had to stand up and argue at meetings for members not to get involved in other causes. Typical of our work was three early campaigns. One was the first demonstration in which I took part, and though this was mainly organised by Women's Liberation, WEL supported it. Prior to 1972 girls had not been allowed to sit for entrance to the administration division of the Victorian Public Service, which meant that promotion there was denied them.
In 1972 applications were sent in for girls under their initials only, and these were accepted; women picketed the Exhibition Building to make sure those girls were allowed to sit the exam. They did and they passed. The next year it was made legal, and of 1200 young people who sat for 150 vacancies, a quarter of those who passed were female and a third of the 150 places went to young women. We also discovered constant discrimination against women trying to obtain loans from banks. Pressure was put on the various banks and on governments to rectify this. Under the Equal Opportunities Act now in force, none of these things should occur today.
WEL also ran a campaign against the 27.5% sales tax the government placed on the sale of contraceptives. They were being looked upon as a luxury rather than a medical necessity!' http://www.wel.org.au/wel/about/70swel.htm
20..THE 1972 CAMPAIGN: Think WEL Before You Vote
Yvonne Smith: 'Think WEL before you vote' campaign, organised by Women's Electoral Lobby, surveyed politicians' attitudes to women's rights and needs. It appeared as a lift out in the Melbourne 'Age' on 20 November.' page 29 Taking Time Union of Australian Women
WEL website: 'The WEL campaign in 1972 was based on the six demands formulated by women's liberation: equal pay, equal employment opportunity, free contraceptive services, abortion on demand, and free 24-hour childcare. Action groups began to work in these areas creating the basis for the well-researched submissions for which WEL was to become famous.' http://www.wel.org.au/wel/about/70swel.htm
1972 WEL leaflet: 'Make Your Vote Count - Australian women have had the vote in Federal Parliament for almost three quarters of a century, but today they had little to show for it. There are currently no women in the House of Representatives, women are discriminated against at work, at school and in the home. Married women suffer many anomalies in tax benefits, medical and welfare payments. Single women are discriminated against through credit, home loans and insurance. ALL women suffer laws which deny them the right to control their biological destinies by adequate sex education, inexpensive contraception and elective abortion. The problem of population, environment and resources is neglected, creating a threat to our children's present health and future survival. These things must change ...
WEL undertakes to survey all candidates and prepare a form-guide on their ratings as pro-indifferent-anti feminist ... Here is how we are organised -
1. Hansard Search - Carmen Lawrence is combing Hansard for statements by sitting members of the House of Representatives which can be used for and against them. Anyone who is a bit obsessive or experienced in document searching should contact Carmen. It's not difficult, just dull, or screamingly funny, depending on how you look at politics.
2. Written Survey - A vast team is now preparing questions to be posted to all candidates, requesting their views on key issues: fertility control; day-care; Local Government; Aborigines (we have invited Aboriginal women to do this); education; welfare; industry; finance; legal guarantees; social (divorce and alimony); pollution. The technical team is listed below - Carmen Lawrence, Sheila Wynn, Sue Mountford, Judy Morton, Barbara Mash ...We intend to make sure that no women vote carelessly in this election and that no candidate goes to the polls without a WEL rating to inform women whether he will represent their interests. Intelligent candidates will actively seek their support.' Women's Liberation Archives, University of Melbourne
21..WEL called 'EMPTY HEADED PARROTS'?
Politicians' reactions varied -
The Age 20 November 1972: South Australian John McLeay attended WEL's public meeting 'against my better judgement', he said, and 'I don't think I have ever spoken to a group of people so narrow minded, intolerant and so fixed in their own views as to not listen to anyone else. They are not interested in women's issues particularly. They are only interested in one subject - a regurgitation of all angles of contraception. It's like dealing with a lot of empty headed parrots. They come back to this question of contraceptives. I regard these people as quite unrepresentative of women in Australia. WEL has done more damage to the interests of women in public life than any other organization.'In the NSW electorate of Bennelong, veteran politician and former Minister for the Army Sir John Cramer refused to attend WEL's public meeting and said that 'a woman must be taught that virginity is the most valuable thing she possesses'
Here are some more responses from politicians who showed themselves enemies of the women's movement, taken from the WEL Broadsheet No 27 Vol 3 1974 -
- Hannan, National/Liberal Party: 'I have never been interested in the equality of women at all. I have always placed women above myself and don't wish to drop them down to my level.'
- Senator Wright, Liberal Tasmania: 'It is a great fundamental mistake to think there is discrimination ... There are great differences between men and women which will not be over-ruled - to make woman an economic unit is unnatural.'
