National Council of Women of NSW

1896 – 2017

Celebrating 121 years of women’s achievements and

contributions to society

Australia Day Awards

2017

Award Recipients and Sponsors

Awards presented by

Mrs Linda Hurley Patron, NCW NSW

at the

‘Celebrate Being an Australian’ Australia Day Luncheon

The Strangers’ Dining Room

Parliament House, Sydney

27 January 2017

From the President National Council of Women of New South Wales Tricia Graham

As we gather here today to “Celebrate Being an Australian”, we also present awards to fifteen very talented young women who have demonstrated remarkable abilities in their studies, in a diverse range of subjects. These young women have the potential to be the future leaders in their field. The awards are only made possible by the generosity of the sponsors, many of whom have supported these awards since they began 22 years ago. The awardees’ names and their sponsors are listed in this booklet. We extend our grateful thanks to all the sponsors and acknowledge our appreciation of their ongoing support. Each one of the awardees is outstanding in her own field of endeavour and the National Council of Women is proud to honour them. We are committed to supporting the advancement of women through education and opportunity for all and know these young women will contribute much to our community in the future. We wish them well in their future studies and again thank our sponsors. I would also like to thank our Awards Convenor, Dr Jane Baker for facilitating the selection of this year’s very worthy recipients.

National Council of Women of NSW Australia Day Awards Criteria

Awardees should be free to attend the NCW NSW Australia Day Luncheon to receive the award in person.

Awardees should be Australian women students of achievement, particularly in their late undergraduate or postgraduate years.

The Award is to assist and encourage the awardee in her chosen discipline in the honours year or in specific research.

The Award is to assist deserving students, not necessarily the top student in the course.

Preference should be given to a student who has achieved good grades throughout her course, despite being disadvantaged by illness, physical disability, financial need, family circumstances or other hardship.

The selection process is undertaken by the faculty of the participating university or specific body, subject to final approval by the Sponsor and the NCW NSW Awards Committee. Sponsors are encouraged to nominate University, Department and Course, but may just nominate a field of research.

ALISON BATTISSON Faculty of Law, University of NSW

Alison graduated in Arts and Asian Studies from ANU and in Law, with

honours, from the University of Sydney. She was admitted as a solicitor in NSW in

2005. Alison worked in Sydney and London for large legal firms before volunteering

for the Refugee Council in London, and then working as Development Officer for the

Kufunda Village Trust in Zimbabwe.

After three years working in corporate and commercial law in Jakarta she

returned to Sydney as Senior Associate in a commercial law firm until February 2014.

Since then she has worked pro bono in the furtherance of protecting and promoting

international human rights in Australia. This has included drafting complaints on behalf

of detained asylum seekers, drafting community detention and visa applications,

representing clients in proceedings with the Australian Human Rights Commission and

being a regular visitor to the Villawood detention centre. She also works pro bono for

the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and has briefed barristers regarding police

treatment of Aborigines and produced papers regarding the establishment of a war

crimes tribunal and transitional justice mechanisms in Sri Lanka

Alison has given up a very successful career in corporate and commercial law in

order to start over as a human rights lawyer and advocate. That is what drove her into

postgraduate study, and she has been excelling at it. Her commitment to make the world

a better place, and her early impact through her NGO, is all the more impressive

considering she is also a full time step-mother to three children.

She is enrolled in a Master of Law (Human Rights and Social Justice)

SPONSORED BY Gilbert + Tobin

Gilbert + Tobin is a leading corporate law firm and a key player in the

Australian legal market. From Sydney, Melbourne and Perth office, Gilbert + Tobin

provide innovative, relevant and commercial legal solutions to major corporate and

government clients across Australia and internationally, particularly in the Asia-Pacific

region. Gilbert + Tobin is the legal advisor of choice for industry leaders both in

Australia and the Asia Pacific across key sectors including: banking and finance;

corporate advisory-funds, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, capital markets, tax

and stamp duty; communications and technology; competition and regulation; energy

and resources; intellectual property; media; litigation and dispute resolution; and real

estate and projects.

Established in 1988, Gilbert + Tobin employs more than 500 people with the

highest proportion of female partners of any major Australian law firm and are

acknowledged as a pioneer in providing pro bono services.

