Roles Of Australian Women During World War I

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During World War 1 the role of the Australian women made a dramatic change. Although their original roles included staying at home cleaning, cooking and looking after the family. Due to the loss of men to the war, women proved that they were capable to do the jobs that were originally obtained by men. By completing these jobs during the war, it helped to gradually increase the women’s role in higher ranking occupations after.
Women were employed in a wide range of occupations during WWI. One of the main roles was a Nurse. Many volunteered for this role as a way to contribute to the war. Although many of the dangerous and horrific conditions many nurses and workers had to work through they received little to no pay. Most were paid 20-30 pounds per annum. This was less then what munitions would earn (Johnstone, 2006).
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One of their main role was shaming men into enlisting by calling them cowards for staying back whilst their friend fought and died in war. Different female groups were dedicated to shaming men into enlisting. Two main groups from this time included the Women’s Services Corp and the Australian Women’s Nation League (Johnstone, 2006).
Before the war 11% of Australian women worked as domestic servants. Others were in other occupations like factory workers or maids. Different rules restricted women for working. One rule was that once married the women would have to give up their job or in other occupations such as textiles, the women were expected to work married or not. However when the war started, more jobs began opening due to the men leaving for war (Demarco,