Trailblazing women lawyers
About this module
Using an inquiry-based approach, this module develops students' skills as historians through engaging historical sources. Featuring sources from the National Library's collections, the resource caters for flexible approaches to suit diverse classroom contexts and learning styles.
Copyright for teachers
You can download all collection materials in this resource for education purposes. For more information, go to copyright for teachers.
This module draws from the collections of the National Library of Australia, with a particular focus on the Oral History and Folklore collection project Trailblazing Women and the Law.
Digital Classroom: Trailblazing Women Lawyers
Topics in this module
Professor Kim Rubenstein, photo courtesy of Michael Silver
Rosemary Kayess, 2015, photo courtesy of Kim Rubenstein
Lannon Harley, Photograph of Jane Connors, 2014
Irene Dowdy & National Library of Australia, Professor Megan Davis, Cobble Cobble woman of the Barunggam Nation, presenting the 2022 Kenneth Myer Lecture, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3135627148
Erika Feller, photo courtesy of Kim Rubenstein
Catherine Branson
Introductory activities
Exploring inclusivity through the stories of trailblazing women
The Trailblazing Women and the Law oral history project highlights the lives and contributions of women who have worked to make society more inclusive, not only in Australia but around the world. These stories provide an opportunity to reflect on key ideas about inclusion, equality, and diversity, and to consider the value of oral histories as a way of understanding the past. Questions to ask students:
- What does it mean to have a truly inclusive society?
- How are inclusivity, equality, diversity, and intersectionality connected?
- What does the word trailblazing mean? Can you think of other situations where it applies?
- Why is an oral history recording valuable as a source? How might it give a different perspective compared to a written account?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of oral histories as a way of recording and understanding history?
Concluding activities
Deepen your understanding of oral history and its significance by exploring the National Library of Australia’s Oral History and Folklore Collection.
Create your own oral history project
As a class, develop an oral history project from start to finish. Here are some steps to guide you:
- Choose a theme: What story or community do you want to focus on?
- Decide who to include: Who will you interview for the project?
- Prepare your questions: What questions will help you uncover meaningful stories and perspectives?
- Plan the logistics:
- How will you record the interviews?
- Where will the recordings be stored?
- Inform participants: Before interviews, make sure participants understand:
- The purpose of the project.
- How their stories will be recorded, stored, and used.
- Their rights to access, withdraw, or place conditions on their material.
Dive into inspiring examples
Explore the Australian Women Lawyers as Active Citizens exhibition to learn about the women featured and their impact on the legal field.
- Use the Occupations Tab to see the diverse roles these women held.
- Check out the Jurisdictions Tab to understand where they practiced law.
- Read about Rachael Wallbank, who transitioned from Richard Wallbank, through the exhibition and her autobiography.
This activity not only strengthens research and organisational skills but also helps students connect with personal stories that bring history to life
Curriculum links
This module has been developed to support students working towards the Achievement Standards for Year 10 in the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences: History.
- Students explain the causes and effects of events, developments, turning points or movements in 20th century Australia and internationally, leading up to and through the Second World War, and the post-war world.
- They describe social, cultural, economic and/or political aspects, including international developments, related to the changes and continuities in Australian society over this historical period.
- Students explain the role of significant ideas, individuals, groups, and institutions connected to the developments of this period and their influences on Australian and global history.
- Students develop and modify a range of questions about the past to inform historical inquiry.
- They locate, select and compare a range of primary and secondary sources and synthesise the information in sources to use as evidence in historical inquiry.
- They analyse the origin, content, context and purpose of primary and secondary sources.
- Students evaluate the accuracy, usefulness and reliability of sources as evidence.
- They evaluate perspectives of significant events and developments, and explain the important factors that influence these perspectives.
- The contributions of significant individuals and groups in the campaign for the recognition of the rights of First Nations Australians and the extent to which they brought change to Australian society (AC9HH10K10)
- The significant events and methods in the movement for the civil rights of First Nations Australians and the extent to which they contributed to change (AC9HH10K11)
- The significant events, individuals and groups in the women’s movement in Australia, and how they have changed the role and status of women (AC9HH10K12)
- The continuing efforts to create change in the civil rights and freedoms in Australia, for First Nations Australians, migrants and women (AC9HH10K13)
- The origins and significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including Australia’s involvement in the development of the declaration (AC9HH10K15)
- Changing social, political, economic, cultural, environmental and technological conditions, and the causes of a major global influence in Australia (AC9HH10K17)
- Continuities and changes in perspectives, responses, beliefs and values that have influenced the Australian way of life (AC9HH10K18)
More to explore
Kathy Weeden reading her book Phonobet, illustrated by Kim Drane and published by NLA Publishing, at Enlighten at the Library 2024
Photo of Dorothy Tangney and Enid Lyons entering Parliament House in 1943, from the Papers of Dorothy Margaret Tangney, 1938-1986, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3190082597