People Australia

Elizabeth Mattick, n.d.

Education (NSW), 7 July 1976, p 206

Elizabeth Wilhelmina Mattick (1914-2001) school teacher, trade union official and Communist

Birth: 1914 at Molong, New South Wales, daughter of Alan Walter George Mattick (1884-1973), shire engineer, and Mary Jane Wilhelmina (Mina), Butler (1884-1974). Both parents had been born in Somerset, England, her father in Radstock, and her mother in Paulton. Unmarried. Death: 20 June 2001 in Sydney, NSW. 

• Trained as a teacher in the 1930s. Subsequently posted to Coolah primary school and various other country and metropolitan schools.
• Became active in the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF). Member of Federation's Women Assistants Council and Country Committee, then was secretary of the Secondary Association branches at Lithgow and Kempsey.
• Graduated Bachelor of Economics (Bec), University of Sydney, 1940.
• Joined Communist Party of Australia, becoming a close associate of Sam Lewis.
• Elected NSWTF's first research officer in 1946, retained post for 10 years, focusing on the issues of salaries, school conditions, equal pay, and secondary education and strengthening the NSWTF's involvement in the New Deal for Education movement.
• Produced the first detailed written case for salary increases for teachers in 1954. Represented the NSWTF and the Australian Teachers Federation at international conferences. In 1955 she received a grant from the Commonwealth Bank to study teaching conditions abroad, travelling to Britain and Europe. Lost her position to the right-wing in 1956.
• In 1957 returned to the NSWTF council as delegate for Wagga. Elected senior vice-president in 1959, serving in the post for eight years. Deputy president 1968, serving four years.
• Acting president during first strike by NSW teachers, on 1 October 1968, providing effective leadership during strike meeting held at Wentworth Park.
• Unsuccessful candidate for NSWTF presidency in 1971, following split in left-wing vote.
• Principal of Sydney Girls High School in early 1970s. Retired in 1976.
• In 1982 she was selected as a member of a delegation to the United Nations special session on disarmament. She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in January 1993 for service to peace and disarmament. 

Sources
Education, 21 April 1950, 25 April 1956, 20 October 1957, 22 June 1960, 7 July 1976; B. A. Mitchell, Teachers, Education and Politics (Brisbane, 1975); John O'Brien, A Divided Unity! Politics of NSW Teacher Militancy since 1945 (Sydney, December 31, 1987); photo with delegation members, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 June 1982,