Historical information

Beatrice Faust was born Beatrice Eileen Fennessey in Glen Huntly, a suburb of Melbourne, on 19 February 1939. She was educated at Mac Robertson Girls' High. She attended Melbourne University in the 1950s, where she became acquainted with Germaine Greer and they extended their feminist inclinations. She earned her bachelor's degree in English and subsequently her master's degree. The first of her two marriages was to Clive Faust during her time at university. Having become known as a public figure with the Faust surname, when they later divorced she retained the name.
She was one of the first women to argue for civil liberties, abortion law reform and well-informed sex education for all. In 1966 she co-founded the Victorian Union of Civil Liberties to advocate for civil rights and, in 1972, the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL), to agitate for legislative reform along specifically feminist lines and to give Australian women a greater voice in politics.
In the latter part of her career, Bea became a lecturer in English at RMIT in Melbourne, then from 1990-2003 she was at Monash University’s campus at Churchill, Gippsland, (now Federation University) where she was an educational designer in the Centre of Learning and Teaching Support. She retired at 67.
In 2001 Faust was awarded the Centenary Medal. In the same year, she was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. In 2004 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for such efforts and more.
"Today we pay tribute to one of Victoria’s great feminist leaders, Dr Beatrice Faust AO, who sadly passed away yesterday. Beatrice tirelessly advocated for women’s rights and equality in government policy and for the right to abortion, amongst many other achievements. We recognise her contribution to making Victoria a more gender equal state." Statement from Gender Equity.