The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 received Royal Assent, establishing the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration to prevent and settle interstate industrial disputes—an institutional foundation for federal-era industrial relations.
Justice H.B. Higgins’ Harvester Decision articulated a “living” (family) wage standard for an unskilled worker, which became a long-lasting reference point in Australian wage-setting and arbitration practice.
Following dismissals of tramway workers for wearing union badges, industrial conflict escalated into the Brisbane General Strike, becoming a major early test of union rights, public order, and state responses to mass industrial action.
After weeks of unrest and confrontation, the Brisbane General Strike officially ended when employers agreed to a no-victimisation undertaking, though many tramway workers were not rehired by the private company at the time.
A walkout at Randwick Rail/Tram workshops and Eveleigh workshops—triggered by opposition to a new work “card system” (time-and-motion style recording)—ignited a mass strike that spread across industries and states.
The Strike Defence Committee announced an end to the 1917 mass strike; however, significant groups (notably miners and waterside workers) continued to hold out longer, reflecting the scale and fragmentation of the dispute’s aftermath.
Violence erupted at Fremantle Harbour amid a waterside dispute over replacement labour, resulting in the death of unionist Tom Edwards and highlighting the volatility of waterfront industrial relations after World War I.
The 1919 Seamen’s Strike began, driven by rejection of an arbitration award and demands including improved wages, hours, and shipboard conditions; it became a major national industrial conflict with broad economic effects.
The 1919 Seamen’s Strike concluded after more than three months, marking one of the most significant postwar maritime disputes and reinforcing the strategic leverage of organised waterfront labour.
A sudden walkout by large numbers of Victorian police, protesting surveillance by “spooks” (supervisors), led to serious disorder and prompted major state action—an unusual strike involving a critical public service.
The Transport Workers Act 1928 received Royal Assent, creating a federal licensing system for waterfront labour that governments could use to control dock employment; it became central to late-1920s waterfront conflict.
During the 1928 waterside dispute at Port Adelaide, thousands of unionists surged onto the wharves and forced non-union labour from ships, underscoring intense conflict around waterfront awards and strikebreaking.
Following a federal award that reduced pay and increased weekly hours, timber workers launched a major stoppage—often cited as the first large strike after the onset of the Great Depression in Australia.
After miners rejected demands for wage cuts and tighter managerial control, employers locked out coalminers across the Northern NSW coalfields—setting the stage for prolonged confrontation and state intervention.
At Rothbury Colliery, clashes between locked-out miners and police during the 1929 coal dispute culminated in police gunfire that killed miner Norman Brown and injured many others—an infamous episode in industrial conflict.
Waterside workers at Port Kembla refused to load pig iron onto the SS Dalfram bound for Japan, protesting exports during Japan’s war in China; the dispute became politically charged and nationally prominent.
After weeks of confrontation and federal pressure, Port Kembla waterside workers ended the Dalfram dispute by loading the cargo “under protest,” while pressing the government for assurances about future shipments.
Industrial Relations and Major Strikes in the Federation Era (1901–1945)
