Australian women during World War II played a larger role than they had during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Military service

Many women wanted to play an active role in the war and hundreds of voluntary women's auxiliary and paramilitary organisations had been formed by 1940. These included the Women's Transport Corps, Women's Flying Club, Women's Emergency Signalling Corps and

Women's Australian National Services A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

. In July 1940 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

alone there were six different organisations providing women with war-related training, the largest of which was the Queensland-based

Women's National Emergency Legion The Women's National Emergency Legion (WNEL) was an Australian female auxiliary and training organisation of the World War II-era that was based in Brisbane. It was established in 1938 and provided volunteers with training in first aid and other sk ...

. The federal government and military did not initially support women being trained to serve in the armed forces, however, and these organisations were not taken seriously by the general public. A shortage of male recruits forced the military to establish female branches in 1941 and 1942. The

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

established the

Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve, as well as by the Chief of the Air Staff, who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service ov ...

(WAAAF) in March 1941, the Army formed the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) in October 1941 and the

Australian Army Medical Women's Service The Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS) was an armed services organisation which existed from 1942 until 1951. Growing out of the St John Ambulance Voluntary Aid Detachments, it was formed in December 1942 and its members served as ...

(AAMWS) in December 1942, and the

Women's Royal Australian Naval Service The Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) was the women's branch of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In 1941, fourteen members of the civilian Women's Emergency Signalling Corps (WESC) were recruited for wireless telegraphy work at ...

(WRANS) came into being in July 1942. In 1944 almost 50,000 women were serving in the military and thousands more had joined the civilian Australian Women's Land Army (AWLA). Many of these women were trained to undertake skilled work in traditionally male occupations in order to free servicemen for operational service. Women were also encouraged to work in industry and volunteer for air raid precautions duties or clubs for Australian and Allied servicemen.Darian-Smith (1996), pp. 62–63. The female branches of the military were disbanded after the war.

Women in the economy

The role of women in the economy also changed during World War II. Women entered roles which had traditionally been limited to men, but continued to receive lower wages.

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* * {{refend Australian military personnel of World War II Women in the Australian military Women soldiers