THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL

Family Name:

Abraham

Given Names:

Vivienne Grace

Gender:

Female

Birth-Date:

2 February 1920

Death-Date:

30 March 2003

Marital Status:

Single

Age Range:

30s to 60s

Location:

VIC, NSW

Occupation:

Employed by Sydney law firm, F. W. Jenkins and Co.

Primary Motivation:

Peace, anti-militarism

Reason for Court Appearance:

NA

Court Name and Location:

NA

Court Hearing Date:

NA

Court Outcome:

NA

Military Event:

National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972, anti-nuclear armament

Further Information:

Vivienne Abraham was born in Melbourne on 2 February 1920. She held an LLB from Melbourne University. Because she had not undertaken ‘articles’ she was not admitted to the bar, and therefore could not practice as a registered lawyer.

Vivienne was deeply committed to pacifism since early in life. She was secretary to the Victorian Branch of the Australian Peace Pledge Union during 1946 -1947, and 1950-1952. She represented Victoria as a delegate and speaker at conferences organized by the Federal Pacifist Council of Australia (FPCA).  She was editor of the monthly publication of the FPCA, The Peacemaker during 1953-1955 and, joint editor with her sister Shirley Abraham, during 1964-1968. She was sole editor from 1968 until the newspaper ceased publication in 1971. The Peacemaker was founded by the Revd. Frank Coaldrake in 1939 and was edited by him and a number of others, including the Abrahams. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this newspaper to Australia’s peace history, especially during World War II and the Vietnam War.

During the National Service schemes of the 1950s and 1960s, in which young men were conscripted to undertake a period of compulsory military training, Vivienne provided support and for many conscientious objectors. During the Vietnam War period — when conscripts faced the prospect of being drafted into the regular army to serve in the war zone — she freely gave legal advice and support to young men who were or were likely to be conscripted.  At times this bordered on illegal activity under the government legislation. She gave sound counsel to many conscientious objectors to facilitate their navigation through the court system, which was often hostile to them. Although initially skeptical of success, she supported those who objected specifically to the conflict in Vietnam, rather than to all wars, and eventually saw applications for exemption succeed on these grounds.

Under Vivienne and Shirley Abraham’s editorship, The Peacemaker highlighted dissidents’ court cases and criticised the National Service Act (NSA) and government of the day. The cases included those of conscientious non-compliers or draft resisters. These were young men who refused to comply with the NSA and commonly chose not to apply for registration as a conscientious objector. Latter issues featured lists of all those taking a public stance against the NSA by refusing to register or to apply for exemption. Vivienne (and Shirley) accumulated an extensive range of documents from diverse sources, both individuals and organisations. These together with The Peacemaker are of major importance to the history of the Australian peace movement.

In the 1980s Vivienne was very active in protesting anti-militarism especially in the opposition to nuclear power and nuclear armament. She supported many other causes including Indigenous peoples’ fight to justice and equality. Vivienne died in Sydney on 30 March 2003, after a lifetime of peace activism. Hers was indeed a life spent in the service of others.

Confirmatory Sources:

Bobbie Oliver, Hell No! We won’t go! resistance to conscription in postwar Australia, (Melbourne: Interventions Publishing, 2022).

Bobbie Oliver, The Peacemaker, http://www.livingpeacemuseum.org.au/s/alpm/page/peacemaker-1964-68  accessed 8 February 2024

Clare Land, Abraham, Vivienne (1920-2003), The Australian Woman’s Register 8 February 2024 https://www.womenaustralia.info/entries/abraham-vivienne/  accessed 8 February 2024

Vivienne Abraham, The University of Melbourne Archives, https://gallery.its.unimelb.edu.au/imu/imu.php?request=multimedia&irn=6317  accessed 8 February 2024

Vivienne Abraham Papers, National Library of Australia MS 9152.