ANSTEY, OLIVE EVA (1920-1983), hospital matron, was born on 9 August 1920 at
Fremantle, Western Australia, youngest of three children of Terence Edwin Anstey,
a sawmill benchman from Victoria, and his Western Australian-born wife Eva Annie,
née Donovan. When Olive was eighteen months old the family moved to Sydney, where
she completed her schooling. Returning to Western Australia in 1934, she learned
commercial bookkeeping, shorthand and typing at Perth Technical College. At 15 she
started work in a box factory at Fremantle while continuing her studies at night.
She then worked as a bookkeeper with the soft goods manufacturers Creek, Petersen
& Co. until becoming head bookkeeper at the shoe retailers Betts &
Betts.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
Olive Eva Anstey was born in Perth in 1920. Against her mother’s judgment, Olive pursued her desire to become a nurse, completing her general training at Royal Perth Hospital. Olive eventually became a top nursing administrator who was well respected and admired for the compassion and leadership qualities she brought to her chosen profession. Throughout her career Olive was a staunch advocate for better working conditions and pay for nurses, working on various committees with the goal of obtaining recognition of nursing as a profession. She was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1969 and in 1982 was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her service to nursing.
Olive Eva Anstey's mother couldn't understand why her daughter wanted to abandon her relatively well-paid career as a bookkeeper for Betts and Betts, to become a nurse. 'When my mother heard she thought I was nuts,' Olive said. But the desire to be a nurse would not be quashed and Olive quit her pen-pushing job and a dramatic cut in salary to become a student nurse. She recalls that the conditions and facilities for nurses and patients alike were not very good. And neither was she good at obeying rules that she thought were senseless:
'I must admit I didn't take too kindly to the discipline. We had to stand up straight with our hands behind our backs when we spoke to a nurse the station above us on the hierarchic ladder... I was a bit of a rebel and used to spend a fair bit of time on the assistant matron's doorstep.'
When Olive eventually became a top nursing administrator she was one of the first to relax the regimentation but not the standards of nursing. She quickly earned the respect and admiration of nurses, although throughout her life remained surprised that she rose to the top, where she had a reputation for being a compassionate leader.
Born in Perth, Western Australia on 9 August 1920, Olive was educated at St Patricks College and Perth Technical College. She later completed her general nursing training at Royal Perth Hospital and then undertook a midwifery course at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney. She worked at Riverton Hospital, the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Public Health Hospital in South Australia before being appointed first matron of the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (then Perth Chest Hospital) in July 1958 - it was a position she would hold until her retirement in December 1981.
Throughout her nursing career Olive was a staunch advocate for better working conditions and pay for nurses. She worked tirelessly on various committees with the goal of obtaining recognition of nursing as a profession to be valued. These include the Council of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation (Western Australia) where she served variously as a council member; as vice-president; as president; and as senior vice-president. She also served as senior vice-president and then president of the Federal Committee of RANF and as a member of the Florence Nightingale Committee (Western Australia). She also represented Australia at some of the council meetings of International Council of Nurses in Frankfurt-am-Main.
In 1969 Olive was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and in 1982 was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 1974, as a tribute to her lifelong contribution to nursing, a multi-storey building, Anstey House, was named after her. Several months after her death almost in 1983, a $250,000 national appeal was launched as a memorial to commemorate Olive's significant contribution to national and international nursing. Established in April 1984, the fund was designed to provide scholarships for nurses wishing to further their studies.
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Australian Women's Register
Olive Anstey was a staunch advocate for better working conditions and pay for nurses. She worked on various committees with the goal of obtaining recognition of nursing as a profession.
