P004574 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 2005-04-18 human Helen Hamilton for ANMHP updated 2025-10-29 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P004574b.htm person Avery Leitha Mavis AACR2 7 April 1911 12 July 1993 Place of Birth Bendigo, Victoria, Australia Nurse Nurse administrator Nurse advocate Mavis Avery enlisted with the Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corps on the outbreak of WWII and was on active service on hospital ship the Somersetshire for most of the war. In 1945 she returned to Australia, taking up the position of Professional Officer for Nursing with the Universities Commission. In 1951 she was appointed inaugural Secretary General to the Royal Australian Nursing Federation. In 1958 she took up the position of Chief Nursing Officer for Victoria with the Victorian Nursing Council.

Just six years after becoming a registered nurse and aged 31 years, Miss Avery was in the UK intending to take up a course of study at the Royal College of Nursing commencing in September of 1939. However, the outbreak of WWII caused her to change her plans and she enlisted with the Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corp and she served to till the war ended five and a half years later. She was on active service in a hospital ship the Somersetshire for most of the time in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, India and England. She maintained contact with other QA nurses through the QA Nurse Association that met regularly for some years after the war in Melbourne.

In 1945 she returned to Australia and in June of that year took up the position of Professional Officer for Nursing with the Universities Commission. Under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Scheme the Commission was responsible for various forms of nurse training assessing their suitability particularly for ex service men and women.

Miss Avery began to make her mark more broadly in nursing, with her appointment as the inaugural Secretary General to the Royal Australian Nursing Federation in 1951. In the six years in which she held the appointment the Federation grew and developed and, importantly, became affiliated with the international nursing body, the International Council of Nurses.

Miss Avery's influence was channelled in another direction on her appointment as Chief Nursing Officer for Victoria with the Victorian Nursing Council. This was a new position created under the newly proclaimed Nurses Act and Regulations 1956. The Council had much wider powers than the Nurse Board that preceded it that extended to all branches of nursing with particular responsibility for education, training and registration of all nurses. The Council also advised the Minister of Health on all matters relating to nursing.

Energetic and enthusiastic in all she undertook, Miss Avery believed passionately in further education and development for nurses. She was at the forefront of many developments of the time that sought to improve conditions for nurses and to enhance their preparation. She recognized the need for change in order for the profession to be prepared for the demands being made on it for nursing services.
Friends remember her as a forthright person with strong views and a great sense of humour; they recall that she could 'tell a good story'.

1930 1933 General nurse training at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne 1934 1935 Midwifery training at the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne 1936 1936 Sister-in-charge of the Casualty Department at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne 1936 1936 Infant Welfare Certificate, Victorian Baby Health Centres Association Training School 1939 1939 Assistant Matron in the Model Infant Welfare Babies Centre in Shoreditch 1939 1939 Registered Nurse in the casualty department of Kingston on Thames Hospital 1939 1939 In the UK for postgraduate study in public health and nursing administration at the Royal College of Nursing London, interrupted by the commencement of WWII 1939 1945 Service in the Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corps in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, India and England, much of it on board the hospital ship Somersetshire 1945 1945 Professional Officer for Nursing with the Universities Commission 1950 1950 Florence Nightingale Scholarship to undertake Diploma of Nursing Administration 1951 1951 Diploma of Nursing Administration from the College of Nursing Australia 1951 1957 Secretary General of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation 1953 1953 Fellow, College of Nursing, Australia 1956 1956 World Health Organisation Fellowship for a study tour of Canada, USA, Scandinavia & England 1958 1967 Chief Nursing Officer for Victoria Avery, Leitha Mavis (1911-1993)

Trove

 'Avery, Leitha Mavis (Mavis)', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Avery, Leitha Mavis (Mavis) Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book: In Pursuit of Nursing Excellence: a History of the Royal College of Nursing, Australia 1949-1999 Smith, Russel G. In Pursuit of Nursing Excellence: a History of the Royal College of Nursing, Australia 1949-1999 Melbourne Oxford University Press 1999 Book: A Voice to be Heard: the First Fifty Years of the New South Wales College of Nursing Pratt, Rosalie and Russell, R. Lynette A Voice to be Heard: the First Fifty Years of the New South Wales College of Nursing Sydney Allen & Unwin 2002 Book: '5.30, Nurse!' The Story of the Alfred Nurses Paterson, Helen '5.30, Nurse!' The Story of the Alfred Nurses Melbourne History Books 1996 Book: A Professional Pilgrimage: a History of the Florence Nightingale Committee of Australia, 1946-1993 Parkes, Merle E. A Professional Pilgrimage: a History of the Florence Nightingale Committee of Australia, 1946-1993 Burwood NSW College of Nursing 2002 Book: Revolutions and Rosewater: the Evolution of Nurse Registration in Victoria, 1923-1973 Minchin, Maureen Kathryn Revolutions and Rosewater: the Evolution of Nurse Registration in Victoria, 1923-1973 Melbourne Victorian Nursing Council 1977 Book: The Growth of a Profession: Nursing in Victoria 1930s - 1980s Bessant, Judith; Bessant, Bob The Growth of a Profession: Nursing in Victoria 1930s - 1980s Melbourne La Trobe University Press 1991 Edited Book: Who's who in Australia 1971 Who's who in Australia 1971 20th Melbourne, Victoria The Herald 1971 Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service - Photographs Australian War Memorial Research Centre Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service - Photographs 088486, 088488 Victorian Nursing Council Executive Committee Minutes Nurses Board of Victoria Victorian Nursing Council Executive Committee Minutes 1957 - 1967 Mavis Avery - Records The Alfred Nursing Archives Mavis Avery - Records Photographs, badges, hospital certificate, CV, newspaper clippings, account of war experience, army uniform. Leitha Mavis Avery Courtesy Helen Hamilton, Australian Nursing History Project Leitha Mavis Avery c. 1958 - c. 1967 Photographic portrait Black & whiteAustralia - Melbourne

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