‘Respectable Radicals’ the history of National Council of Women of Australia

‘Respectable Radicals’ the history of National Council of Women of Australia is now on sale in all good bookshops. RRP $39.95.

We congratulate authors  Marian Quarterly and Judith Smart, and History Committee led by Leonie Christopherson AM, on the birth of Respectable Radicals: A History of the National Council of Women of Australia, 1896-2006. We hope to see coverage of our story in mainstream media, newspapers and relevant radio programs.  The book has its own webpage.

For much of the twentieth century, the National Council of Women of Australia was the peak body representing women to government in Australia, and through the International Council of Women, to the world. This history of NCWA tells the story of mainstream feminism in Australia, of the long struggle for equality at home and at work which is still far from achieved. In these days when women can no longer be imagined as speaking with one voice, and women as a group have no ready access to government, we still need something of the optimistic vision of the leaders of NCWA. Respectable in hat and gloves to the 1970s and beyond, they politely persisted with the truly radical idea that women the world over should be equal with men .Respectable Radicalsis being launched by Professor Marilyn Lake on 11 October as part of the NCWA Triennial Conference.