- Senator Lauke, Liberal/Country Party, SA: 'I put woman on a pedestal. Women are ennobling in their own particular provinces.'
- Senator Jasson, Liberal, SA: 'Women are equal. Women don't want to be equal.'
- Senator Marriott, Liberal Tas: 'Discrimination does not exist. It is all in women's imagination. Women should not waste time in this manner but should prove themselves in jobs etc. Women are their own worst enemies, that is, jealousies etc.'
- Senator Robson, Liberal, Tas: 'The only discrimination between men and women is the discrimination in different toilets.'
- Senator Greenwood, Liberal, Vic: 'Women should not be helped when they're not prepared to help themselves.'
- Gordon Postle, National, Qld: 'Labouring is not for women. Men shouldn't have to do clerical work when there are women available.'
- Max Frost, Liberal ACT: 'I wonder if women should play league football in integrated teams. I wonder about the physical problems involved ... '
- Pickering, Liberal ACT: 'Women perform better as woman cleaners in women's toilets. Men are better as private secretaries to politicians. Women are better as private secretaries in business.' University of Melbourne23..WEL AND WOMEN'S LIBERATION
WEL website: 'Although I write of Women's Liberation and WEL as if they were two bodies, WEL was, and always will be, one arm of the total women's liberation or feminist movement. ... The many gains for women made in the early 70s were the result of a groundswell from many groups of women throughout the community, of which WEL was part, and at a politically favourable time - during the Whitlam years. I believe the greatest need now is to make sure women do not become complacent, do not believe that women's equality has been achieved ... People, mostly men, keep saying to me, 'What are you going on about? You have won the battle.' Actually it has just begun, and there is a backlash against what has been gained. 'Moral' forces throughout the world are preaching against abortion, blaming women for the breakdown of family life, trying to reinforce women's guilt for all that is wrong in the world ...' http://www.wel.org.au/wel/about/70swel.
Melbourne University Women's Liberation archives24..THE UNION OF AUSTRIAN WOMEN (UAW) IN THE 1970's and 1980's
UAW booklet March 1974, 'Child Care and Family Day Care: The UAW works on the principle that community action is the best method of influencing governments to introduce new legislation, therefore the accelerating campaign for child care for the children of working people has given us great confidence that this goal will be achieved.
Suzane Fabian, Morag Loh:
- Edith Morgan prepared a pre-budget case for the Council of Single Mothers and their Children to put to the Federal government, pointing out that single parent benefits had not increased since 1973, and asking that they be made 30 per cent of the average weekly wage.
- ... the management committee ... lobbied the ACTU and parliamentarians for a 20 per cent increase in family allowances and for indexation against inflation; the committee wrote to the Prime Minister and the RSL asking them to support increases for civilian and war pensioners.
- In 1982 the deaths of Edith Taylor and May Smith, two UAW foundation members, sparked a five-year campaign on care for the elderly. ... and Alma Morton and Fleur Finnie ... became active. By 1986, ... Trained nurses, Narelle Dwyer, Fleur Finnie, E MAllister, Sheila Ricci and Nancye Smith worked with Evelyn Greig, May Langbridge, Gina Lewis and Alma Morton to put a submission to the State Gov. Ministerial Enquiry into Special Accommodation Houses.
- The UAW submission to the 1989 Social Security Review Issues Paper asked that pensions be raised to 25% of average weekly earnings, ... It also advocated a special carers' allowance of $50 per week. Alma Morton had argued for this:"Women are the carers of the world. They struggle at home, looking after the frail and the disabled but their work is not recognised. There's no recompense. I know a woman who gave up paid employment to care for a family member. She took a tremendous drop in income by going on the carers' pension, which is about the same as the old age pension."... Although UAW members managed to live well, most could not afford the lifestyle of some of the middle class feminists with whom they worked. Marj Oke remembered raising working class realities at meetings with other groups, including the NCW, ..."'I used to argue, "Look, I've no money. I can't come to these things you're charging so much for. Look around this room, there must be lots of organisations with women in them as poor as I am. I'm a pensioner. This is how much the pension is. How can you save up on that and come to $40 dinners?" I learnt then that there are people in the community who like to hear what you're saying but they don't want to stand up and say it. So you've got to be brave and stand up on their behalf." Left Wing Ladies The Union of Australian Women in Victoria 1950-1998 Hyland House 2000
25..WOMEN AND WELFARE: Fight the Welfare Cuts
Vashti Spring '81: 'In the small print of the budget we find another attack on the lives of women. Women will be refused unemployment benefits if their spouses are involved in industrial action or when their spouses have been refused unemployment benefits, or had it cancelled or postponed. ... Women must continue to fight back - and can, by becoming involved in women's mobilization.' State Library of Victoria
26..ABORIGINAL WOMEN FIGHT FOR A REFUGE
Vashti 75 1979: '... The Aboriginal Women's Committee formed at the Aboriginal Advancement League ... want to support their sisters. They have submitted to the Federal Government for a Refuge to be established in the Northcote area. They are prepared to join ranks with the Victorian Women's Refuge Group who are supporting their case but have a few different views about the way they want to run their shelter and what kinds of women they will take in. It is likely that the shelter will have a woman manager and it is likely that other categories of Aboriginal women in need apart from those getting away from male violence will be housed, eg the shelter will not turn away Aboriginal women leaving Fairlea Prison with no place to go, as the women know well that after Fairlea many are exploited in the hotels of St Kilda and Fitzroy ...
