Barbara Weber Ray

Barbara Weber Ray was a significant figure in the establishment and early development of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA), an organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for Australian writers and illustrators. The ASA was formed in 1963, with the Fellowship of Australian Writers playing a crucial role in its inception. Ray was part of the foundational committee that set up the organization, which aimed to promote and protect the rights of its members.

The ASA has been instrumental in various initiatives, including the establishment of Public Lending Right (PLR) and Educational Lending Right (ELR), ensuring authors are compensated when their works are used in libraries. The organization also played a key role in setting up the Copyright Agency and the Australian Copyright Council, and has actively campaigned to defend territorial copyright for books. It provides resources, advice, and administers several awards and residencies for authors.

Barbara Weber Ray was involved in the initial meetings that led to the formation of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) in 1963. Following an invitation in October 1962 by Walter Stone, President of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, to discuss a national representative body for professional authors, a series of meetings culminated in the ASA's establishment. Ray was among the early committee members and council, contributing to the provisional constitution accepted in June 1963. The ASA was founded to promote and protect the rights of Australian authors and illustrators, with Dal Stivens serving as the first President.

In its formative years, the ASA, with figures like Barbara Weber Ray contributing to its direction, focused on critical campaigns to improve conditions for Australian authors. One of the first major efforts was to abolish the discriminatory "colonial royalty" system, which paid Australian authors significantly less for sales in their home country compared to the UK. The ASA also advocated for an "open market" for books in Australia to challenge the dominance of British publishers. These early campaigns laid the groundwork for the organization's future advocacy, including its successful efforts to establish Public Lending Right (PLR) and Educational Lending Right (ELR).