Ava's award-winning insight into women's rights in Australia

The theme for the National History Challenge this year was Crisis and Response. This competition encourages students to use research and inquiry-based learning to dive deeper into and discover more about the past.

In 2024, Semester 2, Year 11 Modern History Students researched their historical inquiry SAC, writing 1500 words focussing on topics of Australian history, such as women’s rights and the LGBTQIA+ Movement, and the Peace Movement which formed during the Vietnam War years, 1964–72. The theme is very important. All entries must focus on it. To follow from Carey’s successes in this competition over the past four years, this year was no different. We entered three senior students’ work into the competition: Hunter from Year 10, and Alice and Ava in Year 11. It was exciting to learn that Ava’s essay, which focussed on the Women’s Right’s Movement, was selected for national judging – and even more exciting when we learnt that Ava received a silver award for the category of Australian’s Women’s History. Ava wrote the following overview about her topic:

Some Australian women recognised they were part of a social and economic crisis, from 1960; how did women and the government respond to this crisis of gender inequality by 1990? This essay discusses the struggles and protest around gender inequality between the decades of 1960–90. It focusses on the ideas and structures challenged during this time through individuals, organisations and feminist writing. It further explores the subsequent impact of this action.

The Australian’s Women’s History prize is sponsored by the National Foundation for Australian Women. Below is Ava’s conclusion which makes reference to their work:

The NFAW, founded in 1942 by Pamela Denoon, similarly challenged power, aiming ‘to establish a durable body to administer funds to promote the ideas and policies of the women’s movement in Australia in the future’. Despite the responses of individuals and women led groups throughout the decades 1960-1990, misogyny remained entrenched in Australian society. Even today many women still face the crisis felt by inequality, most being unable to break through the glass ceiling.

We are really proud of the extensive research and essays that the senior students produced for this task, in particular Ava’s award-winning essay. We look forward to preparing our Year 11 and Year 12 VCE History Students for next years’ theme of Conflict and Resolution.

Jo Leech
Wellbeing Project Co-ordinator and Senior School History teacher