DENISE BECKWITH Social Work, Western Sydney University

Denise completed her degree with First Class Honours in 2016 as a Bachelor of Social

Work with an Honours thesis exploring the silences of Australian social work curricula - sexuality

and disability - and the impact that these absences have on social work practitioners’ preparedness

to assist people with disability around the topics of sexuality and sexual expression. Her PhD is

intended to extend this research and incorporate the area of violence, often neglected in the

context of women with disability. She achieved a place on the Dean’s merit list in two of her

undergraduate years and three scholarships for her Honours year.

Denise began her tertiary studies in 1998 with a TAFE certificate in Office Administration

progressing to top the state in Certificate IV in Community Services Disability Services and a

Certificate IV in Workplace Assessment and Training. Having thus proved her academic ability

and with a Scholarship she began at WSU.

She has been Documentary Photographer on the multi-media of Silent Tears, which

explores the experiences of women with disability and women who acquire disability as a result

of violence both nationally and internationally and is Disability Advisor and Consultant on the

administrative and creative process.

She has been Coordinator, Disability Rights Information Service and Lay Advocate,

Mental Health Advocacy Service (MHAS), observer UN New York - the 5th Session of the Ad

Hoc Committee on the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and

Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities,

In 1999 with a scholarship to the NSW Academy of Sport she trained for the Paralympics

and in 2000 was a Bronze medal winner having been a gold medallist in the Open National

Championships

Through the Link Elite Athlete Programme (LEAP), and to build public support for the

Paralympics and encourage schools to attend the games, she spoke to more than 170 schools.

This provided an excellent opportunity to create a positive perception of people with a disability

and demonstrate their value as members of society and their contribution to all aspects of life.

In 2000 MLC Burwood developed a policy to name each of the year 7 classes after a

Paralympian or an aspiring Paralympics athlete and Denise had a class named after her.

Prairiewood High School created the Denise Beckwith Award which they present annually in

recognition of students who work hard in all areas of their school life, academic and sport and

contribute to the school community. It embodies the elements of the Paralympics—Mind, Body

and Spirit.

Denise has been an Australia Day Ambassador eight times – what a great role model to

every child with cerebal palsy!

SPONSORED BY Quota Int. Inc., Liverpool

Quota International of Liverpool Inc was chartered 8 July 1964 and is a member club of

Region 14.

Quota International is a non-profit organization empowering women, children, the deaf,

hard of hearing, and speech impaired in local communities around the world and today our 16

members are working to fulfilling this Mission in the Liverpool area.

The club’s main fundraising sources are BBQ’s, fashion parades, trivia nights and high-

teas and with these funds we are proud to support mental health and to advocate for the disabled.

AMELIA BESSENY Music, University of Newcastle

Amelia is the first in her family to attend university. Her musical talent with a

background as a singer was recognised as a school girl when she commuted each day

from the Central Coast to Newcastle to attend the Hunter School of the Performing Arts.

In 2013 she graduated with first class honours in music with the Faculty medal,

from the Conservatorium of Music, University of Newcastle and discovered a love for

researching music. An interest in folk song and story telling through modern

interpretations and living folk music traditions has led to her thesis investigating the

social tagging of music online as a creative and community-building tool.

Amelia has taught singing in Lake Munmorah for 10 years She is a volunteer

guide at Norah Head Lighthouse, and lectures in creative and analytical studies of music

at the University of Newcastle.

The award will go towards the costs of publishing the thesis and producing

original content for the research website and sharing findings at a community level. Due

to the nature of her topic, she feels that it is both a responsibility and privilege to

contribute to open online music dialogues particularly via interactive and engaging

formats like podcasts, blog posts and videos.

SPONSORED BY The Women’s Club

The Women’s Club at 179 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, was formed on 9 October

1901 and is the longest established women’s club in New South Wales.

The prime object of the Club is “to promote culture by encouraging and

facilitating the study, practice and appreciation of music, art, science and literature”.

To achieve this objective, the Club holds a wide variety of activities and circles.

The Club premises are in the heart of the city and offer deluxe accommodation

for country members, a dining and sitting room overlooking Hyde Park, and other

facilities such as a library and a bridge room.

The Women’s Club has affiliation with clubs in Australia, the United Kingdom

and the United States.

