Women's Museum of Australia and Old Gaol (formerly National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame) — Attraction in The Gap

The National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame is one of two women’s museums in Australia, and was founded as a public museum for the purpose of recognising and honouring pioneering women who contributed to the development of Australia. The collection contains women’s objects donated from across the country, and through the exhibitions it commemorates the achievements of women from across the nation who have been first in their field.

The museum defines a pioneer woman as any woman who is a pioneer in her chosen field from settlement to present day and commemorates the achievements of all Australian women.

Incorporated as a non-profit organisation, the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame acknowledges the considerable and ongoing support received from the Northern Territory Government, the Federal Government, Tourism NT and many thousands of hours of work by dedicated volunteers.

The National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame was founded by Molly Clark of Old Andado Station, which lies approximately 330 kilometres south-east of Alice Springs. On 2 February 1993, a public meeting was called by Molly Clark and supporters in Alice Springs, at which Molly outlined the aims and objectives of the proposed women’s museum.

The National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame became an incorporated association in April 1993, and in March 1994 the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory leased the Old Courthouse to the organisation for five years. The National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame first opened permanently to the public in September 1994.

By 2001, the Old Courthouse had become too small for the museum and, not being purpose built, posed both exhibition and storage problems. The former HM Gaol and Labour Prison Alice Springs, which had been decommissioned in 1996 and saved from demolition by the local community, was offered as a lease to the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame, an offer which was accepted in 2004. Clare Martin, the first woman Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, announced the handover of the Gaol for use by the Hall of Fame. On 8 March 2007, Minister for Women’s Policy Marion Scrymgour, herself the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the Northern Territory Parliament, officially opened the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame in its...

Women's Museum of Australia Visited on 10/7/2019

The compound housed the Alice Springs Old Goal and the Women's Museum of Australia. The entry fee is for both the "attractions".

Women's Museum of Australia (formerly known as the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame) is dedicated to celebrating and preserving the place of women in Australian history.

There are 4 permanent exhibitions include, 'Ordinary Women/ Extraordinary Lives'; 'the Signature Quilt'; 'Women at the Heart'; and 'the Aviatrix Tapestry'.

Ordinary Women/ Extraordinary Lives focuses on Australian women first in their field.

Women at the Heart is an exhi­bi­tion about of women with heart, women who embrace courage, endurance, resilience and resource­ful­ness, com­pan­ion­ship and compassion.

The Sig­na­ture Quilt holds 342 sig­na­to­ries form­ing a Patch­work of Empowerment. The rec­tan­gles are signed by Aus­tralian women who have record­ed firsts or sig­nif­i­cant achieve­ments in their fields of endeav­our.

The Aviatrix Tapestry, or Pioneer Aviation Tapestry honours the Australian wowen in aviation industry. The concept was suggested by the pioneer aviator Nancy-Biro Walton.

The museum has excellent exhibits but I feel that the arrangement and lighting of the hall can...

Visited today as a family of 6.

Volunteer Jude was friendly and informative.

I would’ve really liked to have had more time to listen to the audios but our youngest two (aged 8 and 10) were “creeped out” by the men’s gaol and we didn’t stay as long as it all deserved. (Am I the only one who would be be interested to hear what a psychic had to say about the men’s block? it certainly seemed to have a lot of residual heavy energy to me). Anyhow, they enjoyed being able to touch some of the exhibits, like picking up the heavy iron tea pot.

Inspiring to hear of a woman who thought the Hall of Fame was too male-centric and so started her own ode to pioneering and inspiring women! Nice one, Molly, and thank you volunteers.

I will take away with me the story of the woman (in the video) who had enough of kneeling in church in symbolic submission before the priest and instead obeyed her own inner calling to get up and walk out into the sunshine. What a...