1940 to 1969
1941
- Commonwealth Child Endowment brought in. page 21
- Australian Council of Trade Unions adopts equal pay principle. page 21
- First conductresses employed on Melbourne trams. page 21
- Commonwealth Child Endowment brought in. page 21
1942
- Commonwealth government introduced means tested widows pension. It was enacted by the Social Services Act 1947. (The Age Pension was brought in in 1909 and the Invalid pension in 1919.) page 21
- Women's Employment Board established (page 21) by the Federal Labor Government to set wage rates for women in wartime occupations and given the power to determine conditions, hours of work and wages. Wages were fixed at a minimum of 75-100% of male rate. The largest group was paid 90%. page 61
- Metal Trades Award increased women's wages to minimum 65% and maximum 75% of male basic wage.page 61
1943
- First Victorian Municipal Mayor, for the Heidelberg Council was Nellie Ibbot. She served as a Councillor from 1927-1950. page 22
- First woman Senator was Dorothy Margaret Tangney (later Dame Dorothy, DBE) ALP, WA. page 56
- First woman Member of the House of Representatives was Dame Enit Muriel Lyons, United Australian Party/Liberal, Darwin, Tas. page 57
- First Australian Women's Charter Conference organised by the United Associations of Women. page 22
- Clothing Trades Case set women's wages at 75% of male basic wage plus prosperity loading. page 61
1944
- Women's Employment Board
ceased operaton in October and full juristiction returned to the Arbitration
Court. The wage rates were to apply until six months after the end of
the war. Under the National Security (Female Minimum Rates) Regulations,
the Minister for Labour and National Service issued a list of fourteen
industries in which female rates applied and referred the matter to the
Arbitration Court as to whether the wages were too low by comparison with
the wages of women in other war industria. page 61
1945
- Women's International Democratic Federation formed by the first World Congress of Women which was held in Paris on 26 November. page 22
- No increase was awarded in the 1945 Female Minimum Rate Case. However, the government was able, with the wartime powers it still had, to increase these rates to the 75% standard. page 61
1947
- NSW Married Teachers and Lecturers Act repealed. page 22
- First woman Whip was Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin (later Dame Annabelle, DBE), Liberal Qld. page 56
1948
- The New Housewives' Association formed at Unity Hall, Bourke Street, Melbourne on 17 November. Four hundred women, some from Ballarat and Wonthaggi, attended despite a transport strike. (This organisation was first formed in NSW in 1946.) page 22
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations. page 23
- The Female Minimum Rate Case - juristiction to fix female rates.
- Equal Pay - Metal Trades Union application for full male rate was denied. Loading given. page 61
- Clothing Trades' Award - restoration of margins page 62
1949
- Basic Wage Inquiry - for the first time, women's organisations also made submissions for equal pay (the National Council of Women and the Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs). The female basic wage was established but equal pay was not. page 23
1949-50
- Basic Wage Inquiry assessed female basic wage for the first time in the history of the Arbitration Court. page 62
1940's and 1950'
- Protests against a.
the rocket range in Central Australia and b. the fate of 1,000 Aborigines
in the Warburton Ranges. The establishment tapped into the Communist bogey
paranoia of the time and public interest died down.
The Victorian Aborigine Act repealed legislation which had made it an offence for non-Aborigines to 'consort with the Aboriginal natives of Victoria'.
Cummerangunja Pty Ltd was registered. The Board agreed in principle to cancel the leases of white farmers on the reserve. There was much work towards national co-ordination of Aboriginal action and around the petition calling for a referendum to change the constitution which prevented the Commonwealth from taking control of Aboriginal affairs. page 76
1950
- The Union of Australian
Women was formed in Victoria on 31 July. Their aims were to promote
women's rights, equal pay, economic justice and peace. They published
a national magazine Our Women that appeared three times a year
from 1953 to 1972.
The UAW was established as a non-party political organisation with a working class orientation. It had early links with trade unions and trade union women's auxiliaries which were affiliated to the UAW.
