Inside the AJHS Archives – The National Council of Jewish Women Australia ACT and NSW​

 

INTRODUCTION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN AUSTRALIA

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJWA) was established by Sydney Doctor Fanny Reading in 1923 in order to create a community that supported and was outspoken for the Jewish community and wider women’s issues in Australia. It is the oldest Jewish women’s organisation in Australia. The first Council Meeting was held in Sydney 8 July 1923 and since then has exponentially grown as an organisation which is still active to the present day. After the establishment of the Sydney section, it became a national movement and Jewish women in all other major Australian cities would follow in the footsteps of Reading and set up their own branch to continue advocating for the Australian Female community (Newton, 2000, p. 4). The open collection held within the Australian Jewish Historical Society has extensive documents on the foundation of the ACT council, minutes, reports, and agendas of meetings, correspondence emails between members of the NCJWACT and outside organizations, newspaper articles, flyers about outreach events and photographs of important people within the organisation.

IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THIS ORGANISATION

The collections held in the archive contain President papers and lists of national and section leaders, member biographies, larger donors to the organisation and reports detailing the extent of their involvement within the organization. This includes, and not limited to, Dr Fanny Reading; founder of the NCJWA and Sylvia Deutsch; who served as the Australian Jewish News correspondent in her earlier years and in 2017 was appointed to lead the NCJWA alongside Victoria Nadel. Deutsch has called the organization truly inspirational for the Jewish Women’s community as well as for the wider Australian community since the NCJWA is the only Jewish women’s organization that works for social justice causes for both Jewish and non-Jewish women (Brender, 2017).

THE GOALS OF THE ORGANISATION

The original aims of the organisation focused on four mains areas which were summarized on a banner across the first letterhead of the fledgling organisation

1. Religion:
   Reading wanted to promote the Jewish religion and wanted Jewish women to recommit to the
2. Education: The Council believed that it was vital for Jewish women to understand their heritage and to be motivated to preserve it.
3. Philanthropy:
   This is a charitable and social justice organisation. It is imperative that Jewish women make the world a better place by ensuring justice for all Jewish or not. This incorporated fundraisers, meals on wheels and projects associated with children’s hospitals.
4. Social:
   The Council has to be social and feel like a community been the volunteers Throughout the collections these values are always visible and they appear through the charitable and social work the organization does, the interfaith dialogue events which embrace all religions and creating an environment which empowers all women to fight for their rights and to feel supported into a welcoming organisation (Newton, 2000, p. 6-7).

THE HISTORY AND FOUNDATION OF THE ACT SECTION

This archive collection holds extensive documents on the foundation of this section that also includes membership forms, the constitution, brochures, working rules and section guidelines. The Canberra Section of the NCJWA, previously known then as the National Council of Jewish Women, was established in 1955. The Jewish community in Canberra was quite small with the only 4 Jews being in Canberra leading the Jewish community to not being formalised until 1951. Even today, according to the 2021 census, the Jewish community population in Canberra has a population of 1,037 people (Graham, 2024, p.18).

WHAT THEY DID

Despite the branch having a small Jewish population they still significantly served the community and this collection evidently shows it.

The archives contain plans, reports, and correspondence emails from members from the section about the largest project completed, The National Jewish Memorial Centre. This centre was first proposed in the early 1960s as a place for the local community (Newton, 2000, p.149-150). Archival material in this collection contains a photograph of Rabbi Israel Brodie, who laid the foundation stone of the building in 196I, and flyers and reports of a film that was made in response to this event (McMahon, 1971, p.2).

Various archival brochures and newspaper articles share the extent of Public and community service events that were provided by the women in the ACT Section. This was a major aspect of the organisation and it still continues today. The NCJW was the first organisation to work with Meals on Wheels in Canberra and was a Red Cross project and first begun in 1969.

Archival flyers in this collection highlight the extent of charity work conducted by the organisation. A charity stall was run twice a year by the NCJWA ACT at Fyshwick markets until the mid-1980s. This was considered their main fundraising effort during this time as they would sell secondhand books, bake cake and other sweets and hand-made silk flowers. Archival flowers and brochures in this collection also informed the community of the Jewish Community’s national food fair, which was hosted on the grounds of the National Jewish Memorial Centre. Luncheons and Council Tea’s were also frequent events that were open to the general community. Extensive charity work was carried out for the community in Israel such as sending clothing parcels and donations to women’s refuge in Haifa (Newton, 2000, p.151-152).

