The Origin of Minimum Wage Determination in Australia: The Political and Legal Institutions

• Published in: 글로벌정치연구, 5(1) pp. 163 - 198
• Main Author: Bayari, Celal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 글로벌정치연구소 01.06.2012
• Subjects: 정치외교학
• ISSN: 2005-1352; 2671-8499

This paperdiscusses the establishment of the minimum wage determination process inthe early twentieth century Australia, following the institutionalisation of compulsoryindustrial arbitration between capital and labour. This processled to the 1907Harvesterjudgment whereby the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration decisiondetermined, for the first time, the amount of ‘fair and reasonable wage’ that theemployers were required to pay. The discussion focuses on the role of the state in thelabour market regulation, development of the related legislation, and the role played byJustice Henry Bourne Higgins. The paper briefly discusses theConciliation andArbitrationAct 1904 (Commonwealth), and the setting up of the Commonwealth Courtof Conciliation and Arbitration. There isa comparison of the nature of minimum wage lawdevelopments in otherAnglo-Saxon economiesand the paper drawsonthe historyof thestate involvement in the regulation of the economy. The minimum wage becameinstitutionalised in relation to the tariff protection of the Australian market from thetwentieth centuryonwards, and the analysis herein includesthe discussion of how tariffscontributed to the possibility of wage controls and labour market stability. KCI Citation Count: 0