DANIELLE DENNIS Clinical Audiology, Macquarie University

After school Danielle spent ten years in the work force, moving from National

Australia Bank in Wagga Wagga then Newcastle to Orthodontic Dental Assistant in

Bathurst via Islington Council and Citibank in London and including a period of travel

in Europe. She then studied psychology at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst,

graduating with honours in 2011.

In 2012 Danielle moved to Sydney to work as a research assistant for the head

of neurology at Prince of Wales Hospital, Professor James Colebatch. One of Prof

Colebatch’s areas of interest was balance research which introduced her to the world of

ears! I,She decided she would like to pursue a career in audiology so applied for the

Masters in Clinical Audiology at Macquarie University, and was very excited to be

accepted.

During the course she worked part time at Cochlear and coped with serious

illness and death in the close family but achieved a high academic standard with above

credit average in all courses and published several papers. Her research project was

about the use of an objective (electrophysiological) test to detect listening difficulties in

children. She has conducted her research with aplomb.

She has started work this month as an audiology graduate intern at Healthy

Hearing and Balance in Bondi Junction.

.SPONSORED BY

Quota International Inc. Region 14

Quota International commenced in Sydney in 1937 to bring women together to work for

those who are deaf or hearing or speech impaired and disadvantaged women and children. Since

then Quota Clubs have spread up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Most recently Clubs have been

clustered in Regions to support collaboration and collective endeavours.

The objects of Quota International Inc. are to:

Serve country and community

Promote high ethical standards

Emphasise the dignity of all useful occupation

Develop good fellowship and friendship

Advance ideals of justice, international understand and good will.

Over the past several years a number of Clubs across Region 14 have come together to

fundraise for this particular Award. This has been achieved by knitting and/or selling Easter

chickens. Project “Fly the Coop” has been a great way to bring members of Quota together to

sponsor this Award in a fun and productive way.

.

TUBA NUR GIDE Melanoma Institute, University of Sydney

Tuba graduated with first class honours in Physiology from the University of

Sydney and began her PhD studies in 2015 in the exciting field of cancer

immunotherapy. Despite significant health problems she has successfully achieved her

research goals in the first eighteen months.

As a school girl Tuba worked as a casual child care educator in the University

Child Care Centre. She won an award from the Turkish Consul General for the second

highest ATAR in the Turkish community in NSW.

As an undergraduate Tuba continued to work in the Child Care Centre as an

administrative assistant. She also volunteered as a mentor and tutor at Auburn Girls’

High School where her duties involved actively listening to the students’ issues/

problems; providing them with the best possible strategies for academic and personal

success; interacting with them in a social and educational environment; helping them

develop a high sense of self-esteem and confidence and their social and communicative

skills.

Tuba’s research is in the field of metastatic melanoma. Treatment of metastatic

melanoma that is unresponsive to anti-PD1 immunotherapy is a major unmet clinical

need. Understanding the mechanisms of response and resistance, will allow the rational

design of future clinical trials of combinations of therapies that aim to convert the non-

responders into responders, and improve patients’ outcomes.

She still finds time for Tae Kwon Do!

SPONSORED BY

Olena Pchilka Branch of the Ukrainian Women’s Association NSW

The Olena Pchilka Branch is a small group of Ukrainian-Australian Women who

meet to maintain the customs and culture of their country of birth. One of the ways they

have raised funds to sponsor a NCW NSW Australia Day Award is by organising

functions demonstrating their traditional cuisine and beautiful embroidery.

The amount raised has been topped up by personal donations. The group has

elected to sponsor a young woman working in medical research.

BRIDGET HAYWOOD Medical Biotechnology, University of Wollongong

Bridget is the nominee of Wollongong Diocesan Catholic Women’s League

Council.

In 2017 Bridget will commence the Honour’s year of her Bachelor of Medical

Biotechnology after sitting and achieving well in her Graduate Medical School

Admissions Test (GAMSAT). She hopes to study medicine in 2018 with ambitions to

work overseas.

From the age of six Bridget has been raised by her paternal grandparents due to

the serious health problems suffered by her Mother. How proud they must be of her

today!

