Gertrude Halley brings health checks for thousands of students in South Australian schools from 1913

Dr Gertrude Halley, first schools medical inspector in South Australia.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia

Gertrude Halley, formerly a chief medical officer in Tasmania and New South Wales, was chosen in 1913 to establish the long-awaited medical branch of the government education department in South Australia.

Accompanied initially by one school nurse, Halley began examining 50,000 children at the rate of 100 a day. Like her closest friend and colleague Lydia Longmore, inspector of infant schools, Halley believed that educating mothers and fathers was one of the best ways to improve children’s health.

They pioneered intelligence tests in South Australian schools. From the start, Halley argued for separate and skilled teaching for mentally retarded children. She also promoted model playgrounds for children.

Appointed vice-chairman of the playgrounds section of the interstate Town Planning Exhibition in Adelaide, she was later an Education Department representative on the Town Planning Association’s playground committee.

Within the department, Dr Halley continually pressed for better school medical amenities and more staff. By 1925 she headed a staff of 16, including three dentists, five medical assistants, three nurses and psychologist Dr Constance Davey.

In wider society, Halley became a leading member of the Women's Non-Party Political Association (later League of Women Voters), which sought to mobilise women politically on a variety of social issues. As chairwoman of the League of Loyal Women (1916-22), she sought to unite South Australian women of all classes in war work. In 1920, Halley became a founding member of the South Australian branch of the National Council of Women and was convener of its standing committee on public health 1927-29.