Historical information
Dr Michele Matthews has been a local and social historian for nearly three decades since she first used correspondence held by the then Bendigo City Council for her Honours thesis. She is an ardent advocate for the use of local history records to tell Victorian and Australian history from a grassroots perspective. Michele’s MA thesis, ‘A forgotten “Father” of Federation: Sir John Quick 1852‑1911’ (2003), and her PhD thesis, ‘Survivors, schemes, Samaritans and shareholders: the impact of the Great Depression on Bendigo and District 1925‑1935’ (2007), both drew heavily on Bendigo and district records.
Physical description
Michele Matthews Collection: PHD Research - Relief during the great depression
This item includes the following documents:
8672.42a The document is a formal report addressed to the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Bendigo, dated 7 July 1932, concerning how the Council should finance the implementation of the Unemployment Relief Act. The report explains that the Act requires municipalities to provide work for unemployed men receiving government sustenance. However, the authors note that there is considerable uncertainty about how the scheme will operate, including how many workers will be employed and how long the programme will be required. Because of these unknowns, they recommend that the Council initially plan for only one year of operation and review the arrangement at the end of that period.
The report estimates that the minimum weekly cost to the Council, excluding materials, would be approximately £65, amounting to an annual cost of around £3,380. Under the provisions of the Unemployment Relief Act, municipalities could obtain interest-free advances from the Unemployment Relief Fund, repayable over ten equal annual instalments. The authors therefore recommend applying for an advance of approximately £4,000 to cover the first year's costs, with annual repayments of about £400. Should the scheme continue beyond the first year, they advise seeking additional advances as required rather than borrowing more than initially necessary.
The report argues that funding the scheme directly from Council revenue would be less desirable. Because the Act prevented the dismissal of existing municipal employees as a consequence of relief work, normal maintenance spending could not be reduced to offset the new costs. As a result, financing the programme from municipal funds would likely require an increase in local rates of between 3d and 4d in the pound, placing an additional burden on ratepayers.
Finally, the report discusses proposed creek works being considered by the City Engineer. As these projects were regarded as permanent public works involving substantial expenditure, the authors recommend financing them through a longer-term loan under the Local Government Act rather than through the unemployment relief scheme. They also note that legislation before the State Parliament might soon allow advances for relief works, and suggest postponing a decision on this aspect until the Bill had been finalised. The report concludes with the signatures of the Town Clerk, City Treasurer, and City Engineer, indicating their joint endorsement of the recommendations.
