ABOUT US

Since 1947, Australian War Widows QLD (AWWQ) has provided advocacy and support service to its members. The organisation was founded by Jessie Mary Vasey CBE (19 October 1897 – 22 September 1966) as a craft guild to enable women to earn money to support their war widow pensions. Vasey argued that the pension war widows received was not charity but a statutory right, being compensation for the life of a serviceman. In an effort to help war widows, Jessie set out to obtain an increase in the War Widow’s pension to bring it in-line with the basic wage. This advocacy work became the cornerstone of changes to widow compensation.

Today, there are around 15,000 war widows in QLD and 27 sub-branches providing support services, community linkages and social activities to ensure their physical, emotional, familial and social needs are met. As a membership-based organisation, members benefit from a strong sense of ownership, community and comradery with each other. The war widows motto encapsulates this spirit:

"We all belong to each other. We all need each other. It is in serving each other and in sacrificing for our common good, that we are finding our true life"