This is the fourth of a series of articles focusing on the NCWNZ Past Presidents Oral History Project with interviews by Carol Dawber in 2016. See the introductory article in The Circular at "NCWNZ Past Presidents oral history interviews from 2016" (August 2024).

Elizabeth Margaret Bang (née Ewart) was born in Palmerston North in 1942, growing up in a family where thrift, hard work and service were values carried through generations. Her father, Richard, was a Marlborough stock and station agent; her mother, Cora, had hoped to be a teacher but instead became an office typist. Those early experiences of economic constraint and community-mindedness shaped Elizabeth’s lifelong sense that care and fairness must guide public service.

After schooling in Waipukurau, Feilding and Palmerston North, she trained as a registered nurse in general and obstetrics and became a ward sister by her early twenties. She later moved south to Dunedin, combining nursing with study towards a Certificate in Social Work at the University of Otago and later a Diploma in Health Administration at Massey University. Her work in orthopaedics opened her eyes to the emotional toll of illness on families. “You could fix a bone,” she reflected, “but you couldn’t always fix what happened to people’s lives when someone was in hospital.” That understanding of both clinical and human dimensions would define her approach to leadership.

In 1966 she married Bryan Bang, then a geography student whose career would later span urban planning and law alongside his PhD. The couple made an early pact that one parent would always be home with their daughters, Catherine and Helen. Elizabeth worked evening nursing shifts while Bryan studied and read bedtime stories. “It was unusual then,” she said, “but it worked for us.” Their partnership, grounded in shared purpose, reflected the social changes taking place for women in 1970s New Zealand.

Over twenty-four years in Dunedin, Elizabeth rose through the hospital system to become charge nurse of the fracture clinic; followed by Orthopaedic & Trauma Supervisor then later a member of the surgical management team during the major health restructures of the late 1980s. Her understanding of both nursing and administration made her indispensable. When the opportunity came to help establish a pilot breast-screening programme, she joined the nucleus group that would later guide national policy.

In 1994 she was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study breast-screening systems in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Edinburgh and Australia. “They just handed me a white coat and said, ‘You’re a colleague from New Zealand.’ It was an incredible privilege.” The experience deepened her commitment to evidence-based practice and communication—principles she would later carry into her work with the National Council of Women.

After moving to Hamilton, Elizabeth joined the Public Health Directorate of the Ministry of Health and then onwards to join the team to set up Breast Screen Aotearoa. Elizabeth then later led Hospice Waikato as Chief Executive from 2002 to 2012. Under her leadership, hospice services expanded dramatically, including the creation of the children’s unit Rainbow Place and an $8 million fundraising campaign for a new facility. She insisted on ongoing supervision for hospice nurses, believing “you can’t work with death every day without reflection and support.”

Elizabeth’s involvement with the National Council of Women began through the New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation. She became convenor of the Health Standing Committee, leading influential surveys on maternity services and the care of carers. “We learned to build a nucleus group of experts,” she said. “That gave our surveys real credibility.” She was elected to the NCWNZ Board in 2002, served as Vice President from 2004 to 2008 under Christine Low, and became President in 2008.

Her presidency coincided with one of the Council’s greatest challenges—the loss of charitable registration when the Charities Commission ruled NCWNZ a political lobby group. Funding stopped overnight and staff were laid off. “We felt tainted,” she recalled. “It was as if we’d done something wrong, when all we had done was speak up for women.” Determined to protect the organisation’s integrity, she worked with lawyer Sue Barker to rebuild the case for charitable status. She personally took leave from work to compile evidence in Wellington and guided the High Court appeal that eventually succeeded. “I had to keep believing,” she said. “We were fighting for NCW’s survival, and for the principle that advocacy is part of charity.”

During those same years, Elizabeth led the “Cotton Off Our Kids” campaign, which challenged sexually explicit slogans on children’s clothing. Within 48 hours of NCW’s statement, international media pressure forced the retailer to withdraw the products. “It went international overnight—calls from Canada, the UK, even New York asking how we did it,” she remembered. “That’s the power of a large group, a well-presented argument, and a good media relationship.”

Elizabeth also oversaw a complete rewrite of the NCWNZ Constitution, modernising its structure and language to reflect a changing membership. She encouraged virtual branch models for rural areas and closer partnerships with the Ministry for Women, Māori Women’s Welfare League, YWCA and Rural Women New Zealand. She believed that NCWNZ should always remain a place for learning and growth: “It gives women the ability to learn how to run meetings, how to present to Parliament. Those are lifelong skills.”

Her presidency reaffirmed the Council’s credibility, not only in the eyes of government but also within its own membership. She stayed on after her term to assist with constitutional reform until its unanimous adoption in 2014. “You can have the vision,” she said, “but unless you persuade the group to travel that path with you, it won’t happen. It has to be a team.”

Elizabeth’s contribution was recognised nationally with numerous honours: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2003, Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2018, and the Paul Harris Rotary Fellowship in 2011 for community leadership and fundraising.

Now a Life Member of NCWNZ, Elizabeth continues to serve on health, ethics and diocesan boards in the Waikato. Her reflections remind us that equality is an ongoing journey: “We were the first country to win the vote, and people still look up to us for that. But equality isn’t finished—it moves with every generation.” From hospital ward to hospice boardroom, from nursing supervisor to national president, Elizabeth Bang’s career is nothing short of inspiring. Elizabeth’s achievements reflect the enduring mission of the National Council of Women; to advance the wellbeing of women, families and communities through service, collaboration and care.

By
Christie Underwood

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See also previous articles in this series: 

• NCWNZ Past President Beryl Anderson ONZM (8 April 2025).
• NCWNZ Past President Barbara Glenie QSO (23 February 2025).
• NCWNZ Past President Janet Hesketh QSM, CNZM (24 September 2024).

To read more articles from The Circular (September-October 2025) issue 654, click on the tag below.