Employment, Labour and Industrial Law in Australia

Until the Industrial Revolution, the regulation of employment was not a subject which engaged the minds of legislators to any great extent. Even so, attempts to control employment had been made as early as 1351 when, in the reign of Edward III, the Statute of Labourers sought to reduce wages to the levels which applied before the Black Death. The labour shortage caused by that awful plague had seen wages rise and labourers move in search of improved conditions. As has often been the case, the statute failed to realise its goal.