Muriel Agnes Heagney Explained

Muriel Agnes Heagney
Birth Date:31 December 1885
Birth Place:Brisbane
Death Place:St Kilda
Nationality:Australian
Notable Works:Are Women Taking Men's Jobs?
Party:Australian Labor Party
Movement:Equal Pay

Muriel Agnes Heagney (1885 – 1974) was an Australian trade unionist and feminist,[1] and a lifetime campaigner for equal pay for women workers.[2] Born on 31 December 1885 in Brisbane, she died on 14 May 1974 in St Kilda.

Political activism

Heagney was a member of the Political Labor Council in Richmond, Victoria and attended the first Victorian Labor Women's Conference in 1909. During World War I she campaigned against conscription and was a committee member of the Workers' Educational Association.

Between 1921 and 1923 she was the Secretary for the Australian Relief Fund for Stricken Europe and in the following two years visited Russia and worked for a short period in Geneva for the International Labour Organisation. In 1925 she attended the first British Commonwealth Labour Conference in London, representing the Melbourne Trades Hall Council. Between 1926 and 1927 she was a member of the Australian Labor Party, helping to establish the Labor Guild of Youth, and stood unsuccessfully in the Boroondara by-election in 1933.

Notable works

Recognition

In 1978 a street in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm was named Heagney Crescent in her honour,[3] while in 2001 she was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bremner, J.. Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Canberra.
  2. News: Muriel Heagney and the Fight for Equal Pay During World War Two – Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. 2018-03-07. en-US.
  3. Web site: Schedule 'B' National Memorials Ordinance 1928-1972 Street Nomenclature List of Additional Names with Reference to Origin - Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special (National : 1977 - 2012) - 8 Feb 1978. Trove. en. 2019-09-03.
  4. Web site: Heagney, Muriel Agnes – Woman – The Australian Women's Register. Melbourne. National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of. www.womenaustralia.info. en-gb. 2018-03-08.