Nola Barber

Who is Nola Barber?

Nola Isabel Constance Barber OBE was an Australian mayor and community worker.

Born at Woodend in Victoria to estate agent William Oswald Griffiths and Elizabeth, née Dick, Nola was educated in Melbourne and graduated from the College of Domestic Economy, after which she was a teacher in Melbourne and Geelong. After studying part-time at the University of Melbourne from 1926 to 1939, she gave up teaching in 1940. On 12 March 1940 she married law clerk David Reaburn Barber, and the couple settled at Aspendale.

Barber was elected to Chelsea City Council in 1948, serving until 1957 and again from 1960 to 1975. She was mayor from 1962 to 1963, the first woman to hold that position. A left-leaning councillor, she campaigned for a trained social worker for the area, the establishment of Meals on Wheels, kindergartens, a local library, a sewerage authority, a spastic centre and elderly citizens' club. She was also a strong supporter of increased federal funding for schools and attended the National Education Congress in 1963.

Barber was active in the local community as president of the Aspendale Technical School council, executive member of the Technical Schools Association of Victoria and member of the Aspendale Elderly Citizens' Club, Chelsea Citizens Advice Bureau, Chelsea Community Health Centre, City of Chelsea Historical Society Girl Guides' Association, Chelsea Benevolent Society, Australian Red Cross Society and the Victorian Baby Health Centres Association. A swimming teacher, she was awarded the recognition badge of the Royal Life Saving Society in 1963 and the community services award of the Rotary Club of Aspendale in 1977. Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, she was included on the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001 and has a kindergarten in Aspendale named after her.