Described as a feminist and peace activist, but perhaps more correctly a social activist, Jessie Street fought for many causes. At the Women's College at the University of Sydney she was calling for equal treatment of women. She was twice narrowly defeated when she stood for parliament. Before graduating (B.A., 1912), Street attended the 1911 conference of the International Council for Women in Rome. She was active in peace movements including the International Peace Campaign. Her trip to Russia in 1938 demonstrated that Russian women had employment equality. Street served on the Commonwealth Immigration Advisory Council, advocating for increased intakes of Jewish refugees both in Australia and Palestine. Seeing Hiroshima in 1948 committed her to the banning of nuclear weapons.
Campaigning for the elimination of discrimination against Aborigines, Street is credited, through her 1957 petition, with being instrumental in achieving the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal citizenship. Her contribution is recognised by sculpture in Reconciliation Place, Canberra. She also played a role in establishing the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Websites such as Reconciliation Australia, the Dynasties section of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and the National Archives' Uncommon Lives give insight into her activities and contributions over the years, and the degree of international respect Street earned. The Jessie Street National Women's Library, in collecting women and women's issues material, commemorates her work. She founded the United Associations of Women of Australia, a part of the International Alliance of Women, and lobbied the League of Nations for women's rights. She attended the founding conference of the United Nations in 1945 as an Australian delegate, and went on to become the first vice-president of the U. N. Commission on the Status of Women.
The writing of many reports and correspondence honed her writing skills. Among Prime Minister John Curtin's papers in the National Archives, a letter demonstrates her ability to get to the top and use humour to get her point across. She included a parody of the Lord's Prayer called The Women's Prayer which begins ' Our Prime Minister, who art in Canberra' and pleads for equality for women. Her poetic bent was demonstrated by her lyrics for Lindley Evans' song Australia, Happy Isle (1934). She clearly demonstrated that 'socialites' could use their position to achieve social justice. The Australian Dictionary of Biography says that she began writing her two volume memoirs in 1960, but the second volume was abandoned.