For Olive Anstey, improving conditions for nurses were synonymous with improving care for patients. This conviction guided her extra curricular activities all her professional life and career. She recognised early in her career that the way forward for nurses was through their nursing organisations. Miss Anstey joined a union in 1944 as a student nurse and was encouraged by practice and example by the Matron of the hospital at this time to be active in nursing organisations to bring about changes. As a student she led her fellow student nurses in the cause of improved pay and conditions, issues that were resolved in the Western Australian Nurses Arbitration Award handed down in 1946. Industrial experience as a registered nurse was gained from her position as an Organiser for the New South Wales Nurses Association where she took an active role in dispute resolution and learned to develop strategies to achieve aims.
Miss Anstey's vision of nursing included the idea that nurses could position themselves to contribute to the alleviation of the social conditions that marred the lives of many. Her strongly held convictions about nursing were tempered by a capacity to see clearly what needed to be done and to be realistic in what could be achieved within the prevailing circumstances. She was, therefore, always an active participant in the organisations in which she involved herself, holding office in many. She believed that the development of nursing could only come about by the efforts of nurses themselves and in this, the nursing organisations had a critical role to play. She worked towards unity and cohesion within the nursing profession, between its organisations, both nationally and internationally, seeing disunity as a major weakness that diminished the power of nurses to express, pursue and achieve their professional aims.
In keeping with the notion that nurses must help themselves she was an early member of the Florence Nightingale Committee which was dedicated to raising funds to support scholarships for nurses to undertake post basic education. She was an advocate for improved education and the formal development of nursing knowledge through research. She foresaw and indeed advocated the transfer of nursing education to the tertiary sector and was active in promoting and supporting this idea as early as the 1970s. She worked towards this goal through the Royal Australian Nursing Federation in particular.
She carried a strong conviction into the role of President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) believing that the collective force of nursing was a benefit to mankind which could be mobilised to bring about 'an end to violence and starvation'. Miss Anstey became the first Australian born president of the ICN. She was outspoken and fearless in relation to issues that were of concern and she was highly respected for her integrity, enthusiasm and optimism as well as her absolute belief in both nurses and nursing.
Those who knew her believe that her political awareness, savvy and being administratively adroit, particularly in managing meetings and in understanding money matters contributed to her success in achieving her aims through the nursing organisations. She was well regarded by her colleagues and subordinates who appreciated her openness and preparedness to listen to people. She made a point of knowing everyone and keeping in touch with nursing practice issues within her own hospital which was much appreciated by all with whom she worked.
Throughout her career she was a staunch advocate for nurses and nursing and she worked tirelessly to "improve [patient] care and to improve the lot of those who cared" (Pratt, R. & Russell, R.L. (2002). A Voice to be Heard: The History of the NSW College Nursing. Allen & Unwin, Sydney p.196).
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1941 - 1944
Career position - Nurse training at Perth Public Hospital (became Royal Perth Hospital in 1948)
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1944 - 1946
Career position - Staff Nurse at Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia, and during this time was promoted to Sister in charge of operating room
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1947 - 1948
Career position - Completed midwifery training at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney. Following the completion of Midwifery she returned to the Royal Perth Hospital to resume her position as Sister in Charge of operating room before resigning and returning to Sydney
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1948
Career position - Private nursing work in Windsor in Sydney
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1949
Career position - Organiser at the New South Wales Nurses Association
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1950
Career position - Ward Sister and Charge Nurse of surgical wards at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney
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1950 - 1953
Career position - Community Health Nurse and School Medical Nurse in South Australia
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1953 - 1956
Career position - Tuberculosis sister at the Perth Chest Clinic
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1957
Career position - Completed Diploma of Nursing Administration at the College of Nursing Australia, Melbourne supported by a Western Australian Government scholarship of 500 pounds
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1958 - 1963
Career position - Matron of Collie Hospital in Western Australia, then Matron of the Perth Chest Hospital (later named Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital)
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1963 - 1982
Career position - Director of Nursing at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, incorporating the Queen Elizabeth second Memorial Centre
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1969
Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
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1978
Award - Honorary Fellowship conferred by the NSW College of Nursing
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1982
Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
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Encyclopedia of Australian Science