It is a national organisation with branches in most states. It publishes national and state newsletters monthly. page 23
1952
- First candidate for the Victorian Lesislative Council was Grace M Strattan (Higginbotham). Unsuccessful. page 54
1952-53
- Employers applied for reduction of the female rate of pay to 60% of male basic wage at the Basic Wage and Standard Hours Inquiry. This was rejected. page 62
1953
- The Australian Council of Trade Unions Congress recommended that State Trades and Labour Councils set up Equal Pay Committees. page 23
1954
- International Labour Organisation Equal Remuneration Convention No. 100 (Equal Pay) was ratified by Victoria. page 23
1956
- Victorian Teaching Service (Married Women) Act granted permanency to women. Married women retained positions, seniority and rights as qualified teachers but were excluded from superannuation benefits. page 23
- National conference on Equal Pay of union with women members (Australian Council of Trade Unions). page 23
1957
- Confinement leave without pay for up to eighteen months gained by the Victorian teaching service. page 24
- Equal pay petition with 61,000 signatures presented to the Commonwealth government by a First Australian Council of Trade Unions deputation. page 24
1958
- Acts Interpretation Act - an example of entrenched male bias in parliamentary language. It is worded, in part, 'words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed to include females unless the contrary is expressly provided'. page 24
- Teaching Service Act (Married Women) established Married Women Teachers' Pension Fund. page 24
- Equal Pay Legislation introduced in NSW. This gave progressive equal pay to teachers and was phased in by 1962. page 24
- Victorian Crimes Act section 65, proclaims abortion illegal. page 24
1959
- Matrimonial Causes Act came into force 1 Feb. 1961. First Federal legislation to establish a general law which superseded state legislation. It abolished the double standard re adultery and gave the right for separation alone (for 5 years) as grounds for divorce. page 24
- Equal margins awarded at the Meat Industry Interim Award. page 62
1961
- Equal Pay Week - sponsored by the Australian Council of Trade Unions. Activities included a march to Parliament House, Melbourne. page 24
- Janet Clarke Hall established under statute as a college of residence for women studying at the University of Melbourne. page 25
1964
- Victorian Health (Child Minding) Act introduced. It provided regulations for private centres after a tragic fire killed seven infants. page 25
1965
- Save Our Sons Movement formed. It sought repeal of the National Service Act, which conscripted young men, by ballot, for overseas service in the war against Vietnam. page 25
1966
- Boycott War Toys campaign launched by the Union of Australian Women. A committee was formed to oversee the campaign, which was successful in having at least one large toy distributor declare they would not stock war toys. page 26
1967
- National co-ordination of Aboriginal action and activities around the petition calling for a referendum gradually led to changes in the attitudes of the Australian people towards Aborigines which led to the massive YES vote in the referendum. page 76
- First Woman elected to the Melbourne City Council was Mrs Clare Cascarret. page 26
- Jury Act gave limited rights to women to serve as jurors in Victoria. Women were admitted on a voluntary basis. page 26
- Clothing Trades' Award - equal margins and significant in development of equal pay policy. page 62
- National Wage Case abolished basic wage. Total wage introduced, granting same increase to women and men. Landmark case which opened the way to put a case for equal pay. page 62
- Aboriginal Affairs Act. A national referendum eliminated the discrimination in the Australian Constitution against Aboriginal people. It allowed Commonwealth juristiction in Aboriginal affairs and included Aborigines in the Census. page 26
- First Australian currency to feature a woman. Issued on 29 May, the five dollar note depicted Caroline Chisolm. This resulted from lobbying by the Union of Australian Women and other women's organisations. Previously the only woman on any Australian currency was the Queen of England. page 26
1968
- Victorian Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs was established, replacing the Aborigines Welfare Board. page 76
- Aboriginal struggles for justice centred on Land Rights. The walk-off by the Gurindji people from the Vestey Station at Wave Hill attracted attention as did the Aboriginal Embassy in a tent outside Parliament House in Canberra in 1972. page 77
- A group of women travelled Victoria discussing land rights and the formation of the Council of Aboriginal Women. Mrs Geraldine Briggs was President and her doughter Margaret was Secretary. These women played a vital role in marshalling support for the tent embassy. 120 women who arrived in Canberra for their first Federal Council meeting marched over as a group to demonstrate their solidarity with the men. There were Hyllus Maris, Lotti and Vi Briggs, Eleanor Harding, Geraldine, Margaret, Leah, two other daughters, Miss Josie Briggs, Miss Ferguson, Elizabeth Hoffman, Merle Jackanos and women from Cummeragunja, Shepparton and Mooroopna. page 77
- Equal Pay granted to Victorian teachers. This was phased in from 1 January 1968 to 1 January 1971. A married Women Teachers Superannuation Fund was established. page 27
- Equal pay in three six-monthly instalments granted in Commonwealth Hostel's Award. Appealed by the Commonwealth Government, which was upheld. The right to apply again was reserved. page 62
1969
- Equal Pay Test Case before the arbitration Commission. The following women's organisations made submissions: The Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women, the Union of Australian Women and the Australian Federation of Women Voters. page 27
- Equal Pay Meat Industry Interim Award Case heard jointly with Public Service Applications - subject to appeal on the grounds that members of the Branch had commitment to equal pay (because of the participation in 1967 Total Wage Case). Rejected by High Court. Equal pay was awarded but applied only to about 10% of women covered by Federal Awards. Phased in over two and a half years. Based on nine principles. page 62
- Menhennit Abortion Ruling - Justice Menhennit set out, in the case of R. v. Davidson, circumstances in which abortion could be deemed lawful. page 27
- Family Planning Association of Victoria formed 30 October. The first clinic session was held on 8 June 1970 in the Infant Welfare Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Mothers and Babies, Carlton. page 27