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1–6 of 6 total results for work by keyword.
Unfair pay: Tracing tracker wages in New South Wales, 1862–1950
Michael Bennett, historian, Native Title Service Corp
Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies conference, 10 November 2009
Hundreds of Aboriginal men were employed as police trackers from 1862. They enjoyed a regular income, but the work was risky and the pay and conditions terrible. Michael Bennett describes the system and makes the case for a compensatory scheme.
The 1968–69 introduction of equal wages for Aboriginal pastoral workers in the Kimberley
Fiona Skyring, consultant historian
Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies conference, 10 November 2009
Challenging the idea that equal wages caused mass eviction and unemployment for Aboriginal people, Fiona Skyring looks at other factors such as how government investigations in 1965 and 1966 discouraged station owners from appropriating pension payments.
From barter to award wages: Aboriginal labour and Methodist missions in Arnhem Land
Gwenda Baker, Monash University
Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies conference, 10 November 2009
Gwenda Baker traces the history of Aboriginal labour on Methodist missions in Arnhem Land, where award wages led to fewer jobs. While resenting the low wages, some Aborigines see their work on the missions as a highlight of enterprise and achievement.
Workfare, welfare and the hybrid economy: The Western Arrernte in Central Australia
Diane Austin-Broos, University of Sydney
Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies conference, 10 November 2009
A self-proclaimed ‘hybrid economy skeptic’, Diane Austin-Broos offers some reasons why the Western Arrernte’s Community Development Employment Project became ‘welfare’ rather than ‘workfare.’
The art of cutting stone: Aboriginal convict labour in 19th-century New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land
Kristyn Harman, University of Tasmania
Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies conference, 9 November 2009
In the first half of the 19th century, at least sixty Aboriginal men from New South Wales were transported as convicts. Kristyn Harman discusses their labours within the convict system, the rationale for putting them to work, and the outcomes.
Into the west: Torres Strait Islander railway workers, migration and belonging
Dr Shino Konishi, Australian National University
Historical Interpretation series, 28 August 2008
Historian Shino Konishi explores the experiences in the 1960s of young Torres Strait Islander men who moved from the Torres Strait to the Australian mainland to work on railway construction.
