Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1986-1998 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
16 folders, 1 item.
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Women's Abortion Campaign (WAC) was a not-for-profit activist group that campaigned for the decriminalisation of abortion in Queensland, access to free and safe abortion, and sex education in schools through lobbying, rallies, and information-sharing. It was based in West End, Brisbane, and received funding largely from donations and membership subscriptions. An earlier iteration of the Women's Abortion Campaign was the Women's Campaign for Abortion (WCA), which formed in 1979 but disbanded around 1986. WCA then re-established in April 1991 as WAC, after individuals interested in abortion matters in Queensland began meeting again from 1989. WAC disbanded between the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Publicists - Debra McLoughlin, Mary Barram, Unna Liddy, Felicity Farmer, Frances Somers, Lorna Owen, Annette Liddy, Anna McCormack, Susan Price, Katrina Barben, Philippa Stanford, Nannette Wight, Jenny Hughie and Alison Stewart.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Material collected by the Women's Abortion Campaign relating to other women's organisations, governmental bodies and unions, as well as materials relating to abortion and women's rights matters in general, and the broader legal and policy context surrounding abortion.
Box 3
Folder 6
Materials from the 'Liberation or loss? Women act on the new reproductive technologies' Conference, 9-11 May 1986, Australian National University, Canberra. Possibly collected by Debra McLoughlin. Includes the conference program, final plenary session summary and conference papers numbered 1 to 10. Continues into next folder.
Folder 7
Papers from the 'Liberation or loss? Women act on the new reproductive technologies' Conference, 9-11 May 1986, Australian National University, Canberra. Possibly collected by Debra McLoughlin. Includes conference papers numbered 11 to 31, continued from previous folder.
Folder 8
Research materials relating to abortion collected by WAC from 1973 to 1992, some with annotations. Includes essays and conference papers, as well as excerpts, both originals and photocopies and printouts, of papers from journals and other publications. Also includes a copy of a transcript of a Radio 4EB interview with Wayne Goss. Materials continue into next folder.
Folder 9
Research materials relating to abortion collected by WAC from 1993 to 1995, some with annotations. Includes essays and conference papers, as well as excerpts, both originals and photocopies and printouts, of papers from journals and other publications. Continues from previous folder.
Folder 10
Materials relating to the Abortion Rights Network of Australia (ARNA) from 1992 to 1998. Includes agendas and minutes of meetings and teleconferences; records relating to ARNA National Conferences, such as event planning documents and presented papers; correspondence; a draft constitution; and newsletters and circulars.
Folder 11
Materials relating to the Queensland Women's Coalition (QWC) from 1989. Includes a handwritten draft and finalised typed version of a letter sent to women's organisations; a draft leaflet for a speak out on 10 November 1989 and a rally on 18 November 1989 organised by QWC; a typed letter addressed to Mary Kelly, President of the Queensland Teachers Union (QTU); and an annotated copy of the QWC-produced booklet Women's issues : Queensland elections 1986, as well as what appear to be annotated typed drafts of sections for the 1989 edition of Women's issues.
Box 4
Folder 1
Materials relating to the Union of Australian Women (UAW) from 1990 to 1997. Includes correspondence; circulars; newspaper cuttings; excerpts from the U.A.W. News newsletter produced by the Union of Australian Women Queensland Branch; handwritten notes possibly taken during meetings; and a typed draft of a letter inviting supporters to join UAW.
Folder 2
Materials relating to the International Women's Day (IWD) Committee from 1978 and 1980 to 1997. Materials generally relate to IWD events in Brisbane and Townsville. Includes newspaper cuttings regarding IWD events; a press release by the Australian Social Welfare Union endorsing attendance at IWD activities; press releases issued by the IWD Committee; papers and other research material, some annotated; song sheets and chants for marches and rallies; correspondence; permit to hold a procession in Townsville; IWD event planning documents; handwritten notes, many on scrap paper, for planning rallies and other activities; meeting agendas and minutes; some ephemera with handwritten notes; ephemera collected from IWD events and other activist events in 1983 in London; drafts, handwritten and typed, of papers about IWD; an invitation to Debra McLoughlin from Robert (Bob) Hawke and Margaret Reynolds for an IWD celebration in Brisbane; and mailouts and circulars. Related material can also be found in Parcel 1 Folder 3, as well as Series D: 'Photographs, artwork, ephemera', Box 3 Folder 1, photographs from IWD marches in Brisbane and London.
Folder 3
Materials relating to the Children by Choice Association (CBC) from 1973 to 1993. Includes meeting agendas and minutes, policy and other governance documents, correspondence and mail-outs, financial reports, draft annual reports, public statements and press releases, and documents relating to CBC involvement in requests for repeal of Queensland's criminal abortion laws. Continues into next folder.
