Constance Duncan: Translating women's leadership and internationalism in Asia and Australia, 1922-1958

Emerging notions of what constituted exceptional leadership by women in the 1930s and 1940s suggested that experience gained from work in major women's organisations, coupled with a commitment to a sense of service, would create women leaders who would be forthright, practical, sensitive and humane. Constance Duncan emerged from this network of women's associations with a strong sense that women must engage with the affairs of the world. Her work in Asia and Australia both modelled ways that women could initiate and maintain intercultural connections and find ways to understand Australian issues within international frameworks. She was well known for her efforts in public broadcasting and education, but professionally she also found solutions for refugees and women in difficult situations that were practical, sensitive, humane and progressive.