The Vashti Collective supports the fight for Victoria's Aboriginal women to have their own refuge and run it according to their own needs. It appears at this stage that the Aboriginal Women's Refuge could be the last (feminist) initiative in refuges to be funded in Victoria. This is catastrophic for the Women's Liberation Movement and a further move by Fraser to get women back into family structures and the traditional role.' Women's Liberation papers Melbourne University archives
27..INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DECADE 1975-1985
Women's Liberation Newsletter Jan/Feb '75: 'Our Thoughts: International Women's Year (IWY) is barely six weeks old and already the hypocrisy of the male establishment is hitting women in the face ... We are being offered cake when we need bread. Receptions, civic honours, when we need work, childcare, health services, legal aid, refuges and equal access to education etc ... None of the essential aspects of women's lives are being touched by (IWY). Whatever is achieved will be the results of our own efforts and ourselves alone, but not in isolation. Women's Liberation is International and Sisterhood is Powerful!' Ruth Bermann papers University of Melbourne
Bette Olle: 'Dear Friend, As the halfway mark of the International Women's Decade approaches we see many of the gains made in 1975 being whittled away by a conservative government and the worsening economic situation, with married women in the workforce being seen as the scapegoat for youth unemployment. Similar situations exist in many countries overseas, and there is a need for women to fight to keep what gains have been made, which is the theme for International Women's Day 1979.' State Library of Victoria IWD papers
Anne Gowers: 'In addition to the plight (with inadequate childcare) of working women can be added the loneliness and isolation felt by young mothers who look after their children in high-rise flats or outer suburban areas where basic supportive community services are few and far between ... We must be concerned not only with the provision of services, but with the philosophy or attitudes of the community which provides these services. Even in the best child-care centres children will feel some stigma if the society around them continues to believe that the mother ought to be at home looking after them ... The providing of quality child-care services is one of the greatest gifts any society can give to the future generation.' Presbyterian Women's Association of Australia (Victorian Unit) State Library of Victoria
Report to the International Women's Year Committee 20/1/76 -
Zelda D'Aprano: To the IWY Committee, Recently we had the spectacle of a man being appointed as lead of the newly established Women's Advisory Office in Victoria. Women are still being considered to be inferior beings, incapable of being the head of such an advisory service.The greatest concern to the Women's Liberation Movement are the majority of women who have no confidence in themselves as people, and thus have no voice or power ... With the economic situation as it is, women are being sacked from their jobs in great numbers. Women are the first to be put off, yet nothing is being done concerning the right of all people to obtain paid employment. Married women are not entitled to unemployment benefits, yet the number of married women maintaining their children is growing day by day. Equal Pay is being undermined by employers creating "new" classifications in employment to avoid paying equal pay to women. The differential between male and female wages is increasing. The curtailing of government funds for childcare centres is another method by which married women ae forced out of the workforce ... Much greater effort is needed ...' Women's Liberation Newsletter '76 University of Melbourne
28..YWCA 'WORKING WITH YOUNG WOMEN REPORT'
Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA): 'Working With Young Women Report 1981-
Introduction - "Plan a good program, the girls will tag along?"
Conclusion -
Julianne Fogarty: 'Young women are more disadvantaged than their male peers in all aspects of their lives. In education, in employment, in the way they use their leisure time, we are given a picture of a group who are socialised into a secondary role that is considered of less importance by the male values this society adheres to.