Bridget has always been an active member of the parish community. She has

worked at St Vincent De Paul shop, in Unanderra, visited the elderly at Villa Maria

Nursing Home Unanderra (2007-2012), distributed food to the disadvantaged with

‘Vinnies Van’ (2013) and mentored with Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience

(AIME) (2015) She has demonstrated leadership at school and in a regional youth group

in the community including running weekend conferences, weekly meetings, and

community building. She is the Event Founder and coordinator of the leadership team

‘Pub Theology’ which has monthly catechesis and discussion in a public forum at Dicey

Riley’s Irish Hotel, Wollongong. (2015).

SPONSORED BY Catholic Women’s League Australia - NSW Inc.

The Catholic Women’s League in NSW can trace its origins back to 1913 when

the Catholic Women’s Association was founded in Sydney. It is now an incorporated

organisation and has branches in every State. It is a national non-government, non-

profit organisation which upholds the dignity of women and encourages their

participation in Church, social and public life.

Catholic Women’s League fosters the spiritual, cultural, intellectual and social

development of women. The organisation, under the patronage of Our Lady Help of

Christians, is a member of and networks with women’s groups at State, National and

International levels, liaises with State and Local Governments and gives support to the

Parish, the aged, the family, the bereaved, people with disabilities, social justice issues,

Christian marriage and single life, vocations to the priesthood and religious life and the

promotion of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue.

ALEXANDRA HERON Business School, University of Sydney

Alexandra’s initial qualification is an Honour’s degree in History from Oxford.

She is also an admitted solicitor in England and Wales and NSW. However she has

spent most of her working life involved in matters relating to gender issues and the

impact of care on women’s lives with a particular focus on the lower paid.

Her knowledge is unusual in that she has worked across these issues in several

countries and has also engaged with women’s experiences at work and in the domestic

sphere in terms of practical and policy on domestic violence.

Alexandra’s mature age enrolment in doctoral research on elder care draws on

these experiences. Her thesis 'Organisational policies and employee eldercare

responsibilities: the role of the line manager’ asks how external and internal institutional

and regulatory pressures and policies influence practice in organisations in relation to

elder carers' responsibilities. This will be a first in Australia at examining this very

under researched area (of growing importance) of how employees combine paid work

with providing informal care, what organisations do when faced with this issue and

whether Government policy is aiding workers and businesses confronting this work-care

dilemma.

Despite a mature start to this study Alexandra has achieved good grades in her

coursework, publishes and gives talks, and contributes with great enthusiasm to a range

of projects. Her work for the Women and Work Research Group is invaluable. She is

also a member of the Women’s Electoral Lobby and the Family Researchers’ Academic

Roundtable, the Work and Family Policy Roundtable.

Alexandra has been hampered by a degree of disability for most of her working

life and views the advance of technology in using computers and word processing as a

lifesaver for her and many in a similar position, even if technologies may be a mixed

blessing for the quality of employment in the future (another interest of hers).

SPONSORED BY Sydney Mechanics School of Arts (SMSA) - Business Studies

(SMSA very generously supported three awards this year.)

SMSA is the oldest adult education organisation in Australia, founded in March

1833 at the request of artisans and tradesmen who had studied with Henry Carmichael

aboard the Stirling Castle en route to Sydney.

Right from its founding, the SMSA was the leading provider of adult education in

the colony, running a lending library, conducting classes and holding lectures on

everything from phrenology to chemistry and the poems of Lord Byron. There were even

classes on ‘Simple Surgery’!

The SMSA quickly became the centre of colonial Sydney’s intellectual, cultural

and political life. The University of Sydney, Australia’s first university, was not founded

until 1850.

VICTORIA HIRST Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health, University of Newcastle

Following a Bachelor in Social Science from Macquarie University Victoria has a

strong background in social research developed over nearly ten years working for Human

Capital Alliance (HCA), a management, workforce planning and development and

evaluation research consultancy. Victoria has been involved in over 30 separate

consultancy projects for the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health and others.

She has also been involved in numerous HCA health workforce projects with her

most prominent assignments to review the Aboriginal Health Workforce in the Northern

Territory, scientific workforce in medical pathology laboratories and as part of innovative

efforts to explore and define the public health and health information workforces.

Her two specialist areas of research:

* Mental health workforce development and service delivery as well as supporting

the development of community responses and solutions to suicide prevention;

* Aboriginal health and employment through a number of HCA projects that have

used extensive consultation and competency based methodologies to describe and

develop Aboriginal health workforces in the NT.

