Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 13—Industry overview 565
Introduction
This chapter starts with a short article
sketching the evolution of Australian
industry from the time of settlement. It then
presents an overview of the current structure and
performance of the main industrial components
of the Australian economy, and their relative
contributions to overall economic activity,
particularly in terms of production and
employment. Statistics are presented at a broad
industry level, generally equating to the Division
level of the Australian and New Zealand
Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC).
While the statistics presented in this chapter
provide the basis for comparisons across
industries, care should be taken when making
comparisons with data in the industry-specific
chapters. Differences in the frequency, scope,
statistical units and methodologies of the various
ABS collections used to compile the statistics will
affect the degree to which comparisons can be
made.
Table 13.1 shows each industry’s contribution to
production and employment in the economy.
Tables 13.2 to 13.5 provide more detailed
indicators of economic activity by industry over
the short and longer term. Each of these tables
includes data covering all businesses in the
economy. Table 13.6 provides the latest in a
selected series of performance indicators for each
industry, but its scope excludes non-employing
businesses and entities in the general
government sector.
The chapter concludes with a brief introduction
to the chapters on economic issues—on
Australia’s industries, on certain cross-cutting
issues, and on the macroeconomic perspectives.
The evolution of Australian industry
Australia’s economic development has been one
of contrast and change. In the early years of
settlement, between 1788 and 1820, there was
little scope for industrial or commercial
enterprises. The government, as both main
producer and main consumer, established
workshops to produce the basic necessities of
life—flour, salt, bread, candles, leather and
leather articles, blacksmith’s products, tools and
domestic items.
Between 1820 and 1850, the pastoral industry
led Australia’s economic development, and by
1850 it was supplying well over 50% of the
British market for imported wool. The growth in
the wool industry brought great advances in the
rest of the economy, with local manufacturing
industries being established in response to new
market opportunities. Gold surpassed wool as
Australia’s major export earner throughout the
1850s and 1860s, resulting in a rapid expansion
of banking and commerce. Increased public
works activity during the 1870s played an
important role in encouraging expansion in
manufacturing.
From 1901 to 1930 manufacturing expanded
further, with impetus from Federation and the
elimination of customs barriers between States,
and from the First World War. With the onset of
the Second World War, the Australian
manufacturing sector was sufficiently developed
and diversified to respond to the demand for
war materials and equipment. Key industries
expanded and new ones developed rapidly to
produce munitions, ships, aircraft, new kinds of
equipment and machinery, chemicals, textiles
and so on. After the war, all sectors of the
economy experienced growth. The onset of the
oil price rises in 1973–74 led the world into
recession, and ‘stagflation’ (inflation coupled
with slower growth in Gross Domestic Product
(GDP)) affected all sectors of the economy. The
modest employment growth between 1968 and
1979 was dominated by the service industries.
The 1980s and 1990s have seen a decline in the
relative contribution to GDP from
goods-producing industries and a rise in the
contribution from service industries. The falling
contribution from goods-producing industries is
largely the result of a decline in Manufacturing’s
share of GDP. The Mining, Manufacturing and
Electricity, gas and water supply industries have
all experienced declining employment, along
with outsourcing of some activities, particularly
support services.