From Queensland’s inception as a self-governing colony in December 1859 the issue of labour relations has preoccupied governments and shaped the experiences of its working men and women. However, despite the often turbulent nature of labour relations in Queensland there has, prior to this book, been no attempt to provide an overview of the system as a whole.

This important addition to Queensland’s sesquicentenary celebrations redresses this failure, looking at the diverse range of experiences that, together, made up a unique system of labour relations – including those of employers, women workers, indigenous workers, unions, the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, labour law, industrial disputation, the workings of health and safety system and life in regional areas.

It is argued that, overall, Queensland’s system of industrial regulation was central to its economic and social development. Despite past emphasis on the large-scale strikes that periodically raked the state this book finds that consensus normally prevailed.

Table of Contents

Foreword
    Peter Henneken
Introduction
    Bradley Bowden, Simon Blackwood, Cath Rafferty and Cameron Allen
No Improvement without Standardisation: The Origins of Queensland’s Industrial Relations System, 1857-1916
    Bradley Bowden
“The Combination of Masters”: The Role of Employer Organisations in Shaping the Queensland Industrial Relations System
    Michael Barry
A Peculiar History: Queensland Unions, 1916-2009
    Bradley Bowden
Independent Judgement: the History of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, 1916-2009
    Bradley Bowden and Cath Rafferty
Evolution of the System: Industrial Relations Policy and Legislation, 1859-2009
    Doug Hunt
From Catch Up to Innovation: A History of Occupational Health and Safety Regulation in Queensland
    Richard Johnstone
A Role for Government in Setting Minimum Employment Standards?
    Simon Blackwood and Cath Rafferty
Missing in Action: Industrial Relations and Aboriginal Labour
    Ros Kidd
Women’s Pay and Participation in the Queensland Workforce
    Glenda Strachan
The Politics of an Apolitical Public Service
    Linda Colley
Strikes: Limits to Industrial Action?
    Simon Blackwood and Doug Hunt
“The Best Deal for Workers”: Rockhampton Unions and the Queensland Arbitration System to 1957
    Barbara Webster
Queensland Labour Relations 1859-2009: conflict, Control and Regulation
    Margaret Gardner