The Graduate Women SA Trust was established by Deed on 19th June 1989 as the Trust Fund that would advance education through disbursing earnings accumulated on capital raised by Australian Federation of University Women- SA Inc. (AFUW Inc. SA) and its predecessors in the form of bursaries, scholarships and prizes awarded to selected tertiary students.
The Adelaide University Women Graduates’ Association was established in 1914 as the Women Graduates’ Club – a sub-society of the Adelaide University Women Students’ Club founded in 1909. The South Australian branch of what is now a global network had a number of name changes in line with the national and international associations with which it was affiliated, to AFUW Inc.-SA, then Graduate Women South Australia (GWSA).
Formerly known as the Australian Federation of University Women Inc. (AFUW), the Australian Federation of Graduate Women (AFGW) was the national federation of associations of Graduate Women. In 2019 it reconstituted as Australian Graduate Women (AGW) – a national membership-based organisation that is the national voice of graduate women working through initiatives in education for the advancement and wellbeing of women and girls. It links women across Australia with each other and the network of women graduates worldwide that are members of the Graduate Women International (GWI).
Graduate Women International (GWI), founded in 1919 as the International Federation of University (IFUW), is a worldwide, non-governmental organisation of women graduates that advocates for women’s rights, equality and empowerment through access to quality secondary and tertiary education, and training. GWI has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This enables GWI to advocate up to the highest levels, to promote the right to quality education of all girls and women.
The Graduate Women SA Trust (under its earlier names) began raising scholarship funds in the 1920s, initially from a levy on membership subscriptions and then using some of the proceeds of the academic dress hiring service. Members and founding trustees of the AFUW-SA Inc. Trust Fund operated the academic dress hiring service based at the University of Adelaide from 1935 to 2009. Since the academic dress hiring service ceased operations in 2009, the main sources of income for the Trust Fund are investment returns, donations and bequests.
After over 100 years, Graduate Women South Australia (GWSA) ceased in 2016. However, the Graduate Women SA Trust and the scholarships continue as an enduring legacy and testament to the wonderful work done by the members of GWSA over that time.
Appointed Trustees, all of whom contribute on an unpaid voluntary basis, administer the Graduate Women SA Trust Fund. At least 75% of the income earned by the Trust Fund each year is distributed in the form of scholarships, with the remainder adding to its investment base.
All donations to the Trust Fund of more than $2 are tax deductible.
Please refer to Donations and bequests on this website and/or contact us for more information.
Find out more about Graduate Women International:
(GWI) https://graduatewomen.org
Find out more about Australian Graduate Women:
(AGW) https://australiangradwomen.org.au