We have extensive union holdings in the craft, food, clothing, textile, metal, nursing, public transport, entertainment, storing and packing, municipal, firefighting, and white collar areas of work. The archives of the Victorian Trades Hall Council and of four Victorian provincial trades and labour councils and other special purpose labour bodies are also held, as are the papers of several prominent union leaders and other labour activists. Major political holdings include the Communist Party of Australia records and those of the Liberal Party of Australia, Victorian Division. Eight collections of Australian Labor Party local branch records are held, along with the personal papers of several politicians and other political activists, and the records of various single-issue pressure groups in Victoria. Our peace movement holdings are extensive, and include Congress of International Co-operation and Disarmament and the Australian Peace Pledge Union, plus the papers of prolific peace campaigners such as Ralph and Dorothy Gibson.
Collections relating to women are rich in extent and variety.
The records of the Working Women's Centre, the Women's Electoral Lobby, and the Young Women's Christian Association focus exclusively on women. Some of the union and company records cover industries or jobs in which women predominate. Numerous small collections concerning women will be of special interest to researchers, such as the papers of the Melbourne Trade Union Equal Pay Committee, the Female Confectioners' Union, and Helen Casey's photographs of women at work. The University of Melbourne 1994-2001. Disclaimer and Copyright Information.