Birds, Bees and Birth Control: a History of Family Planning in Queensland 1971-2001

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Birds, Bees and Birth Control: a History of Family Planning in Queensland 1971-2001 Birds, bees and birth control: a history of Family Planning in Queensland 1971-2001 Sylvia Bell Bannah BA, Grad Dip Lib Sci, PG Dip Arts A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in May 2010 Department of History, School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics Declaration by Author This thesis is composed of my original work and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the General Award Rules of The University of Queensland, immediately made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Statement of Contributions to Jointly Authored Works Contained in the Thesis No jointly-authored works. Statement of Contributions by Others to the Thesis as a Whole No contributions by others. Statement of Parts of the Thesis Submitted to Qualify for the Award of Another Degree None Published Works by the Author Incorporated into the Thesis Sylvia Bannah, ed. Family Planning Queensland: an oral history. Fortitude Valley: FPQ, 2003. Quotes incorporated in thesis. Additional Published Works by the Author Relevant to the Thesis but not Forming Part of it None. Acknowledgments I am grateful to the many people who have assisted me in the course of writing this thesis. I would especially like to thank Dr Rod Fisher, my Principal Advisor, who generously agreed to continue in an honorary role after retiring from the University. Having introduced me and many others to the ways of applied history he has been a constant source of support and encouragement. Thanks to my Associate Advisor Dr Sarah Ferber for offering constructive comment and boosting my confidence at times when it was wavering; and to Prof. Clive Moore for agreeing to take over from Dr Ferber when she left and prompting me to extend myself in the very final stages. I would also like to thank staff of the History Department and the Social Sciences and Humanities and Fryer Libraries for their ongoing assistance. Thanks to the Board of Family Planning Queensland for giving me access to their archives and the Brisbane City Council for funding the oral history project out of which this thesis grew. I am grateful to the many current or former staff members who agreed to be interviewed, read chapters or otherwise provided assistance. In particular I would like to thank Marjorie Millburn, June Morris, Helen Draper, Kelsey Powell, Leane Christie, Lea Shaw, Chris Payze, Beth Philpot and Drs Alan Blunt, Robert Ellwood, John Campbell, Pamela Chick, Jane Howard and Diane Rowling. The friendship of fellow postgraduate students and supporters has been invaluable and without them it would have been a long and lonely road. Thanks to Sylvia Yates, Barbara Taylor, Therese Murtagh, Judy Nissen, Marilyn England, Benny Alcorn, Doug Mercer, Noreen Redhead, Carol Gistitin, Janet Spillman, Elaine Brown, Val Dennis and Marney Dunn and especially to Marion Mackenzie for bringing us together at regular intervals and providing reassurance that theses do eventually come to an end. Very special thanks to Roisin Goss for her enthusiasm and encouragement and for lightening the load by sharing the minutiae of the writing process, IT crises, presentations and life in general; and to Dr Ross Johnston who has taught or supervised many of us over the years and been a great supporter of the group. Producing this thesis has been an intense affair which has been set against the demands of work and family life. Ironically, given my topic, our four children have put a perspective on the magnitude of my work by producing eight grandchildren in less time than it has taken me to write it. Heartfelt thanks are due to my husband Max for his unwavering support, tolerance and apparent interest in Margaret Sanger, Marie Stopes, organisation and social movement theories and the many issues relating to the evolution of sexual and reproductive health services in Queensland. Finally I would like to express gratitude to my late father Jim Louis for encouraging my interest in local history and to my mother Bell who read many draft chapters and never doubted my ability to finish this project. Abstract The Family Planning Association of Queensland (now known as Family Planning Queensland) has played a significant role in providing sexual and reproductive health services since 1971, yet its history has been subject to very little investigation. This study examines the establishment of the organisation and its development over the next 30 years, focusing on the forces that shaped it and the local, national and international contexts in which it evolved. Drawing on extensive archival and other primary and secondary source materials, the study shows that while FPAQ developed in parallel with the other Australian Family Planning Associations it cultivated a distinctive character as it responded to Queensland‟s physical, social and political environment. While initially the Association‟s priorities were to provide contraceptive and professional training services in Brisbane, it soon began community education, information and publicity and promotional activities, established a network of regional branches and developed governance processes to support them. In articulating the history of FPAQ, the study fills a gap in the historiography of sexual and reproductive health services in Queensland and Australia and sheds new light on recent social, medical, nursing, political and women‟s history. In terms of family planning, it confirms that the „personal is political‟ and adds to a growing body of literature which shows the interaction between issues of sexuality, reproduction and fertility control and public policy and social debates. In setting the history of FPAQ in international context, the thesis contributes to an understanding of the birth control movement, links between the past and the present, and the processes by which the International Planned Parenthood Federation, a large social movement organisation, transmitted values, policies and practices to one of its affiliates working at the local level. The thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach to research, analysis and documentation of the establishment and development of FPAQ and the activities in which it became involved. While it is primarily a study in applied history, organisation and social movement theories have provided a useful framework for examining the Association‟s history. Overall, the study argues that there were four main forces driving and shaping FPAQ. The birth control movement itself was influential. As a member of national and international family planning federations, the Association was assisted by them and was subject to the conditions of membership of both. A second and equally significant influence was the Commonwealth Government which became the major funding and policy-making body following the election of the Whitlam Government. FPAQ was also affected by the Queensland environment in which it emerged and existed. Geography and demography and social, medical, legal and political issues all contributed to shaping the Association and giving it a distinctive Queensland character. Finally, the thesis argues that no less important than any of these was the force exerted by key individuals on the development of FPAQ, its manner of operation and the stance it adopted in relation to the outside world. Keywords family planning, birth control, sex education, sexual and reproductive health, women‟s health services Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) 210303 Australian history 50%, 920205 Health education and promotion 25%, 111717 Primary Health Care 25% Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: The birth control movement to 1970 ............................................................................... 21 Chapter Two: Getting off the ground 1971-72 ...................................................................................... 55 Chapter Three: Stepping out 1972 ......................................................................................................... 85 Chapter Four: Nurturing growth 1973-76 ............................................................................................ 102 Chapter Five: Reining in the branches 1972-76................................................................................... 125 Chapter Six: Managing FPAQ 1977-2001 ........................................................................................... 152 Chapter Seven: Transforming clinic services 1977-2001 .................................................................... 188 Chapter Eight: Education and training 1977-2001 .............................................................................. 222 Chapter
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