To further pursue these interests, Victoria has commenced a PhD which aims to

investigate the benefits and possibility of including carers of people with mental health

issues within the mental health workforce. Since the 1950s in Australia, processes of

deinstitutionalisation of mental health care have led to greater emphasis upon informal

and family carers supporting people with severe and persistent mental illness to live

within the community. Victoria is investigating the specific requirements for carer

inclusive practice for rural and remote, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or other

community groups.

SPONSORED BY Country Women’s Association (CWA) NSW

The CWA was formed in 1922 when country women were fighting isolation and a lack of

health facilities. Within a year, it was a unified, resourceful group. Members worked tirelessly to set

up baby health care centres, fund bush nurses, build and staff maternity wards, hospitals, schools,

rest homes, seaside and mountain holiday cottages - and much more. Members have been initiators,

fighters and lobbyists. They have made localities into communities by providing social activities and

educational, recreational and medical facilities.

The CWA is the largest women's organisation in Australia. Its aims are:

To bring all women and families together and form a network of support.

To provide a forum for the voice of all women in NSW and the ACT..

To improve conditions and welfare of all women and families especially in country areas.

To support schemes which enhance the value of country living, especially health and

educational facilities.

To encourage development in regional areas and to increase the viability of rural communities

and the environment.

To provide a voice to Government at all levels.

To promote International goodwill friendship understanding and tolerance between all people.

PHILLIPA KENSIT Nursing, University of Technology Sydney

Phillipa grew up on a farm in rural NSW which gave her an early awareness of

the problems of health delivery in rural and remote Australia. This has been further

enhanced by a recent educational placement in Alice Springs as part of the UTS Nursing

course

Since nursing in Alice Springs, she has thought about ways nurses and the

healthcare system can collaborate with Indigenous communities to ultimately prevent

much of the ill-health experienced by these people. Further, having witnessed the need

for medical treatment and the curative service disparity in this area, motivation has

increased to work within teams that work beside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

communities in the promotion of health and wellness in this area. This is where she

feels her future lies.

Community service is important to her. Involvement in social justice and service began in

2010 when she was part of a Cultural and Service Learning Tour to Vietnam and Cambodia

volunteering at Awareness Cambodia’s Sunshine House Orphanage. On returning to Australia,

aged 16, she initiated a 350km Service Adventure Cycle from her boarding school in Sydney to

Crookwell. After months of training, internal and external fundraising, sponsorship, planning and

much hard work on and off the bike, she successfully raised $12,500 for Awareness Cambodia’s

Sunshine House Orphanage. Later that year she spent 3 months in the Ngong Hills of Kenya

living with a Maasai family, and teaching English, maths, science, creation, PDHPE, art and

social sciences at the Osupuko Primary School. She also spent a day with the children and

mothers at one of the longest standing Displaced People’s Camp’s in the country.

Passionate about working in regional and rural areas, she hopes be an active voice for the

raising of the platform of engagement, education and the empowerment of women in professional

nursing and midwifery practice.

SPONSORED BY The Zonta Club of Sydney

The Zonta Club of Sydney has been in operation since 1966 and is part of Zonta

International, which started in the United States in 1919. Zonta International is a global

organisation of executives and professionals working together to advance the status of women

worldwide through service and advocacy. It has nearly 30,000 members in more than 1,200

clubs in 63 countries and geographic areas.

Zonta International seeks to provide service and advocacy at the global and local level to:

Improve the legal, political, economic, educational, health and professional status of

women.

Work for the advancement of understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world

fellowship of executives in business and the professions;

Promote justice and universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Be united internationally to foster high ethical standards, implement service

programs, and provide mutual support and fellowship for members who serve their

communities, their nations, and the world.

Zonta International, its districts and its clubs are non-sectarian and nonpartisan.

SHANNON MOSTYN Pharmacology, University of Sydney

Shannon gained first Class Honours in Science from the University of Sydney

with majors in Pharmacology and Biochemistry. After working as a research assistant

over the following summer on a CSIRO scholarship she enrolled for a PhD in 2014

researching the part played by novel glycine transporters for the treatment of pain. She

is a casual tutor in second and third year subjects

Shannon is described as an independent and driven student who regularly

proposes and executes experiments of her own accord and plays an important role in

controlling the direction of her project. She is a co-author on a review of the role of

glycine transporters in chronic pain and also an author on a paper under review.

