Centenary of the Country Women’s Association

Overview

The Country Women’s Association (CWA) is a collection of independent state- and territory-based associations. Each is a-political, non-sectarian and not-for-profit and seeks to improve conditions for country women as well as children, families and communities.

The first CWA (the CWA of New South Wales) formed on 20 April 1922, during an open conference for country women, which was organised to get a “country women’s union of help” off the ground. Grace Emily Munro MBE (1879–1964) became the CWA’s foundation president, working tirelessly (including lobbying government for maternal health centres, hospitals and schools) until ill-health forced her retirement. Awarded the MBE in 1935, Grace Munro died in 1964. By that time, the CWA had spread throughout Australia and into Papua New Guinea, with branches in cities as well as in country districts. The rest of the mainland states had formed associations by 1929, followed by a branch in the Northern Territory, in 1933, an association in Tasmania, in 1936, and a branch in the ACT, in 1946.

There are an estimated 21,000+ CWA members nationally in some 1,146+ branches. Each association undertakes advocacy and community work, while also creating a support and social network for women, particularly in remote areas, and fundraising includes sales of iconic scones and cookbooks. The CWA’s valuable work is still guided by the long-standing motto “... Service to the Country, Through Country Woman, For Country Women, By Country Women”.