Women's Information Service carries on Deborah McCulloch's novel South Australian 1978 switchboard idea

The Women’s Information Service, now on the ground floor of the Office of Women, 91-97 Grenfell Street, Adelaide.

The Women's Information Switchboard was opened by South Australian premier Don Dunstan in 1978 at  the Institute Building, corner of North Terrace and Kintore Avenue, Adelaide, with Andi Sebastian its coordinator.

The need for a women's information service was identified by Deborah McCulloch, first women's adviser to the premier from 1976. Primary purpose of the switchboard was to inform women about community resources available to them. After 10 years, it had averaged more than 25,000 calls a year.

The switchboard was renamed the Women's Information Service in 1995 when computer technology came, and in 1996 expanded its information to include business, finance and property issues. In 1977, responding to a review finding found women wanted face-to-face contact, the state minister for the status of women, Diana Laidlaw, opened new shopfront premises in Station Arcade, Adelaide.

Information technologies provided increasing opportunities and challenges. On International Women's Day 2001, the women’s information service launched a program to educate older women on using automatic teller machines and internet banking. That year, the service celebrated 23 years of more than 1000 volunteers providing assistance and support to South Australian women. Rita Maud Shortland in 2003 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for “service to community, particularly through the South Australian Women's Information Service”.

The Women's Information Service continues to provide free and confidential information and referral services related to issues as diverse as relationships, health, legal matters, women's organisations and financial issues, from its office on the ground floor Chesser House, 91-97 Grenfell Street., Adelaide and Women’s Information Service website and Facebook.