Shannon has played a major role in a provisional patent held on novel drugs to treat

chronic pain and has completed a large amount of work that will be published early next

year once this patent is approved.

Since April 2015 Shannon has had significant caring duties when she became

primary carer for her then 13 year old half-brother who moved in with her. Shannon’s

additional responsibilities include making sure that her teenage brother attends school,

completes his homework, attends extra-curricular activities and is fed and clothed! In

addition, Shannon does not receive any financial support so also manages a tight budget

on her PhD stipend. In spite of these unusual circumstances, Shannon does not ask for

any help or special consideration and this significant disruption has not affected her

dedication to her PhD or her research output.

SPONSORED BY Soroptimist International Region of NSW

Soroptimist International is global movement of women with members belonging

to over 3,000 clubs in 126 countries. Members of clubs represent a wide range of

occupations, talents and interests.

Soroptimists promote:

HUMAN RIGHTS , EQUALITY, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, PEACE

The theme “Soroptimists Educate to Lead” provides opportunities for members

to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide.

Soroptimist International Region of New South Wales is a member of the

Federation of the South West Pacific. The first club was Soroptimist International of

Sydney, chartered in 1937. There are now twelve clubs throughout New South Wales

and the Australian Capital Territory.

LISA OYSTON Medical Research, Garvan Institute

At the start of an undergraduate degree in Chemistry Lisa was diagnosed with

haemochromatosis. The advanced genetic technologies needed to make the diagnosis

were perhaps the inspiration for her present PhD research into the genetics of

Parkinson’s Disease, certainly she changed her course to pharmacology and began to

concentrate on a career in Medical Science. Despite her Honours thesis being completed

from bed, while suffering an overwhelming viral infection, she achieved a BA/BSc with

first class honours and a distinction average.

Aiming to study novel therapies for treatment of highly pathogenic influenza

strains for a PhD Lisa was diverted to take over the project of a departing post-doc

student having never studied Parkinson’s disease or genetics at university and never

worked with Drosophila (fruit fly). Patients with Parkinson’s disease are often

diagnosed too late for available treatments to have a significant effect. This is a position

she would have been in had the mutation causing haemochromatosis not been identified

and genotyping not been available. For this reason she took on the new project entitled

‘conserved genetic modifiers of Parkinson’s disease’.

Although, the post-doc who had been running this project for two years was very

experienced, little progress had been made and as a result both supervisor and

international collaborators asked for rapid delivery of data. To make matters worse,

whilst running the project by herself Lisa generated data showing the whole approach of

the project was flawed and basically two years of data was unusable. Incredibly hard

work by Lisa has produced worthwhile results though, to add to her problems, the lab

relocated and the lab manager left leaving Lisa in charge of all the fruit flies!

Her supervisor sums it up – ‘Based on the significant challenges Lisa has faced

and overcome in her career to date, her research productivity and academic

achievements, and her strong and serious commitment to research, I would like to

recommend Ms. Lisa Oyston for a National Council of Women of Australia NSW

young women leaders of the future award.’

.

SPONSORED BY Sydney Mechanics School of Arts (SMSA) - Medical Research

(A second sponsorship this year)

SMSA filled a vital niche in adult and vocational education and made a major

contribution to the colony’s economic development by providing the first technical education in

Australia for trades in 1865 and in 1878, established the Working Men’s College.

These technical classes were so successful that the School negotiated their transfer to the

colonial Government in 1883, forming the precursor to TAFE as we know it today and, ultimately,

to both the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology, Sydney. The first

women were admitted as members in August 1833, just five months after the School’s founding,

and women’s names appear in class rolls from the 1860s, providing an alternative for women

who were disenfranchised from traditional education.

ELICIA TAYLOR Women’s History, University of Newcastle

Elicia graduated BA with Distinction majoring in History and Politics and

International Relations from the University of Newcastle in 2013 and with first class

Honours, a University Medal and Faculty Medal in 2015 and a Vice Chancellor’s award

in 2016. She is enrolled in a PhD at Newcastle following selection from a high quality

state-wide field of students of Women’s History for this inaugural award.

