In the early years of the 20 th century, Australia offered the following working conditions...
- A guaranteed basic wage
- An eight-hour day (with a half-day on Saturday)
- A pension if he lived to 65 or over
- Assistance should he be disabled or unable to work before turning 65 years old
HOWEVER:
- Many factory workers worked in unsafe and unhealthy conditions
- Some factories were poorly ventilated, hot in summer and cold and damp in winter
- There were no safety regulations for the people employed to work on poorly maintained machinery
- Injuries were common
- Many factories were located in working-class areas and often polluted to air and waterways with chemicals and other waste
- Workers were not paid overtime
- Workers had no protection in times of short-term illness (no sick-leave from their employer)
- No unemployed benefits
SOURCE: Information taken from Oxford big ideas humanities 9 (Victorian curriculum)
