Women in policing

Madge Connor was the first of two policewomen appointed in July 1917. She was paid half the pay of a policeman, with no powers of arrest or rights to a pension. She did not have a uniform.

In 1922, she helped in the undercover surveillance of a witness in the case against Colin Campbell Ross. Quickly accumulating commendations for her work, she was stationed at Russell Street and Fitzroy for most of her career.

As early as 1920, Connor led deputations of female police and watch-house matrons to the chief secretary. They argued for an increase in their salaries. She described the often distasteful duties they had to undertake for seventeen shillings and sixpence per week.

Successful in obtaining a small increase, Connor made further representations in 1923.

In 1924, because of a technicality in the police seniority system, she lost her place as 'senior in service', becoming 'junior in number'.

She continued to bring petty criminals, fortune-tellers and bookmakers before the courts.

Due to age restrictions, Connor was forced to retire on 14 November 1929. As she was not able to complete the necessary fifteen years as a sworn officer, she was ineligible for a police pension.

She went on to operate as a private detective.

Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography

Jessie Clarey was the fourth policewoman of Victoria Police.

She graduated training in 1929, and worked as a typist for the Criminal Investigations Branch.

In 1939, she won the King's Police Gold Medal essay competition, a competition open to the police forces of the British Empire. Her essay discussed the causes and treatments of youth crime.

She was the first woman and the first Australian to win the prize. She had taken leave from work to secretly pen the essay.

Grace Brebner applied in 1939 after reading a newspaper advertisement. She remarked there was a waiting list of 300 women and she had to wait 3.5 years.

She was the 14th woman inducted overall. At the time of her joining there were eight policewomen in the force. 

In her first two years she was commended alongside two constables, for work resulting in a conviction for a man for offences against the Black Marketing Act. 

In April 1945 she was commended with five other policewomen for having “successfully cleared up a bad case of murder”. 

In 1950, Grace Brebner was appointed to the Criminal Investigation Branch. She was the first policewoman to qualify at the Detective Training School, and became the first female detective in Australia.

She was second in the class, only 1.5 points behind the dux.

In 1956, Brebner transferred back to the Women Police Division as Sub Officer in Charge. Brebner noted that police cars were spare and not able to be used by policewomen. She sought out procedures for a police driving licence and applied for the test.

She later discovered the examiner had been told to ”fail her if you can, we don't want any women driving our bloody cars”. She passed.

In 1971 she became the first policewoman in Victoria to reach Inspector rank. Two years later she became the first policewoman in Victoria to receive Queens Police Medal.

On 27 April 1922 Katherine (Kath) Mackay joined the motor registration branch of the Victorian Public Service as a typist and stenographer.

Later that year she moved to Victoria Police and worked in the Chief Commissioner's office. On 15 April 1930 she became one of eight serving policewomen. 

She was initially assigned to the plain clothes branch. By 1935 she was attached to the Criminal Investigation Branch at Russell Street headquarters.

In June 1943 Mackay was promoted senior constable. She was given charge of the policewomen's section, which operated from Russell Street.

Mackay's role and function were largely restricted to welfare and domestic issues, and to cases involving women.

She did not allow herself to be restricted to these cases. She received official commendations in April 1942 for her part in the conviction of a man for incest and in April 1945 for helping to solve a murder case.

She was regarded by her superiors as “well conducted, efficient and reliable”.

Having passed the required examinations, Mackay was eligible for promotion to Sergeant in 1953, however Victorian police hierarchy was unwilling to give a female authority over male colleagues. When two men were promoted ahead of her, Mackay appealed to the Police Classification Board. 

The case was dismissed in March 1954. The board felt that Mackay was unfit for the duties of a sergeant in charge of a station.

Since the number of policewomen had increased to 34, the Police Association suggested a reorganisation of the women's section of the Victoria Police. This proposal was implemented in 1956, providing the opportunity to make Mackay a Sergeant. 

On 22 August she was appointed Officer in Charge of the new Women Police Branch. She became the first woman in Victoria to achieve such a rank.

Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography

Catherine Margaret McVeigh joined the police force at the age of 24 after serving in the Royal Australian Air Force.

One of her first duties after graduating in 1956 was crowd control at the Melbourne Olympic Games.

McVeigh was known as a trailblazer for women in policing, rising meteorically through the ranks.

In 1986, McVeigh became the first woman in Australia to be appointed to Chief Superintendent.

In the early 1900s, key political figures that had earlier pushed for women's suffrage began to fight for the employment of female police officers.

The National Council of Women and the Women's Political Association (including famous suffragette and women's rights activist Vida Goldstein) fought for female police officers.

The issue was debated in parliament. Several deputations of women paid visits to the Chief Commissioner and major Victorian politicians. They campaigned for many years.

The first policewomen joined Victoria Police on 28 July 1917.

The first two women were Madge Connor and Elizabeth Beers, and they were employed as 'police agents'. They were not officially ‘sworn in’.

They received 90 pounds a year in pay. Contrary to newspaper reports at the time, they were given no uniform or powers of arrest.

Before this appointment, women had worked with Victoria Police as 'undercover agents' to gather information.

Elizabeth Beers soon retired and was replaced by Nell Davison, a staunch Salvation Army member.

Ellen Cook and Jessie Clarey later joined.

In 1924, four policewomen became the first to be ‘sworn in’ into the police force, with the same pay and rights as policemen. These women were Madge Connor, Ellen Cook, Mary Cox and Nell Davidson.

This was achieved 7 years after the first women were employed.

They did not receive overtime or necessarily equal pay for equal work. They were not supplied a uniform, so had to buy their own clothing that was deemed acceptable for a policewoman.

During the Second World War (WW2), a large segment of the police force left to fight overseas. Victoria Police, like many other major organisations (including the Army) called for an 'Auxiliary force' of women to fill their places.

Throughout the war, and for some years after, Victoria Police employed over 200 Auxiliary policewomen. The Auxiliary policewomen were not sworn police, however, they were given a uniform before policewomen.

The Equal Opportunity Act was implemented within Victoria Police in 1978. The Act removed separate seniority lists and the identification of policewomen on their caps by a PW badge.

It also removed the marriage bar, which meant that married women were able to join, and single women were able to remain in their roles after marriage.

Women transferred into general duties and began to receive the same training as policemen, including self-defence and pistol training. They were officially able to carry handcuffs, batons, and guns.