Australian Women's Land Army

The Australian Women's Land Army (AWLA) was an organisation created in World War II in Australia to combat rising labour shortages in the farming sector. The AWLA organised female workers to be employed by farmers to replace male workers who had joined the armed forces.

When WWII began, the only women’s unit in the Australian Army was the Australian Army Nursing Service. Within three years, women would grow their skills to meet wartime demands and register themselves for enlistment into several more auxiliary service units and dozens of voluntary groups and legions. By 1942, women’s units had been formed across all arms of the defence forces: the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF), the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS), the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) and the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (AAMWS). By the end of the war, 50,000 Australian women had served in these units, with women employed in over 70 different occupations in the WAAAF alone.^[1]