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Anna Stewart Memorial Project
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The Anna Stewart Memorial Project

The Anna Stewart Memorial Project (ASMP) is a two week, on the job training program for women  unionists. The project gives participants the opportunity to work with their unions and develop their leadership and activism, while gaining greater awareness of how unions work and the issues working women are facing. 

The Anna Stewart Memorial Project has been running for 42 years in Victoria. Over this time, more than 1,000 union women have completed the Project. They have gone on to make meaningful change in their workplaces and unions; many have become organisers and officials and contributed to public life in Victoria. Its long-running history is a testament to Anna Stewart's legacy and the ongoing impact of the Project. 

Time and Location 

The Project takes place twice a year in May and September/October over non-consecutive weeks. Participants spend five days at the Victorian Trades Hall and five days at their union or another union. 

Who is it for? 

The Project is for women who are active union members, activists, delegates or leaders in their workplace and union and are ready to take the next step. The project equips participants with the knowledge and confidence to step up in their workplaces or unions, campaign for women’s rights and safety at work, and empower other workers to take action. 

Speak to your union if you are interested in the Project and register your interest.

The next Anna Stewart Memorial Project intake is September/October 2026.

Over the two-week course, participants will: 

  • Gain meaningful insight into union organising and learn practical skills to organise in their workplace and community 

  • Gain improved understanding of campaign theory and strategies 

  • Increase their understanding of union women’s history and women’s role and contributions to the union movement 

  • Learn about current and emerging social and industrial issues for working women and how to get involved 

  • Gain an understanding of the day-to-day operation of unions including structures, state and national peak bodies and union governance 

  • Learn about relevant legislation, regulations and tools to advocate for women’s safety and rights at work 

  • Organise a collective action or stunt with other participants 

Participating unions should: 

  • Nominate and sponsor members for the project and identify a dedicated union mentor to support their member throughout 

  • Provide participants with a program for their union days with a range of experiences that add to the depth and breadth of their knowledge of the trade union movement, its operations, and what it’s like to be a union official 

  • Consider working with Trades Hall to facilitate on-the-job days with another union 

  • Work with participants and their employer to facilitate appropriate leave and pay arrangements for the duration of the Project 

  • Work with regional participants to arrange transport and accommodation for the duration of the Project, or for Project days taking place at the Victorian Trades Hall 

  • Encourage full participation in the Project and have officials and union mentor engage with core activities such as the Anna Stewart Memorial Project graduation and stunt 

  • Our diversity is our strength. Consider nominating participants from a range of backgrounds and experiences to promote diversity 
     

Unions nominating a member should have the member complete an application form. For the union nomination form and member form please contact [email protected]. 

A former journalist and active Victorian union official from 1974 to 1983, Anna Stewart died tragically in 1983, aged 35. Her involvement with the union movement began at a time when women workers comprised one third of the paid workforce, but the few industries in which women were employed offered jobs that were poorly paid, lacked job security, flexibility, skills recognition and unpaid maternity leave.

A prime consideration motivating Anna was the need to develop strategies which would address the issues confronting working women and to facilitate the important contribution that women can make to the trade union movement.

With the Federated Furnishing Trades Society of Australia, Anna Stewart successfully spearheaded the first blue collar union campaign for maternity leave award provisions. At the time, Anna was in the late stages of pregnancy with her third child.

After moving to the Victorian Vehicle Builders Federation in 1975, Anna fought for child care facilities in car plants, researched and argued work value cases, initiated campaigns against sexual harassment as an industrial issue, and assisted with the ACTU Maternity Leave Test Case and campaign.

Many women gained strength and confidence from her example of combining motherhood and a career. During Commission hearings, Anna would either breast feed her young son or seek adjournments to do so, exposing the Commission, employers and the union to the needs of women workers. The influence of Anna’s work is difficult to measure.

Anna was dedicated to raising awareness of and addressing the issues confronting working women. Anna believed it is vital for women to become active in their unions, to take on leadership roles and to work together to achieve common goals.

Anna died in 1983, aged 35. After her death her union friends and colleagues decided to preserve her legacy through the formation of the Anna Stewart Memorial Project.

Now in its 42nd year more than 1,000 women unionists have completed the Project in Victoria.

Join the women who have come before and speak to your union about participating in the Project and register your interest.

The next Anna Stewart Memorial Project intake is September/October 2026.

 

 

 

 

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