Australian Women during WWI – YourLibrary@MLC

Year 9 History – Museum Exhibition
Women during WWI

Last updated September 2023

Ask a Teacher Librarian

Click here to email Ms Bright if you have any queries.

This page has been created to support Year 9 HASS students with their inquiry task on WWI

This is quite a large topic so think about which aspects you would like to focus on. e.g.

the home front in Australia for women
impact of WWI on women’s rights
what life was like for those at home during the war
women’s roles during the war e.g. nurses
internment camps

Use these terms to search the catalogue, eResources or the Internet.

Australia +

Women World War I
Women WWI
Women Great War
Home front WWI

Print Resources

Below is a small selection of print resources that include information about women and the home front during WWI. You can locate these using the shelf Call No indicated. You will also find more resources by searching the Library Catalogue using your keyword.

305.420994 INS
Inserra, R. (2004). Women at home & war: 1900-1945. Heinemann Library.

994.394 BUL
Note: This is on the LDL shelves

Bullen, S., & Pyne, M. (2012). World War I. Pearson.

940.394 HIL
Hillman, R. (2001). World War I. Echidna Books.

994.041 SCA
Scates, B., & Frances, R. (1997). Women and the great war. Cambridge University Press.

994.04 ADA
Adam-Smith, P. (2014). Australian women at war. Five Mile Press.

994.04 MCK
McKernan, M. (2014). Australians at home: World War I. The Five Mile Press.

eBooks

eBook
Conti, L., Easton, M., Carrodus, G., Wilson, J., Smith, R., & Wilson, A. (2016). Humanities and social sciences: Western Australian curriculum. Oxford University Press.

eBook
Siers, R. (2013). Devotion: stories of Australia’s wartime nurses. Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs.

eResources

There are no online database resources suggested for this task.

Websites

Search the catalogue for appropriate websites or use the websites listed below. If you search the Internet on your own, you will need to evaluate the websites using the CRAAP method.

Australian Screen. (n.d.). Red Cross Activities During and After WWI. https://aso.gov.au/titles/historical/red-cross-first-world-war/

The footage on this website provides a snapshot of the daily tasks female Red Cross volunteers performed during and after the First World War.

Department of Veterans’ Affairs. (2022). Roles of Australian women in World War I. Anzac Portal. https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/personnel/australian-women

Discover information about women at home and overseas, the impact on wartime employment and the commemoration of women.

Department of Veterans Affairs. (2008). Australian women in war. https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/resources/australian-women-war

This resource will provide you with Australian statistics and primary source material.

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. (n.d.). Life on the home front. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/life-home-front

This website features primary source material from the time period about life in Australia during the First World War.

Papas, C. (2014). The forgotten women of the Great War. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/08/20/4071041.htm

State Library of New South Wales. (2017). World War I and Australia: women and war. http://guides.sl.nsw.gov.au/c.php?g=671848&p=4728753

This website features primary source materials like diaries and letters.

Grayzel, S. (2014). Women at home in a world at war. https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/women-at-home

This website includes primary source material.

Videos

Behind the News. (2014, November 10). War nurse Olive Haynes, Behind the News [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-njJdoVs8s

This gives an Australian perspective on women during WWI and in particular nurses.

Doust, S. (2018). Women’s War. https://education.abc.net.au/newsandarticles/blog/-/b/2956601/explore-the-extraordinary-stories-of-women-during-ww1

Explore the extraordinary stories of women during World War One in Australia and around the world. An amazing source of information with many contemporary (primary) resources to discover. Download the app for iOS or Android

The Great War. (2015, March 9). Sustaining total war – women in World War I [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cVSjzuvThE

This video provides a good introduction to women during WWI.