The Impact of the National Stevedoring Industry Conference (1965-67) on Industrial Relations on the Australian Waterfront

Abstract

The Australian government established the National Stevedoring Industry Conference in 1965 in an attempt to both devise ways of improving the industry's disharmonious employment relationship and to prepare the waterfront for the introduction of containerisation. The Conference's task was not only to equip the industry with suitable arrangements for the new technological era, it was also to change the behavioural attitudes of both employees and employers. This paper examines the Conference's genesis, recommendations and subsequent impact on industrial relations in the decade following the implementation of its reforms in 1967.