News

Celebrating the upcoming centenary of women's suffrage in Victoria.

On Thursday July the 26^th former Premier Joan Kirner launched They are but Women: The Road to Female Suffrage in Victoria, a Melbourne University postgraduate history student essay collection.

Ms Kirner said, "2008 will mark the centenary of women's suffrage in Victoria. It is important never to take voting rights for granted and to remember how hard women struggled to gain the vote against enormous prejudice".

As part of their coursework unit, students were asked to examine the lives of a disparate group of turn-of-the-century citizens in the context of the struggle for female enfranchisement.  The subjects of the essays comprise, among others, working class women, Temperance advocates, a state Premier, anti-suffragists and a woman who championed fertility control.  Of interest to the Loreto community, however, is the essay examining the life of Mother Gonzaga Barry through her vision for educational opportunity and equality for girls at a time when Australia was undergoing a period of rapid social, cultural and political change.

 Mary Gonzaga Barry was the founder of the IBVM in Australia. An inspirational leader, she initiated a philosophy of education that was noted for its foresight and comprehensiveness. Her interests spanned a wide field- from the first Catholic Teacher Training College for young women to the first free kindergarten in Australia.

The book is not for profit and entirely self published.

Ms Kirner congratulated the students for publishing the work on such an important, but often overlooked, part of Victorian history.

The book was launched at 5:30 PM on July 26^th at the Baillieu  Library Melbourne University.

For further information please contact: Pete Minard on 0408054308