Edith Cowan was a networking pioneer. She lived in an age when men dominated politics and yet she was able to use her connections and networks to help her to do more for her community, and specifically for children. Read about Edith Cowan and consider how she struggled to make a difference for single mothers and young children and the impact that having effective networks had on her success.

Female Leaders: Edith Dircksey Cowan

Born Edith Brown in 1861, Edith is worthy of note as the first female member of the Australian Parliament and a true Western Australian pioneer. She was born at Glengary, near Geraldton in Western Australia, the second daughter of a pastoralist, Kenneth Brown, and a teacher, Mary. Her childhood was unhappy, with her mother dying in childbirth when Edith was 7 and her stepmother being murdered by her father eight years later. He was hanged for the offence.

Edith attended boarding school in Perth where she met James Cowan, whom she married in 1879. James was the registrar and master of the Supreme Court. His appointment in 1890 as police magistrate gave them economic security as well as a place in Perth society where they were able to network with the great and the good. Edith also gained an insight into society’s wider problems. Between 1880 and 1891 the couple had four daughters and a son.

In the 1890s Edith became involved in a number of voluntary organisations, including the North Fremantle Board of Education, the Karrakatta Women’s Club, the House of Mercy for Unmarried Mothers and the Ministering Children’s League. In addition, in 1906 she was one of the founding members of the Children’s Protection Society and pioneered a day nursery for working mothers in 1909. The Children’s Protection Society was instrumental in supporting the State Children’s Act in 1907, which led directly to the Children’s Court. In 1915 Edith was among the first women appointed to the bench and she became a Justice of the Peace in 1920.

In 1909 she helped initiate the Women’s Service Guild, which undertook fundraising activities and government lobbying, a function of which was the opening of the King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in 1916. Edith became secretary of the advisory board to the hospital. In 1911 she was instrumental in the creation of the National Council of Women of Western Australia, serving as president from 1913 to 1921 and then vice‐president until her death in 1932. She was also a foundation member of Co‐Freemasonry in Western Australia in 1916, the first female member of the Anglican Social Questions Committee from 1916, and a co‐opted member of the synod from 1923.

Edith supported amendments to the Health Act that proposed the compulsory notification of venereal disease. She travelled to Britain and Europe between 1903 to 1912, and in 1925 she went to the USA. During World War I she took part in a wide range of social activities, including the Red Cross, which saw her recognised with the award of OBE in 1920. The political scenery after the war also led to changes in legislation that barred women from parliament. As such, in 1921 Edith stood as an endorsed Nationalist for the Legislative Assembly seat of West Perth. She campaigned on her community service record, the need for law and order, and for the place of women in parliament to ‘nag a little’ on social issues. She won, narrowly, and became the first woman member of the Australian Parliament.

During her first term in office Edith proposed improvements in migrant welfare, the development of infant health centres and the promotion of women’s rights. She was also an advocate for sexual education in state schools. Sadly, she lost the 1924 election, and she was defeated again in 1927, so ending her political career.

In 1926 Edith was a founder of the (Royal) Western Historical Society and in 1929 she was active in planning the state’s 1929 centenary celebrations. She continued her social and committee involvement until ill health became too much of a burden. She died in 1932 aged 71. Edith Cowan is an example of an articulate and driven woman who spent the majority of her life fighting for women and children’s rights, and finding ways to develop social and community support systems from within contemporary political and social structures. Edith was a genuine pioneer, forging a path and networks not previously trodden by women in both politics and social reform in Australia.

Challenge: Could Edith have done all this alone or without connections? In a political landscape dominated by men, could she have managed to make the progress she did without their support or engagement? There are parallels here to interprofessional working and interprofessional education. Can the health service grow and prosper or will better patient or client outcomes be possible without different professional disciplines finding effective ways to work together? How can we better network with different professional disciplines?

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