Folder 4
Materials relating to the Children by Choice Association from 1994 to 1995. Includes meeting agendas and minutes; mail-outs and circulars; documents relating to CBC involvement in requests for repeal of Queensland's criminal abortion laws; draft annual reports; policy and other governance documents, as well as restructure documents; managing committee member profiles and contact details; and reports on outcomes of meetings with governmental and media organisations, as well as other Australian and international organisations. Continues from previous folder and into the next folder.
Folder 5
Materials relating to the Children by Choice Association from 1996 to 2001. Includes meeting agendas and minutes; correspondence; committee member reports; constitution and other governance documents, as well as restructure documents; staff member listing; circulars and mail-outs; press releases; documents relating to CBC involvement in requests for repeal of Queensland's criminal abortion laws; financial reports and documents relating to CBC's funding. Continues from previous folder.
Folder 6
Materials relating to women's health, women's health policies, and abortion services and procedures from 1992 to 1993. Includes handwritten notes on the Bessie Smyth Clinic; undated typed manuscript titled 'Health', no author attribution, which discusses healthcare in Queensland; excerpts from the Report of the Working Party to Examine the Adequacy of Existing Services for the Termination of Pregnancy in South Australia; documents relating to Queensland Health and the Women's Health Policy Unit; correspondence; a research paper on menstrual extraction; and two research papers on services for the termination of pregnancy in Australia, one annotated in pen; printout from a Verbatim ValuLife 5 1/4 inch double-density floppy disc of a draft, created using WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, of a September 1991 edition of Health Journey, a newsletter of the Women's Health Centre, Brisbane. See Parcel 1 Item 1 for the Verbatim ValuLife 5 1/4 inch double-density floppy disc containing the digital file of this printout.
Folder 7
Materials relating to Mifepristone, also known as RU486, from 1990 to 1991. Includes annotated cuttings and excerpts, both original and photocopies, from research papers, newspapers and magazines.
Folder 8
Materials relating to state and federal government bodies and their policies on abortion and women's rights more generally from 1975, 1989, and 1993 to 1995. Included are documents from the Australian Labor Party (ALP), the Liberal Party of Australia, and various women's political parties. Contains a faxed transcript, annotated in pen, of a May 1975 Brisbane City Hall public meeting on the Pregnancy Termination Control Bill as well as an annotated photocopy of newspaper cuttings relating to the meeting; an annotated photocopied page from the Australian Labor Party Policy document and branch members' handbook; typed paper titled 'Women's Policy: freedom of opportunity through choice' from the Liberal Party of Australia Queensland Division; press release from the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women; annotated abortion motion moved by Anne Warner and seconded by Molly Robson; copy of a typed draft paper by Barbara Sullivan titled 'Women and the Goss Government'; correspondence regarding Women Into Politics Queensland; typed summary of some amendments to the ALP's platform on health; handwritten letter to Jenny Hughey from Renate Klein regarding the Australia Women's Party (AWP), attached to a November 1995 issue of FINNRAGE: Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and Genetic Engineering; typed paper titled 'Report to the Australian Government from the Australian Council for Women'; and correspondence and brochures regarding The Justice Statement.
Parcel 1
Item 1
Verbatim ValuLife 5 1/4 inch double-density floppy disc. Contains the digital file, created in September 1991 using WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, of the printout in Box 4 Folder 6, of the draft of a September 1991 edition of Health Journey, a newsletter of the Women's Health Centre, Brisbane.
Folder 3
Newspaper excerpts relating to the International Women's Day (IWD) in 1980, as well as an events register for IWD celebrations in Queensland in 1995.
Folder 4
Materials relating to rape from 1976 to 1980, and 1990. Includes a photocopy of a poem 'The rape of Mr. Smith'; newspaper and magazine cuttings and excerpts; handwritten notes about rape victim crisis counselling.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
This series is divided into folders according to the subject of the materials, and materials are arranged chronologically within the folders, by processing archivist.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access.
Conditions governing reproduction
In copyright. Can be reproduced for personal research and study. For other uses see About copyright. Please attribute the Fryer Library.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Verbatim ValuLife 5 1/4 inch double-density floppy disc containing a digital file created using WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Box 3 Folders 6-11. Box 4 Folders 1-8. Parcel 1 Item 1, Folders 3-4.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Children by Choice Association Qld. (Subject)
- Abortion Rights Network of Australia (Subject)
- Union of Australian Women, Queensland Branch (Subject)
- International Women's Day Committee (Subject)
- Queensland Women's Coalition (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created, Kymberley Doyle, 08-Jul-2024.