The Historical Development of Human Resource Management in Australia

Abstract

The dominant corporate strategy pursued by public and private sector organisations in Australia has shifted significantly over the last forty years, and these shifts have had marked effect on the status of the personnel functions and on human resource management strategies and practices. Personnel has developed from a relatively minor 'housekeeping' and 'mind ing' function to playing a major contributing role in the design and implementation of corporate policy. In this paper the author presents a compact analytical review of this evolution.