Growing out of the Women's liberation movement, WEL expressed the desire of some activists to affect government, at Federal and State levels, in a direct and practical way.
Working in pairs, WEL interviewers pursued and questioned candidates about issues such as equal pay, abortion, child care and sex discrimination.
The WEL members were shocked to discover how ignorant many male candidates were about issues that were important to women, and the results of their interviews were enthusiastically reported in the media.
In the longer term, WEL's actions meant that, for decades afterwards, political parties took care to formulate and publicise a written women's policy before each election.
It has continued its election work, typically publishing "score-cards" on the parties' policies and hosting events where candidates are questioned by WEL members and others about their positions.
In 1987 Jane Elix, former national co-ordinator, made a powerful plea at a WEL conference for the holder of the position to be authorised to be a media spokeswoman.
Elix observed that although founding WEL members believed in non-hierarchical structures and opposed specialisation of roles and functions, in practice this made it difficult to compete in the political arena of the 1980s.
"[12] This illustrates an ongoing tension in WEL, which aims to respond quickly to make the most of the media cycle and the political climate whilst still maintaining a de-centralised member-driven structure.