Rubber 'Pro-race' cervical cap. On loan
from the Royal Australian College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Australian population fears

The birth rate in Australia began to drop in the 1860s. This became a serious concern for the country's leaders, who believed that prosperity depended on a large population. Over the next century official inquiries and royal commissions repeatedly condemned Australian women for not producing large families.

Politicians, churchmen and doctors voiced their disapproval of contraception. In the face of this opposition, pioneering health reformers fought to make information about birth control available to all. Brettena Smyth gave lectures on 'the limitation of offspring' and sold contraceptives in Melbourne in the 1890s.

In England, reformer Marie Stopes opened birth control clinics in the 1920s. Her books, Married love and Contraception, were highly influential in Australia and ran to many editions. One method frequently recommended by reformers such as Stopes was the cervical cap. The cap fits snugly over a women's cervix and acts as a barrier to sperm. Many types have been made, using materials such as ivory, gold, platinum, silver, rubber, or celluloid.

Indeed the evidence before the Inquiry is that Australian women are amongst the most efficient contraceptors in the world.
National Population Inquiry, Canberra, 1975

500 Harris Street Ultimo, PO Box K346 Haymarket, Sydney NSW 1238, Australia.
NSW Government | About this website | Privacy statement

all contents © copyright Powerhouse Museum
Powerhouse Museum collection index