Major reforms
The Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904
15 December 1904
The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration is set up to settle disputes between workers and employers.
The Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 was designed to end worker strikes and lockouts by establishing the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The court was set up to deal with any industrial disputes between workers, unions and employers that extended beyond the boundaries of a specific state and were unable to be dealt with by state law.
The debate on the bill to establish the court was intense. There was disagreement about which industries the law should apply to and this caused several members of parliament to resign. The bill finally passed the Senate and House of Representatives in 1904 and received Royal Assent on 15 December.
The court had arbitration and judicial responsibilities. This means it was responsible for settling industrial disputes and making awards – agreements for pay and working conditions – but also deciding if awards or conditions set out in the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 had been breached. The court had a lasting impact on working conditions for Australians. It set a minimum wage and the standard hours for the working week.
In 1956 the High Court of Australia’s decision in the Boilermakers Case ruled that the joint arbitration and judicial responsibilities of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration were unconstitutional. The court stopped operating and other industrial relations bodies were established.
Sydney Morning Herald, 22 March 1904
National Library of Australia
Sydney Morning Herald, 22 March 1904
National Library of Australia
Description
This newspaper article titled ‘The Government and its arbitration bill’ was published in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in March 1904. The article describes the disagreements within the Australian Parliament about a bill to create the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The bill would eventually be passed in December 1904 after much debate.