Working for equality

The memoirs of Victoria’s first Equal Opportunity Commissioner and the University of Melbourne’s first female Chancellor Fay Marles – Aiming for the Skies – are worth reading not only for Ms Marles’ pioneering work in women’s and Indigenous rights but for the picture they paint of Melbourne.

“Though some have portrayed me as an agent of ‘the establishment’, particularly after my appointment as Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, I have always seen myself as something of a left-wing rebel,” the memoir opens.

As founder of Australia’s first private equal opportunity consultancy, Ms Marles broke new ground for women in Victoria and advanced the equal rights cause in Australia.

The book’s prologue contains one of the many anecdotes that demonstrate, as Ms Marles notes, she is indeed more rebel than shrinking violet. She recounts a meeting with Sir Reginald Ansett where they discussed the matter of a woman who, despite stellar training marks, had not been accepted into Ansett’s pilot training program.

The woman, Deborah Lawrie, filed an official complaint with the fledgling Equal Opportunity Commission in what became a landmark test of the brand new legislation and what became known internationally as a watershed case in sexual discrimination.

“Without being explicit, he [Sir Reginald] referred to the emotional and physical characteristics of women that, in his view, made them unsuitable for the role of a commercial pilot,” she writes.

“I addressed some of his arguments again, but he gave the impression of switching off, and that he found my direct references to menstruation – rather than his euphemistic ‘at certain times’ – distasteful and unbecoming to a woman of my standing.”

As Victoria’s first Equal Opportunity Commissioner, Fay Marles battled discrimination on many fronts, overseeing the commission’s rapid development and expansion during her 10 years in the role.

Ms Marles also goes beyond the typical listing of achievements to candidly explore the influences which shaped her outlook and interests, from her family background and schooling to her experiences and recollections of working as a young social worker in Brisbane in the 1950s, which offer a snapshot of the development of social work as a profession in Australia.

She also describes the challenges of balancing her family life and career, and of pursuing postgraduate study as a mature-age student.

And though she is well-known for her work in women’s rights and the equal opportunity movement, perhaps less well-known is Ms Marles’ long history working with Indigenous Australians in Victoria and nationally. She was instrumental in the development of education programs and support for Indigenous students through work with Indigenous communities and later through the University.

The book also traces her long and fruitful association with the University of Melbourne, from her undergraduate days in the 1940s and time as a lecturer in social work during the 1970s to her 1984 appointment to the University Council and subsequent time as Deputy Chancellor (1987) before being named Chancellor in February 2001.

“It has been said that the role of Chancellor is to be a figurehead at home and an ambassador abroad, but it is actually far more than that,” she writes.

Such fascinating and personal insights into the role of the working Chancellor paint a very different, interesting picture of a job typically viewed as ceremonial.

“As chair of the University’s Council, the Chancellor plays a pivotal role in how the Council functions, not only in the selection process but also through the information communicated to council members and by influencing the dynamics of council meetings, which in turn strongly influences the quality of members’ contributions.”

Throughout her life, Fay Marles has aimed for the skies, but what is clear from this memoir is not only how she reached them, but how she has inspired others to do so.

Aiming for the Stars by Fay Marles (Melbourne University Publishing 2012)