Gladys Machin M.B.E

City of Caulfield’s first female Councillor and Mayor

Gladys Machin was a nurse, community advocate and the first woman to serve on Caulfield Council. Born Gladys Shaw in Castlemaine in 1895, she began her career as a nurse in Kalgoorlie during the First World War.

In 1920 she married Captain Gordon Wallace and moved to Caulfield, where she worked at the repatriation hospital on Kooyong Road. They had three children: Joan, Ron and Marjorie.

In 1950, with her children grown, Gladys (then Wallace) stood for Caulfield Council.

She was one of only three women to contest municipal elections that year. Her candidacy was initially opposed by all of the sitting male Councillors, but she polled well and became the first woman elected as a Councillor for the City of Caulfield.

Her election was widely reported; the local press clamoured to interview her, and she called it a “triumph for women.”

She served as Mayor in 1955-56, becoming Caulfield’s first female Mayor, and again in 1959-60.

Over 15 years of service she was a champion for women in all areas of life, actively encouraged them to play a more central role in public life, and advocated for better representation within Council and beyond. She also remained a staunch advocate of welfare and human services.

After her first husband Captain Wallace died in 1960, she married fellow Councillor Leslie Machin and served as Mayoress during his two terms as Mayor.

She retired from Council in 1965, aged 70.

Gladys had been heavily involved in local philanthropic, charitable and welfare activities before her election, and on Council she campaigned for better baby health centres, preschool facilities, home help and aged care services.

In 1958, she established Caulfield’s first Meals on Wheels service, only the second in Melbourne, and often prepared and delivered the meals herself.

Gladys helped establish the municipality’s first home help service, which began as emergency housekeeping for new mothers and was later extended to home support for the elderly. She was also instrumental in creating Caulfield’s first Elderly Citizens Club, serving as its President from 1953 to 1974, and supported the development of a municipal Youth Centre.

Gladys was awarded an MBE in 1954 and an OBE in 1962 for services to the community. She continued to support Council and the wider community after her retirement and was named Citizen of the Year in 1985, a local honour she said meant more to her than either award.

She died in April 1990 and is buried in Brighton General Cemetery.

Her legacy continues through the Council services she helped establish and the Gladys Machin Senior Citizen’s Centre, named in her honour.