Interfaith functions and functions were a vital part of the organisation. Flyers and membership newsletter reminders, in this collection, highlighted numerous events whose overall goal was to bring the community together despite religious beliefs and traditions. This included film nights, religious seminars and lectures, invitations to religious holidays, community visits to places of worship and monthly Interfaith Dialogue events for members.

THE FOUNDATION AND HISTORY OF THE NSW SECTION

New South Wales is where the NCJWA was founded by Reading in 1923 (Newton, 2000, p.212). Documents in this collection hold reports from meetings, annual reports, lists of honorary officers and presidents of the organisation and contains important photographs of Readings

WHAT THEY DID

The NSW section was a part of extensive social justice work for the Jewish women and the larger women community. This began in the early 1920s with immigration and migration of Jewish people in Australia. The NCJWA established an immigrant welfare committee in 1923 and the women were tasked to meet boats, secure employment and accommodation and English lessons. This work was especially important for Reading as she was a migrant herself and she remembered the struggles of moving countries. The Self Denial Fund was founded in the 1920s and the goal was to provide aid for Polish Jewry. This charitable work arose from the idea that people who have the means would give up treats and instead give the money to these charitable causes (Newton, 2000, p. 213).

Other social work included supporting synagogues in smaller communities, teaching Sunday school, visiting and supporting Jewish people and children in hospitals, such as visiting the Wolper Jewish Hospital, and assisting with further local fundraising projects such as raising money for a district nursing service in Palestine (Newton, 2000, p.212-213).

THE SECTIONS TODAY

Today, the ACT and NSW sections of the NCJWA continue to advocate for all women in the wider Australian community. The NCJWA NSW is affiliated with important organisations within the Australian Jewish community and women’s advocacy organisations globally such as “Day for Girls” which aims to empower girls and women by ending period poverty by making reusable period kits. They support young and vulnerable mothers through the “Cuddle Bundles” charity program and Tikvah V’or which is a Breast Cancer Network for patients seeking support. Interfaith dialogue and connection is still vital in the organization with events being provided to understand all cultures and be supportive of all faiths, ethnicities and beliefs (Our Work, 2023).

As Marlo Newton so eloquently put it, “I came came to understand that there is a place in Jewish life for the women who sew and bake cakes for stalls; the women who chain themselves to railings at the Soviet Embassy to protest the treatment of fellow jews in Russia; … the women who fight for a voice in the male-dominated communal halls; and the women who telephone hundreds of others to raise funds for a project” (Newton, 2000, p.2)

This extensive collection holds invaluable information on an organisation whose mission over the past century is to advocate and fight for human rights, social justice and the advancement of all women.

REFERENCE LIST

Brender, Y . (2017, July 2). Changing of the NCJWA guard. The Australian Jewish News; The Australian Jewish News. https://www.australianjewishnews.com/changing-ncjwa-guard/ Community. (2025). Ncjwansw.org. https://www.ncjwansw.org/our-work/community/

Graham, D. (2024). The Jewish population of Australia Key findings from the 2021 Census. https://jca.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-Jewish-Population-of-Australia-Repor t_2021-Census-1.pdf

McMahon, W. (1971). OPENING OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH MEMORIAL CENTER CANBERRA. https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/original/00002503.pdf

Newton, M. L. (2000). An Introduction to the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia. In Making a Difference: A History of the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia. Hybrid Publishers.

Newton, M. L. (2000). The history of the National Council of Australia – Canberra Section. In Making a Difference: A History of the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia. Hybrid Publishers.

Newton, M. L. (2000). The history of the National Council of Australia – NSW Section. In Making a Difference: A History of the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia. Hybrid Publishers

Our History | NCJWA. (2025). NCJWA. https://www.ncjwa.org.au/about/history

Our History. (2023). Ncjwansw.org. https://www.ncjwansw.org/our-history-2/ Our Mission | NCJWA. (2025). NCJWA. https://www.ncjwa.org.au/mission

Our Work. (2023). Ncjwansw.org. https://www.ncjwansw.org/our-work/ Society of Australian Archivists. (2007). Archives matter!. [Dickson, A.C.T. : Society of Australian Archivists https://asa.imiscloud.com/common/Uploaded%20files/Careers/Archives%20Matter.pdf

Stephan, W. (2024, April 22). Research Guides: Archival Collections Management: Arrangement and Description. Guides.nyu.edu. https://guides.nyu.edu/archival-collections-management/arrangement-and-description

What are archives? (n.d.). ICA. https://www.ica.org/discover-archives/what-are-archives/