The State, Labour and the Writing of Australian Labour History (Essay‪)‬

This article has two interlinked purposes. The first is to present, briefly and schematically, broad historical trends as to how 'the state' in Australia has affected 'labour'. The second is to explore how the field of labour history has seen these trends. Given the size of this task and space constraints, we limit our attention chronologically and ration our referencing, prioritising sources that have appeared since Greg Patmore's authoritative 1991 survey. (1) Our approach is thematic and we focus on experiences during the years 1900 to 1993. Another article in this issue deals with convict labour. The importation of the modern state brought convictism into Australia and the convict system lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century. Our choice of parameters means that we overlook important developments--and scholarship--relating to the expansion of free labour over that century, only mentioning some as context for later developments. Gordon Anderson and Michael Quinlan's 2008 survey provides rich data on colonial era legislation and a guide to further reading. (2) Finally, while race and gender are significant issues, given space constraints we only treat them briefly in relation to the state.