Summary

Poster advertising the First Congress for Italo-Australian Women, held in Sydney on 26 October 1985 and Melbourne on 27 October 1985. Published by the Italo-Australian Women's Association, North Fitzroy, Melbourne, 1985.

It is part of a collection of material obtained from individuals and organisations in the course of developing the 'Trailblazers: Migrant Women Activists' exhibition in the Immigration Museum's Community Gallery from March to July 2008.

Physical Description

3-colour poster with photographs and congress information. Printed in red and white with a green border and black and white photographs.

Significance

The material in the Trailblazers collection documents the earliest days of migrant women's activism in Victoria, pioneering activity that led to significant policy shifts in Australia and the advent of new, ethnic-specific social services. The collection particularly features individuals and organisations that lobbied for or were active in influencing the formation or reformation of government policies. The material is largely from the Italian, Greek and Turkish communities, in particular, but also reflects broader efforts supporting migrant women services generally, especially campaigns for improvements to domestic violence services, women's health and contraception, working conditions and childcare.

The material in this collection is quite rare, and it is the only collection in Victoria that is concerned exclusively with the activities of migrant women. The objects and documents in this collection have social significance as evidence of the tumultuous period in the 1970s which culminated in the landmark recommendations of the Galbally Report of 1978.

More Information