Her project seeks to understand whether or not the First World War transformed

the lives of Australia’s unmarried and widowed women. Acknowledging the existing

work on Australian nurses’ involvement in the First World War, she intends to focus on

the experiences of women in lesser-known but similarly patriotic wartime activities. By

using marital status as a frame of reference for analysis, she hopes to provide more

nuanced insights into the range of opportunities and/or limitations influencing women’s

lives during the war.

The project will be divided into overseas and home front experiences. Women

such as Olive King, Annie Wheeler and Dame Alice Chisholm will be analysed

according to their experiences in activities such as military driving, communication

services and humanitarian efforts close to the war front. The home front section will

examine women from a variety of occupations and professions such as factory work,

school teaching and police work, and organisations such as the Australian Women’s

Service Corps to gauge how the war impacted the single women involved in these

endeavours. By employing a variety of methodological approaches and featuring

previously overlooked individuals, she hopes to make an important contribution to this

neglected aspect of Australian war and gender history.

SPONSORED BY The Women’s Club History Circle and

The Women’s Pioneer Society of A’Asia Inc

The Women's Club History Circle extends members’ knowledge of the contributions made

by individual women and women’s organisations to Australian society throughout the nation’s

history. It expands members’ understanding of the effects on women of particular events, policies

and legislation. At each Circle a renowned women’s historian, feminist or gender scholar

presents a paper on an aspect of Australian women’s history and leads discussion of the issues

raised. The Women’s History Circle also seeks to encourage young scholars to build on the work

carried out by women’s historians in recovering the lost and forgotten stories of Australian

women. The Circle is proud to collaborate with the Australian Women Pioneers in sponsoring the

NCW Australia Day Award.

The Women’s Pioneer Society seeks to encourage and promote understanding of our early

pioneers and their challenges, to maintain the traditions, especially the role of Women and to

assist in the preservation of all matter of historical interest. To promote a better and more general

knowledge of the lives, work and challenges of, Women Pioneers of Australia. The WPS is

delighted to co-sponsor with The Women’s Club History Circle for the NCW Australia Day

History Award.

PERI TOBIAS Agricultural Science, University of Sydney

Peri Tobias is a current PhD candidate in the Faculty of Agriculture, Plant and

Food Sciences at the University of Sydney. Her research is looking at the genetic basis

for resistance to the fungal pathogen causing myrtle rust, a disease that poses a

significant threat to much of the Australian native flora.

Peri has a long history of working with plants initially studying horticulture and

arboriculture at TAFE and teaching in TAFE for three years. She worked at the Royal

Parks, London, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, before being employed by

Warringah Council as an environmental officer. Her work involved threatened species

management, environmental education and development application assessments in

accordance with State and Federal environmental legislation. She completed a Diploma

in Conservation and Land Management before returning to university to study advanced

science at Macquarie University (plant molecular biology). She received a Vice-

Chancellors’ Commendation for Academic Excellence in 2012. Then with a University

of Sydney Honours Scholarship she achieved First Class Honours in Agricultural

Chemistry and the University Medal in 2013.

She has already made several presentations on her research and has several

papers published and in press and is completing her PhD early this year.

Peri hopes to work in plant molecular biology and genomics, with a particular

focus on the genetics behind plant microbe interactions.

SPONSORED BY Sydney Mechanics School of Arts (SMSA) - Agricultural Science

(A third sponsorship this year)

Today, the SMSA continues to operate the longest-running lending library in

Australia and a robust public program of talks, seminars and screenings which are free

and open to both members and the general public. The school also opened the Tom

Keneally Centre in 2011, forming Thomas Keneally’s living legacy of Australia and a

venue for literary activities such as writing classes, readings and author’s talks. The

SMSA also continues to contribute to the local community through grants, scholarships

and donations to organisations including the radio station 2RPH, Julian Ashton Art

School and Dictionary of Sydney and endowments to UWS, UTS and the University of

Sydney. The School also supports a broad range of Not-For-Profit and community

organisations in the local Sydney region including the Benjamin Andrew Footpath

Library, a mobile library for the homeless.

Since colonial times, the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts has made a major

contribution to Sydney’s culture, industry, society and politics.

ANNA-LENA WALDNER Nursing, University of Sydney

Lena spent her early childhood in Indonesia and Australia. She went to school in

Germany with exchanges in Montpelier and Sydney. With this international background

and having gained the German ‘Abitur’ she came back to Australia to the Women’s

College at the University of Sydney to study for a Bachelor of International and Global

Studies.