Result - "Activities and Strategies for Raising Awareness About Sexism Kit". Ilka Eldemann papers University of Melbourne29..THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS
Sheila Byard: 'THE LEAGUE aims to encourage people, young and old, to regard their vote as a privilege and a right to be exercised seriously. We hold functions to celebrate Victorian women first gaining the vote (1909) and the right of
women to stand for Parliament in Victoria (1924). We are committed to the UN Convention for the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Optional Protocol.'
Our Women: 'March 31 1984 was the 75th Anniversary of women obtaining the vote in Victoria. To mark the occasion, the League of Women Voters held a short ceremony in the Victorian Parliamentary gardens with speeches by the Hon Pauline Toner and Prue Sibree.' State Library of Victoria30..1985 THE VICTORIAN WOMEN'S TRUST was established with a one million dollar grant to fund women's projects (Incorporated 1 May). Concerned that women remain all but invisible when it comes to constructing the mainstream public record the Director of the Victorian Women's Trust, Mary Crooks, said,
“One measure of human rights equality lies in the truthfulness of the public record. When women are accorded a proper part of this record, when their enormous contribution to families, communities and society are accurately represented, they will have achieved an inclusiveness that is a pre-condition of equality.” ‘Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives’, held at the Telstra Centre, Melbourne on 8th March, 2002
Jocelynne A Scutt: 'The Bicentenary year saw the first Australian Feminist Research Conference at Deakin University produce the Waum Ponds Manifesto (some called it the Geelong Declaration) demanding 52 per cent of the total national research budget be granted to projects designed and proposed by women scholars and researchers, and that all research be attuned to goals of social and economic justice, the real concerns for the humanity of women and men. p.253 Jocelynne A Scutt The Sexual Gerrymander Spinifex 1994
32..THE COUNCIL FOR SINGLE MOTHERS AND THEIR CHILDREN (CSMC)
The Scarlet Letter No 14 July 1985: 'CSMC successfully organized the first Mother's Day Rally ever to challenge the hypocrisy that surrounds this day and draw attention to the poverty that overshadows the lives of increasing numbers of women with children. As single mothers who are in the front line of the struggle for economic survival, who face a daily battle to provide just the necessities of life for ourselves and our children, it is fitting that we should take our struggle into the streets.
While women had underwritten the economy with their unpaid labour, they have been pushed aside in the scramble for economic and political power. "Mother" has become the magic word by which women have been expected to accept their marginal status. Instead of compensating women for the essential contribution they make to society by bearing and rearing children, there is only token recognition. One day, out of the 365 days that make a year, is set aside for the appreciation of mothers. Each year on this day, it is the romantic myths of motherhood od which are celebrated, the image of the mother as the ever patient, self-denying, self-sacrificing, saintly slave that is promoted ...
(T)wo hundred of us marched behind the CSMC banner voicing our demands for economic justice -
RIGHTS NOT RITES - NO FORCED MOTHERHOOD - WE WILL NOT SUBMIT TO THIS ECONOMIC RAPE - WE DEMAND THE RIGHT TO BE SINGLE AND SURVIVE.' Women's Liberation archives, University of Melbourne
Thanks to Zelda D'Aprano Spellbound Postcards33..1986 WOMEN'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL COALITION (WSPC)
Tricia Caswell: In the past few years the New Right has developed a high profile in the media and minds of Australians. This has happened, not because the New Right is new, but because its policies and propaganda is changing. ... Conservative parties and corporate capital had think-tanks on deregulation, privatisation, union bashing and busting, and corporate management strategies. Outside the direct workings of capital, the Right has stepped up its advocacy of a return to the "family". This has implications for women returning to the home, and the directing of welfare and economic responsibilities for the young back to the family unit. The New Right opposes equality for women, it opposes gay rights and democracy. Most of these trends are international ones, though they have an Australian flavour added to make them more palatable...'
