Freda Bennett Neill

War widow Freda Bennett Neill, who was better known as Anne Neill, became an agent for ASIO in her 50s. Concerned that her local branch of the Women’s Peace Council had been infiltrated by Communists, one of her friends put her in contact with ASIO Officer Rod Allanson. During her 8 years undercover Neill infiltrated the South Australian Peace Council, became a member of the CPA, and was the first ASIO agent to travel behind the Iron Curtain, visiting Moscow on a return trip from Vienna to attend the Third World Peace Conference.

With members of the CPA suspicious of agents infiltrating the organisaition, some of the South Australian members started to question Neill’s financial situation. Neill’s cover was blown and in 1958 she publicly ‘came out’ as an agent with ASIO’s assistance. The impact of being an agent on her health is revealed not in her ASIO files but her war widow beneficiary file. At 81 years of age Neill began suffering from delusions, discussing her time as a spy and feared leaving the house because the Russians were after her.

NAA: A8703, 1322457

I found this person on FamilySearch:
Freda Bennett Parsons
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/MMV8-916
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Birth: June 17 1898 - Talunga, South Australia, Australia
Death: Oct 26 1986 - Norwood, South Australia, Australia
Parents: John William Parsons, Emily Ann Parsons (born Bennett)
Husband: Wilfred Roy Neill
Siblings: John William Parsons, Albert John Torrens Parsons, Matthew Herbert Parsons, Mary Martha Parsons, Wilfred Meylan Parsons, Clarice Mary Parsons, Frederick Stanley Parsons, and names of 2 more siblings