About WEL

Who we are

The Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL) is a feminist, non-profit, self-funded, non-party political, lobby group founded in 1972. WEL is dedicated to creating a society where women’s participation and potential are unrestricted, acknowledged and respected and where women and men share equally in society’s responsibilities and rewards.

FEMINIST: Our society continues to be dominated by masculine structures and values. Whilst this continues to be the case, WEL is proud to call itself a feminist organisation that fights for change to improves the economic, social and cultural position of women in society.

SELF-FUNDED: WEL is completed self-funded to ensure that we remain an independent and credible voice for women and so we can tell it like it is without fear of the government cutting our funding.

NON-PARTY POLITICAL: WEL is not aligned to any political party. We assess the policies of all parties from a feminist framework. We recommend that women consider voting for candidates who give evidence of their support for feminist issues, regardless of their party.

LOBBY GROUP: WEL seeks to influence key power holders, including politicians, bureaucrats, union leaders, and educationalists, to adopt policies that improve the position of women in society.

Founded in 1972, WEL is proud of its many years of feminist advocacy and its significant wins for women in NSW and beyond. It was the work of gutsy and determined members of WEL alongside other feminists that resulted in the introduction of equal pay legislation in 1972, which saw women awarded the male rate of pay, no matter what job they performed; the drafting and implementation of state anti-discrimination and federal sex discrimination legislation; and rape law reform, which has gradually led to significant amendments to the NSW Crimes Act.

To read a full history of WEL NSW and its achievements click  here.

Constitution

Download WEL’s constitution:  WEL’s constitution