Meet the women on the front line at the Australian War Memorial

Staff from the Australian War Memorial have gathered at the museum’s collection stores in Mitchell to mark International Women’s Day.

The Memorial’s new galleries and construction teams are made up of majority female staff with 74 per cent leading gallery development and 56 per cent of the in-house construction team made up of women.

For one member of the gallery development team, Emily Hyles, it is not only the diversity of female staff that is driving the new galleries but the stories the Memorial can reveal about Australian women on the front lines of war.

“During my five years on the team, I have come across some amazing women, and their stories will appear in the new galleries for the first time,” Ms Hyles said.

“During my Bomber Command research I discovered Jean Starling – a Canberra librarian who interpreted thousands of images taken by Allied aircraft over Germany that provided evidence for intelligence reports.

“I am also inspired by the resilience of people such as Hangama Obaidullah – as a girl she lived under the Taliban regime and now champions the rights of girls and women in Afghanistan from Canberra.

“And I have found compelling stories about the first female pilots in the RAAF, who were flying C-130s. Graduating in 1988, they were subject to extreme sexism and had to be far better than their male counterparts just to keep their places.”

Australian War Memorial Council Member, Aunty Lorraine Hatton OAM, the first Aboriginal female to be promoted to Warrant Officer in the Australian Army’s history, recently greeted King Charles and Queen Camila at the Memorial on their Royal visit to Australia.

“We are honoured that Their Majesties chose to visit For Our Country and learn a little about Australia’s proud Indigenous military service,” said Aunty Lorraine, who is also the first female Indigenous member of Council of the Australian War Memorial.

“Their Majesties acknowledgment is significant, especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, many of whom were forced to hide their Indigenous heritage last century in order to serve their country,” she said.

IMAGE: working at Kandahar – Anzac Day image AWM2022.537.1.80

Project Manager, Rebecca Conway, is one of the three in-house female construction project managers and recently delivered the ambitious Main Entrance, Forecourt, Commemorative Entrance and Parade Ground.

“It was such a proud moment watching the first visitors walk through the new sliding doors of the Main Entrance,” Ms Conway said.

“They were immediately drawn to the stunning Glass Oculus that represents that connection between new and old.”

Contact: 02 6263 6628 media@awm.gov.au 0449 775 688