Muriel Agnes Heagney

Muriel Agnes Heagney (31 December 1885 – 14 May 1974) was an Australian trade unionist and feminist. For many years she campaigned for equal pay for women. She wrote a number of books on gender equality.

Early life Heagney was born to Annie Agnes Heagney née Curry, and Patrick Reginal Heagney in Brisbane, Queensland on 31 December 1885. Her family was aligned to the Labor politics, with her maternal grandfather being friends with Peter Lalor, and her father was a member of the Australian Workers' Union, and contributed to The Bulletin, and The Worker, and when the family moved to Victoria, founded the Richmond branch of the Political Labor Council.

Heagney undertook her schooling at a Richmond, and she did her teacher's training to become a primary school teacher.

Heagney began writing a history of the Labor movement. However, her application for the Commonwealth Literary Fund grant was unsuccessful, and she discontinued.

In 1978 a street in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm was named 'Heagney Crescent' in her honour.

In 2001 Heagney was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

Heagney's archives, including drafts and research notes relating to the books she had published, and the books she had planned to write, are held at the State Library Victoria.

Notable works Are Women Taking Men's Jobs? (1935) Equal Pay for the Sexes (1948) Arbitration at the Cross Roads (1954)