Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 6—Labour 245
steadily, and by 1999 manufacturing accounted
for only 12% of total employment or 1,068,000
persons. Although the number of persons
employed in manufacturing had increased
almost three-fold over the century, the
proportion of total employment was almost
halved.
The composition of the manufacturing industry
itself also changed. Early in the century, textiles
and clothing manufacturing was the most
significant manufacturing activity in
employment terms, accounting for 34% of
employment in manufacturing in 1910–11. This
declined to 26% by 1920–21, to 15% by 1960–61,
and to 7% by 1999.
The other major manufacturing activity at the
beginning of the century was metals,
engineering and vehicles, with 22% of all
manufacturing employment in 1910–11. This
grew substantially to 44% of all employment in
manufacturing by 1943–44, and remained the
most significant manufacturing area with 37% of
all manufacturing employment in 1999.
Some industries remained quite static over the
course of the century in terms of their
employment share. These included the
transport and communication industry and the
building and construction industry, each
accounting for between 7% and 8% of total
employment throughout the century.
Service industries gradually grew in terms of
employment, to become the major employers at
the end of the century. In 1910–11 commerce
employed 13% of all employed persons,
increasing to 17% of total employment in
1960–61. Community and business services
accounted for 5% of total employment in
1910–11, increasing to 9% of total employment
in 1960–61. By 1999, persons employed in
wholesale and retail trade accounted for 21% of
total employment, property and business
services for 11%, health and community services
for 9%, and cultural, recreation, personal and
other services for 6% of total employment.
Other service industries such as finance and
insurance, and accommodation, cafes and
restaurants, employed smaller but still
substantial numbers of people in 1999.
Trade union membership
Trade union membership in Australia
experienced growth throughout much of the
twentieth century, followed by a decline in
membership over the latter part of the century.
Information on the number of trade union
members was first collected in 1912, when there
were 433,000 members, representing around
30% of all employees (graph 6.46). A relatively
rapid increase in trade union membership over
the following years resulted in the number of
trade union members more than doubling to
912,000 persons by 1927, or half of all
employees. Growth in the number of trade
union members continued, despite fluctuating
membership during the war years, to reach a
peak of over 2.1 million persons, or
approximately 60% of all employees, in 1961.
Trade union membership then began to decline
to just over half of all employees by the early
1970s.
6.46 TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP
%
70
20
1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999
Source: Labour Report 1912–1968; Employee Earnings, Benefits and
Trade Union Membership (6310.0) 1969–1999.
60
50
40
30