'Tricia Blombery

A lifetime of learning and service

Reflecting on her contributions to women’s education over the past 50 years, ‘Tricia Blombery says she sounds like “an idealistic nutter”. In her professional and voluntary roles, she has certainly maintained healthy optimism for the prospect of achieving equity and inclusion for all.

“It started at university in the 1960s and is still important to me today,” says ‘Tricia, who has earned a UNE Alumni Award for Community Service. “I guess I’ve never grown out of that era of radicalism; of believing that the world can be changed if enough people want it changed.

“I wasn’t one of those women who burnt my bra – I didn’t wear one – but I was part of the anti-conscription rallies and we harboured draft dodgers at our house. I wasn’t involved in the women’s movement at that stage. I had chosen to have children, and mothers were not acceptable in the movement at that time. We were seen as having given in.”

Far from it!

When she graduated from studies in the Arts (Psychology and History) and Education at the University of Melbourne, ‘Tricia’s father gave her a gift of membership to what was then the Australian Federation of University Women (AFUW, and now Australian Graduate Women, AGW). A not-for-profit organisation, it was – and still is – dedicated to advancing the higher education of women, ostensibly through advocacy on educational policy and scholarships.

“I only went to a couple of AFUW meetings, but picked it up again in the mid-1980s, when I was studying at the University of New England. My father’s grandfather had in fact been the Inspector-General of Education in Victoria and one of my Mum’s grandfathers was in the NSW Parliament, campaigning for women’s education back in the 19^th century and the other an early master at Sydney Grammar, so I think it’s in my blood.”

‘Tricia says she applauded the way the AFUW sought to provide universal access to affordable quality education and to address the historical discrimination women experienced.

“When the AFUW was founded, many professional women were single, but among the ranks of graduates were also lots of women who had married and were looking at ways to use their degrees to further their lives,” ‘Tricia says. “We weren’t rabid; it was more about providing friendship and company for women who had been educated but found themselves sitting at home with small babies or making cups of tea for the ladies’ guilds, which they didn’t find all that rewarding. At one time AFUW had affiliates in all states and territories and several of these affiliates had branches.”

Over the years, ‘Tricia would go on to hold multiple executive positions at the NSW and federal level, develop a trust fund to finance scholarships, and also campaign to improve educational opportunities for women internationally. The International Federation of University Women dates back to 1919, yet ‘Tricia believes there is still much to be done.

“Higher education gives women the possibility of independence; a better chance of creating their own life,” she says. “But I think Australia has gone backwards in the past 20 years in terms of representing the needs of women.

“Their access to higher education is no less – in fact, there are now more women than men in many university faculties – but we have seen the feminisation of many lower-paid professions like teaching. And women are still graduating and coming out on lower salaries than men who have done the same degree.”

This makes the work of Graduate Women, of which Tricia is NSW president, ever more important. “It can be very hard to convince young women today that there is still a fight to be had,” says ‘Tricia, who is also treasurer of the GW NSW Education Trust and served as national secretary of the AFGW for a decade between 2006 and 2019. “They tend to see us as a group of idealistic little old ladies and believe that the battles are all won; that they have their education and they’ll be right. But I don’t think we will have equal pay in my lifetime and I doubt we will have it in my daughter’s lifetime. The fight is far from over.”

Through sizable trusts, GW groups across Australia offer scholarships to women who may have missed out on education earlier in life or are facing hardship, and its advocacy extends far beyond Australia’s borders. “Having a voice on international matters through the United Nations [‘Tricia has been a treasurer of GW International and a member of its finance committee] is an important aspect of our work,” she says. “It recognises that education is a basic human right – that can play a critical role in reducing poverty, improving health and furthering social development. Educated women contributing in the workforce not only boost an economy; they set an example for other women to follow.”

AGW scholarships convenor Jennifer Strauss says we are too often inclined to think of achievement in terms of singular triumphs. “Women’s achievements are much more often cumulative and diverse, as are ‘Tricia’s,” she says. “But properly understood, a lifetime of service to others can be as much an inspiration as an Olympic medal or the ascent of Everest.”

‘Tricia completed her Master of Letters at UNE in 1990, in pursuit of the academic framework to answer some of life’s bigger questions. A mature-age resident of Mary White College, she made lasting friendships through a port-tasting society and regular card nights.

Whether contributing professionally to education as a secondary teacher or guidance officer, creating new learning through her social research with the Christian Research Association or advocating for improvements to the education of others, Tricia’s personal philosophy has remained true.

“I feel very strongly about the power of education,” she says. “It is at university that I learnt clear thinking and how to express myself; to think analytically and become aware of and relate to the world around me. It’s not just a credential but a means of understanding where we are going and, in the case of history, where we have come from. The so-called ‘soft’ professions do a lot of heavy lifting in society.”

Through her voluntary work with GW, ‘Tricia has been able to help countless other women achieve access to the same tertiary opportunities she has enjoyed throughout her life.

“I believe that everyone should be able to develop themselves in the way they wish,” she says. “We are each here for a purpose and need to discover that purpose and have the opportunity to develop it. It’s important that we are each valued for what we do. In religious terms, I’m not motivated so much by the idea of individual salvation as the idea that a little leaven leavens the whole lump – that possibility of a small act benefitting the wider world.”