Historical information

Ballarat Trades Hall was part of the Intercolonial Trades Hall Congresses that were created for the purposes of collective organising within labour organisations. There were eight Congresses within Australia that regularly discussed:

- legislation of trade unions
- organisation of labour
- abolition of ‘Chinese and coolie immigration’
- Compulsory Court of Arbitration
- Employers Liability Act
- legalisation of the 8 hours system
- land nationalisation
- manhood suffrage
- direct representation of labour in Parliament
- appointment of working men on technical and other boards
- free compulsory and secular education by the state and regulation of apprentices.

Some of the resolutions passed related to:

- the Commonwealth Draft Bill
- assisted immigration
- payment to Members of Parliament
- single tax
- paid union organisers,
- minimum wage
- industrial federation.

Significance

The minutes and the Congress show BTLC's ongoing engagement with industrial , social and education matters on a wide scale.

Physical description

Paper