SYDNEYSIDE WITH JANET PARR Girls' place in surf clubs 'making tea and biscuits'

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33778, 26 February 1975, Page 6

SYDNEYSIDE WITH JANET PARR Girls' place in surf clubs 'making tea and biscuits'

"In New Zealand,” said Margaret Osborn, "They’ve had lady lifesavers for 31 years.” {Her. figure was actually a little wide. New Zealland has had women i life-savers since 1931.

I And North Steyne, in Syd iney, has had a surf life-sav- ■ ing club since 1907. It was the first in Australia. But ‘never in nearly 68 years has ■ there been a woman lifesaver. Ten words in the nati ional constitution of the Surf Lifesaving Association iof Australia keep, them out; “active membership of the Association shall be limited to males”. Now Mr Arthur Crothers, treasurer of the North Steyne club, is one of those giving solid backing to a change in the rules. And he would like North Steyne, where it all began, to be the place where the women begin.

j As a result of being given ( notide of some clubs’ intentions to seek active membership for women the association has started a nine months inquiry into .the I “feasibility” of admitting I them. The five-member committee, all men, will make a progress report to the association’s state body in New South Wales, then start holding public meetings in March. But even after its final report has been made there will still have to be a vote on whether women should be admitted. And it would appear that some at least of the 12,000 men in the association would rather keep things the way they are. Among those seeming less than enthusiastic is the president of the association, Sir] Adrian Curlewis, who has been reported as saying that “if you are going to have

i lifesavers they must be able to qualify for all duties. “I can’t see women for example rescuing a drunk then administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after he has vomited.” A woman’s place in a surf club, according to Sir Adrian, is “making tea and raising funds” and no surf club ' should be without, them to do that. I “CUTTING SANDWICHES” That view was echoed by a Bondi beach inspector, Rob Taylor, who looked round the crowds on the beach and asked what chance a woman would have when people would not pay attention to inspectors. “Women do have a place!

in surf clubs,” he said, “cut-j ting sandwiches for beach' carnivals." But out at North Steyne Mr Crothers agreed with the girls who want to sign up for rescue work that there | was more to saving lives j than making sandwiches in * I the clubhouse. If the association does de-j cide to let the women in thej, ink will hardly be dry on|; I the changed constitution be- h I fore North Steyne, for one, ji 'has girls on its active list. A; group including Margaret j Osborn has been training and practising there for some time. At the moment j girls can theoretically train i to bronze medallion stan- ; dard. But they cannot then ! use their skills to rescue < anybody. This particularly annoyed j ! lan Byrne, a high school ; I teacher from Ballina in ; i northern New South Wales j who trained two of his 15- < y r ear-old girl pupils to i bronze medallion standard c then saw them refused a; chance to attempt it. “Andi the fact is these girls are I better than some boys I ■ have trained who have been given the medallion,” he f said.

But officials of other clubs while not positively against the idea of letting women in to do actual life-saving have not all been enthusiastic. Their arguments have ranged from the idea that a man would not stand by and let a girl do a belt swim, that larrikins might play the girls up, and that clubhouses I had no “facilities” for girls. “They harp on the fact that there aren’t any facilities for women at surf clubs,” said Margaret Osborn, “but other countries manage. . . And we’ll have our own get-togethers while they have their beer and prawn nights. .. OTHER JOBS

“We know we might find ■ it hard to swim with the belt in a heavy sea but there are plenty of other things we could do — man the 1 radios, work the reels as 'linemen, give first aid, do I some of the lighter rescues. “And it’s nothing to do with Women’s Lib. If anything we’re against them, ill’s simply that we would

i like to make ourselves useful on the beach.

I “Drowning swimmers 'aren’t fussy whether it’s a man or a woman who comes to their rescue ... just so long as somebody comes.” Many of the girls have developed an interest in lifesaving through personal 1 links. Margaret Osborn is engaged to a member of the North Steyne club. “He l thought it was a great joke at first but now he’s behind i me.”

Vacy Fitzgerald is married to a life-saver who has the! Queen’s Commendation fori Bravery. Her father-in-law is I president of the Manly War-1 ringah branch which has given the girls some solid support including proposing I to the association that women be admitted.

Some other support for' the “surfragettes” has come from well-known swimming; girls, like Shane Gould, who! have marched in recent' beach carnivals. Some club men who want 'to bring the girls in have; isaid the number of volun-: Iteers has been dropping over! (recent years and some clubsj are finding it hard to keep (going.

Mr Jack O’Reilly, a member of the S.k.S.A. since 1932 and chairman for the inquiry, says membership has never been higher and that life-savers helped by helicopters and power boats are coping with the present situation very well. “But.” he adds, “three men have died in the last few years. And one of the things we’ll have to consider is the huge public opinion that could swing against us if a girl life-saver is injured or killed in a rescue.”.