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Mavis Isabel Woodford (1911–1995)

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Mavis Isabel Woodford (1911-1995) clerk, typist, trade union official and feminist

Birth: 10 March 1911 at Prahran, Victoria, daughter of native-born parents Ernest Percy Woodford (1881-1966), agent, later cigar-maker, and Ethel, née Thomas (1880-1957). Unmarried. Death: 17 April 1995 in her usual residence, Berkeley Vale Nursing Home, New South Wales. 

  • Educated at Daceyville and Eastwood public schools, NSW, and Fort Street Girls High School, Sydney.
  • Employed as a typist/clerk in private industry in 1927-1929. Was unemployed from 1929 to 1934. Worked as a typist/clerk, machine operator, complaints officer, librarian, in the NSW Public Service from 1934 to 1966.
  • Held various positions in the NSW Public Service Association (PSA) in 1946-1966, including honorary secretary of the Women’s Auxiliary and of the Amenities Committee, member executive council, delegate to NSW Labor Council and foundation board member of the PSA Club, Building Society and Credit Union.
  • A prominent equal pay campaigner from the 1950s. First woman PSA delegate to Labor Council NSW. With Doris Osborne, she was one of the first two women members of the Industrial Relations Society of NSW.
  • Held various positions on the NSW Labor Council in 1956-1966, including honorary secretary of the Equal Pay Committee, delegate to ACTU Interstate Executive Equal Pay Committee and co-convenor of the Combined Equal Pay Committee. Work for equal pay included membership of interstate and Canberra deputations 1956-1966.
  • With Doris Osborne she convened weekly broadcasts on radio station 2KY from 1956 to 1968. Acted as liaison between women’s organisations and trade unions. participated in many public meetings seeking support of unions, women’s groups and public. In 1960s she prepared Digest of United Nations and International Labour Organization documents affecting the status of women for presentation to federal government and opposition.
  • Member and office-holder of League of Women Voters and Federation of Women Voters. Typist/clerk in private industry in 1966-1971.
  • She was also an active community worker: minute secretary of the Home Units Association of NSW 1966-1974; hon. secretary Strata Titles Council from 1966, member of the NSW PSA Club 1956-1966 and member NSW Teachers’ Federation 1956-1966.
  • Woodford was commissioned justice of the peace in 1964. She was honorary secretary of the Ashfield Community Aid and Information Centre Committee from 1968 and convenor/co-ordinator of referral centre from 1971. She was awarded the gold medal of the NSW PSA, 1963, and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal 1977.
  • Cause of death: cerebro-vascular accident (10 days) and generalized atherosclerosis (more than 10 years).

Sources
Who’s Who of Australian Women 1982.

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Citation details

'Woodford, Mavis Isabel (1911–1995)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/woodford-mavis-isabel-35131/text44320, accessed 27 June 2025.

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