Sue Jackson: 'Women's Log of Claims - With the Annual General Meeting coming up in the near future, this might be a good time to start thinking about future directions for the WSPC. I would like to suggest that we consider the idea of taking up a campaign around a women's log of claims. ... This sort of campaign could also be a means of achieving some sort of show of strength around the issues we want to see addressed. If we aimed to get, for example, half a million signatures on a petition supporting the log of claims, we would have a real basis for lobbying around the specific demands within it.' Discussion Paper for the first of the pre-conference discussions for the Broad Left Conference: 'The New Right: Who Are They and What Are They Doing?':
34..1988 - NORTH EAST Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA) opened: '... we must acknowledge the role of the Women's Movement in creating the public awareness which produced the political will to allocate resources to Centres such as the one we celebrate today ... however, the principal credit rests with victim/survivors of sexual assault. Without their courage in speaking out about their experience, their determination to bring this crime out into the public sphere, no such service would ever have been established.' See Appendix 1
'If He is Violent He Can Be Removed' Carol Wilson SLV 00017235..1988 NO PLACE FOR WOMEN? Women in Supportive Housing (WISH)
'Women in Supportive Housing (WISH) is a community-based feminist collective with a focus on the housing and support needs of women-headed households. WISH was established in 1986 by a group of women's refuge workers and feminist housing workers who were concerned about women's housing issues, and who were interested particularly in the New South Wales model of medium-term supported accommodation. ... The common background, perspective and funding source of women's refuges and WISH is reflected in the direction of research WISH has undertaken.'
1988 Report: Women and Income - 'There are significant differences in economic status between men and women. By way of a brief overview, women on average have less access to the workforce, have higher rates of unemployment, earn significantly less, and receive fewer ancillary benefits from their time in the workforce, than their male counterparts.'
Private papersMelanie Hall: 'The seven week strike by nurses in Nov/Dec 1986 was an historic action in Australian nursing in more ways than one. Nurses, a traditionally submissive, passive, silent group of women bowing to the authority of male doctors, hospital administrators and government employers, waged a bitter and determined battle in the face of vehement and uncompromising opposition. The seven weeks of the strike was in fact a battle for power which rested on opposing images of the nurse.
Nurses are not expected to have satisfying careers and be financially rewarded but to see their skills as preparation for marriage and motherhood. It was this image of the nurse that the government had in mind as it produced one stalling tactic after another during the strike, attempting to force a capitulation by the nurses ...
The 1986 nurses strike made large the connection between the struggle to wrest power from men. By attempting to deny the nurses' claim to be rational and articulate, the government attempted to withold power - a startling lesson for all women.' Judy's Punch, Sabin Fernheicher papers, University of Melbourne
37..CAMPAIGN FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE (CEJ)
A sole parents activist/lobby group based in Melbourne in the 1980's, CEJ took up issues such as poverty traps, sexually transmitted debt, social security, poverty traps, children's poverty. CEJ argued for an essential services rebate.
The Case for an Essential Services Rebate -
Rosemarie Gillespie: 'Women's unpaid work as child bearers, child rearers and house workers can no longer be taken for granted. The former slave status of women, where marital rape was sanctioned, education in contraception was prohibited and married women were denied employment on the basis of their sex and marital status, are mere ghosts of the past. Women have realised that their unpaid work is essential to the running of households and the community.... This essential service to the community should be recognised and compensated through the Taxation System in the form of an Essential Services Rebate ... paid to the parent who is the primary caregiver of the child. If that parent is in the workforce, the rebate will take the form of a tax rebate, if the parent is not in the workforce, it will be paid in the form of a tax credit (possibly channelled through the Social Security System, as are Child Support payments.' CEJ NewsletterSocial Security or Insecurity? -
Albury-Wodonga Border Mail 23/8/1990: 'A single mother of three braved freezing conditions in Canberra yesterday and chained herself to a railing outside Parliament House in protest at the latest Budget cuts to welfare spending. Ms Rosemarie Gillespie, donning a suffragette-style scarlet cloak, used ankle chains to attach herself to a car park stairwell railing in what was undoubtedly one of yesterday's more unusual budget reactions.' Private papersRosemarie Gillespie: ... 'We have been lobbying the Government for years asking them to do something about the poverty traps, which is what keeps people dependent on the pensions' she said 'And they have ignored us'. Instead of increasing the income-test free area they were imprisoning people. There were now 130 women imprisoned simply because they couldn't afford to report their extra earnings.' CEJ Newsletter
Rosemarie Gillespie chained at Parliament House Albury-Wodonga Border Mail 23/8/199038..MOTHER'S DAY PROTEST RALLY
Laurel and Greta: 'The Campaign for Economic Justice will be holding their Annual Mother's Day Rally again this year to highlight the plight of the sole parent, most of whom are mothers. The CEJ has held a rally on Mother's Day for the past 2 years because the media coverage and advertising campaign that usually surrounds Mother's Day is blatantly directed at the "phantom" middle-class-mum, ie a well looked after, loved and respected member of a nuclear family. We feel that this gesture of appreciation, ... (it) is a token gesture, a slap in the face for all women who are sole parents, struggling on or below the poverty line... ' Women's Liberation Newsletter No 4 1987
In the next chapter we look at women's health and what some women did about it.