During the first year of this degree Lena realised she would need something more

practical if she were to do anything about changing or finding solutions to international

issues and began to think of nursing as a way to get the practical experience required to be

able to make a small-scale difference in people’s lives. Ultimately, she is hoping to use

her nursing skills as tools to take to an international level, in terms of training nurses and

other health staff in developing countries and engaging in international health promotion

and education in low-income countries, especially in terms of women’s health.

Lena has been working as a volunteer assistant administrator at Médecins Sans

Frontières, and as a saleswoman in the QVB, advising overseas students on insurance.

Lena has also been a receptionist at the Sydney University Village.

She is fluent in English, German and French and has also played in The Women’s

College soccer team! Her time in the Women’s College has produced a significant

interest in advocating for women’s rights and women’s health, which she hopes to put

into action internationally after completing the Masters of Nursing.

SPONSORED BY

Women’s Plans Foundation

The aims of the Foundation are:

to promote a family planning component in overseas aid programs

to bring an enabling power to all women

to ease world population pressures thus evolving towards sustainability and

peace.

Women in Australia have the ability to plan the number and spacing of children

and know there are many ways to contribute to society. This is an ongoing work.. Women

in third world countries, especially, welcome this knowledge. Through the Foundation,

we can share with all women who need to space and choose the number of their children,

thus improving health and communities.

LUCINDA WATT School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University

Lucy completed a Bachelor of Animal Science with Honours at Charles Sturt

University (CSU) in 2014, her studies being supported with scholarships for academic

excellence and commitment to the Rural Industry and Rural Communities and for

displaying passion and commitment to the Agricultural Industry of Rural and Regional

NSW. Among her supporters for her PhD research is the Meat and Livestock Australia

Scholarship.

She has been a long-term member of the Cumnock Show Society and Cumnock

Progress Association, within the small rural village of Cumnock. In 2014, she was

selected as Cumnock Show Girl, as a young female Ambassador for rural New South

Wales and Australian Agriculture and represented Cumnock and Zone 6 at the Sydney

Royal Easter Show in 2015.

Lucy was a Dairy Research Intern in Michigan, a Demonstrator and Research

Assistant at CSU. She worked in the Agricultural Advisory service in Warren NSW and

in the NT on an RM Williams Agricultural Holding Station. Lucy also spent time in

Cambodia at the Free the Bears Wildlife Reserve. In 2015 and 2016 she was co-

ordinator of the Animal and Agricultural Industries Careers Fair at CSU.

She has played netball, touch football and hockey at CSU, acted as swimming

instructor for Wagga Wagga City Council and actively contributed to many aspects of

the University and to Australia’s rural landscape. Her supervisors are sure she will

contribute strongly to animal production science in Australia for many years to come.

SPONSORED BY Country Women’s Association (CWA) Sydney

CWA Sydney City :

is an active group of professional women, ranging in ages from 25 to 65 meets monthly, generally on the third Monday evening in Sydney’s CBD actively fundraises for vital health and medical research, and educational scholarships

is rejuvenating time-honoured ‘granny skills’ and holds regular workshops and get-together on

jam and preserve making and handicrafts

takes part in local, group and State baking, cookery and handicraft competitions

champions community interest in sustainability and fresh, local produce from Australian

farmers

learns about international traditions and customs while keenly supporting our local culture

raises awareness, drives change and lobbies government around vital social and community

issues

offers women of all ages a diverse range of opportunities to become involved

…………..along with how-to’s on baking the perfect scone!

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Established in July 1896, the objects of the Council are to bring

together, by means of association, voluntary bodies, societies or

associations of women and of women and men:

To promote sympathy of thought and purpose among women

of New South Wales

To uphold the social, civil and moral values and religious

freedom of the community

To promote the interests and advancement of women and to

secure their recognition in the community

To promote such conditions of life as will assure every family

and child an opportunity for full and free development, and to

uphold the family as the basic unit of society

To form a link with National Councils of Women in other

countries through the National Council of Women of

Australia Inc. and the International Council of Women.

Applications for membership can be made to:

info@ncwnsw.org.au

Ph: +61 2 9269 0433

www.ncwnsw.org.au

YOUR PAGE FOR MEMORIES