Australian Federation of University Women

Identity area

Type of entity

Non Government Organisation

Authorized form of name

Australian Federation of University Women

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

      Other form(s) of name

      • Australian Federation of Graduate Women

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1922 -

      History

      In September 1920, graduate women in Sydney formed the Sydney University Women Graduates' Association. Other states were quick to respond. The University of Queensland Women Graduates' Association was established at a meeting in September 1920 and the Victorian Women Graduates' Association in November 1920. During 1920-21, graduate women in South Australia and Tasmania indicated an interest in linking up with their interstate counterparts in the formation of the Australian Federation of University Women (AFUW).

      The AFUW was formally established at the inaugural conference held in Sydney in September 1922, which was attended by 75 women, representing every state except Western Australia. Mrs Frances Thorn of the Victorian association was elected as AFUW's first President, with Mrs Muscio elected as Vice-President. The Western Australian Association of University Women was formed in 1923 and the Canberra Association of Women Graduates in the 1944. At its peak in the 1930s, the Federation's membership was some 6500, representing the great majority of all the women university graduates then living in Australia.

      Renamed in 2009 as the Australian Federation of Graduate Women, the AFGW is a longstanding member association of the International Federation of University of Women (IFUW). Miss Louisa Macdonald and Mrs Mildred Muscio were Australian representatives at the first IFUW conference, held in London in 1920, where the aim of the International Federation was laid out in the Constitution as being 'To promote understanding and friendship between the university women of the nations of the world, and thereby to further their interests and develop between their countries sympathy and mutual helpfulness.' Over the years, the IFUW has been involved in a number of initiatives related to improving the working and living conditions of women around the world. In addition to its involvement with women's issues specific to Australia, the AFGW also adopts IFUW initiatives and applies them at a national level.

      Places

      Legal status

      Functions, occupations and activities

      Mandates/sources of authority

      Internal structures/genealogy

      General context

      Relationships area

      Access points area

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Occupations

      Control area

      Authority record identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Description added 18 Apr 2020

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          The Australian Women's Register, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0215b.htm (accessed 18 Apr 2020)

          Maintenance notes