About ncjwa

The History of NCJWA

Timeline of Significant Events

1923 Council of Jewish Women formed by Dr Fanny Reading in Sydney.
8 July – First Council meeting held at home of Mrs Morris Symonds, Bellevue Hill.
Immigrant Welfare Committee established.
377 members in first year.

1925 Council of Jewish Women affiliated to ICJW.

1926 First Council property bought in Francis St, Sydney.
September – First issue of The Council Bulletin, edited by Miss Dora Abramovitch.

1927 Victoria Section formed, President Mrs Marie Patkin, with 80 members.
Brisbane Section formed, President Mrs E R Isaacs.

1929 South Australia, Western Australia, Ballarat, Geelong, South Brisbane, Newcastle and Kalgoorlie Sections formed.
First Conference of Jewish Women of Australasia held in Sydney 21-29 May. 115 delegates including women from NZ
Organisation became known as National Council of Jewish Women.
Council Juniors formed. First National Council Junior President was Edna Luber-Smith in Perth.
Affiliated to National Council of Women.
First National Israel project adopted – Misgav Ladach Hospital, Jerusalem.

1932 2nd Australasian Jewish Women’s Conference, Sydney.
Hobart Section formed.

1934 3rd Australasian Jewish Women’s Conference, Melbourne.

1936 4th Australasian Jewish Women’s Conference, Adelaide.

1938 5th Australasian Jewish Women’s Conference, Sydney.
JNF Queen Competition begins.

1939 World War II. NCJW involved in fundraising for war effort.

1943 6th National Council of Jewish Women of Australia Conference, Sydney.

1945 7th NCJWA Conference, Melbourne.
World War II ends.

1946 8th NCJWA Conference, Brisbane.
Increased effort to meet and settle post-war migrants.

1947 UN vote on establishment of Israel.

1948 9th NCJWA Conference, Sydney.
Establishment of the State of Israel.

1950 First National project in Israel – Kfar Hanassi.

1952 10th NCJWA Conference, Melbourne.
Neve Zipporah settlement in Gan Yavneh with Vera Cohen Communal Hall and Gladys Slutzkin Library.

1955 11th NCJWA Conference, Sydney.
Mrs Vera Cohen elected 2nd National President.
Canberra section formed.

1957 NCJW Australia Park in Jerusalem.

1958 12th NCJWA Conference, Brisbane.

1960 The “Leah Simon” swimming pool opens at Kfar Hanassi.

1961 13th NCJWA Conference, Melbourne.
Dr Fanny Reading awarded MBE.

1964 14th NCJWA Conference, Melbourne.
ILAN becomes a National project.

1967 15th NCJWA Conference, Perth.
Mrs Mina Fink elected 3rd National President.

1969 Gold Coast group formed.

1970 16th NCJWA Conference, Brisbane.
Dormitory in Australia House, Hebrew University, endowed.

1973 17th NCJWA Conference, Sydney.
Mrs Sylvia Gelman elected 4th National President.

1974 Dr Fanny Reading passed away.

1975 10th Triennial Convention of ICJW held in Melbourne.
Annia Castan opens ILAN kindergarten in Tel Aviv.

1976 18th NCJWA Conference, Canberra.

1979 19th NCJWA Conference, Perth.
Mrs Ray Ginsburg elected 5th National President.

1980 Protests on behalf of Ida Nudel and all Soviet refuseniks.

1981 ILAN in Ramat Gan officially opened. Funds for “Open Door” in Jerusalem.

1982 20th NCJWA Conference, Surfers Paradise.
Completed Golden Jubilee Forest project.

1985 21st NCJWA Conference, Sydney.
Mrs Malvina Malinek elected 6th National President.

1986 Funded 2 tennis courts in the Galil.
First Scholar-in-Residence, Judith Karp, Deputy Attorney General, Israel.
First Study Tour of Israel.

1988 22nd NCJWA Conference, Melbourne.

1989 Scholar-in-Residence, Mrs Leah Rabin.
Scholarships for Ethiopian female students at Haifa University established.

1990 Second Study Tour of Israel. Dedicated project at Uvdah in Negev.

1991 23rd NCJWA Conference, Brisbane.
Mrs Lynne Davies elected 7th National President.
Petition re Gett launched. Commenced project in Karmiel.

1994 24th NCJWA Conference, Canberra

1995 “Vera Cohen Besor Reservoir” project adopted.
Scholar-in-Residence, Mrs Alice Shalvi.

1997 25th NCJWA Conference, Perth.
Dr Geulah Solomon OAM elected 8th National President.

2000 26th NCJWA Conference, Gold Coast.
Launch of Making a Difference, a history of NCJWA by Marlo Newton.

2003 27th NCJWA Conference, Melbourne.
Scholar-in-Residence, Yafa Tarkay.
Launch of Superwomen? A Contextual Study and Report of Jewish Sandwich Generation Women Balancing Intergenerational Family Responsibilities in Multicultural Australia.
Haifa Rape Crisis Center adopted as National Project.
Robyn Lenn elected 9th National President.

2005 NCJWA Study Tour of Israel.

2007 28th NCJWA Conference, Sydney.
Rysia Rozen OAM elected 10th National President.

2009 NCJWA Study Tour of Israel.

2010 Scholar-in-Residence Sharon Shenhav

2011 29th NCJWA Conference, Melbourne
Di Hirsh OAM elected 11th National President

2013 NCJWA Tour of Israel Projects, Sylvina Freund – Director of ILAN Tel Aviv visit to Australia

2014 Robyn Lenn OAM – first Australian ICJW President

2015 30th NCJWA Conference, Sydney
Rysia Rozen OAM elected 12th National President

2016 Scholar-in-Residence Dr Elana Sztokman

2017 Joint Acting Co-Presidents Sylvia Deutsch OAM & Victoria Nadel OAM

2018 Negba Weiss-Dolev elected 13th National President, Launch NCJWA Sylvia Gelman Foundation

2019 31st National Conference, Melbourne

2020 Melinda Jones elected 14th National President.