The Catholic Women’s League of Western Australia (CWLWA) was founded in 1937 after several years of consultation with the Catholic Women’s League of South Australia. From its beginnings it has aimed to work closely with other organisations, within the Catholic and wider Christian community and within secular society. Currently we are formally represented on Australian Church Women (WA Unit), the World Day of Prayer State Committee and the National Council of Women of Western Australia.

CWLWA is primarily organised within parish-based branches throughout Western Australia (Dioceses of Bunbury and Geraldton and the Archdiocese of Perth). However we also welcome diocesan members who for a variety of reasons do not belong to a parish branch. This form of membership is proving attractive to women with no local branch, with mobility restrictions from age or health, or with heavy work or family commitments. Diocesan members are kept up to date with what is happening and encouraged to join with us at special events and to support and be involved in the work of CWLWA in any way they choose.

What we do
Our Constitution commits us first and foremost to “working for and building the Kingdom of God”. We are especially concerned with issues that affect women, children and the marginalised, and our work includes both practical support and advocacy. Amongst our current and recent concerns and projects at a diocesan and state level have been:

• Support for women leaving prison
• Support for women in and leaving refuges and hospitals
• Support for  children from disadvantaged families returning to school
• Campaigning for better accommodation for people with severe disabilities, especially young adults.
• Campaigning for equal opportunities in education across Western Australia
• Campaigning for various issues in maternal health including at a local level better support for mothers suffering from postnatal depression and internationally for an approach to maternal health that is based on better care for women in pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.
• Awareness raising within our own organisation on end of life and other bioethical issues including advance health care directives, euthanasia, organ donation, surrogacy and abortion. In these issues we liaise closely with other organisations and with our own national body.
• Over the past decade we have also made submissions to government bodies on a wide range of social issues including prostitution law reform, cannabis law reform, Human Rights legislation and paid parental leave.

In all of our work we are deeply committed to being guided by authentic Catholic teaching in both principle and practice. We seek to raise our own awareness as ordinary Catholic women from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and age groups of how the Kingdom of God is to be manifested in our everyday lives. We ‘choose to work in love’.

Events for 2010
This year we are planning to make our State Conference a little different by sharing in the celebrations for the canonisation of Mary MacKillop. We will be meeting on Friday 22 October, just a few days after the canonisation, at the Mary MacKillop Centre in South Perth run by the Josephite Sisters and our program for the day will include plenty of time to learn more about Australia’s first saint and to reflect on her life. We especially invite non-members to join us to sample what we are all about.

If you would like to know more about our organisation and our work please contact our Acting President or Secretary as listed.

 

Margaret Ker
State Secretary - Western Australia
July 2010