Researching Arbitration Records: A Practical Workshop
It is something of an understatement to say that Australia’s arbitration system has shaped the country since Federation. It was more often than not the arena in which battles over fair pay and compensation, health and safety, gender and racial discrimination, and so much more, were fought.
The records created in this system offer historians far more than dry (though important!) lists of wage rates – they often contain rare and surprising evidence of the lives of working class people.
Yet arbitration records can be difficult to understand and access. This workshop brings together expert archivists and researchers to decode the records and their control systems. The registration page for the workshop allows participants to raise case studies and questions in advance.
Speakers:
Patrick Ferry, Assistant State Manager, National Archives of Australia
Jack Martin, Collections Manager, Public Records Office of Victoria
Caroline Pryor, union archivist (ASU, AMWU and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission)
Charles Fahey, historian, La Trobe University
For enquiries please contact Katie Wood or Rach Cottle, La Trobe PhD candidates.
(Cover Photograph: https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/npA28L61/LWDW8ooe8ZMa)
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