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:
8672.67a This document is a circular issued by the Victorian Department of Labour, Sustenance Branch, dated 27 March 1934, and addressed to Town Clerks and Shire Secretaries. It outlines the government's policy for administering the "work for sustenance" scheme under the Unemployment Relief (Administration) Act. The circular emphasises that a uniform policy should be applied across all municipalities to ensure consistent administration of relief work.
The circular instructs local authorities to take a strict approach toward unemployed men participating in relief work. Men who are considered capable of working but who refuse work or fail to perform satisfactorily are to be dismissed immediately, with arrangements made to cancel their sustenance payments. This reflects the government's intention to link welfare support directly to compliance with work requirements.
The document distinguishes between those who are unwilling to work and those who are physically or mentally unable to do so. Individuals deemed unfit for work are not to remain on work-for-sustenance projects. Instead, they are to receive assistance through other public assistance arrangements, with different procedures applying inside and outside metropolitan areas. Those capable only of light work are to be assigned suitable duties where available and paid at the higher sustenance rate; if no light work exists, they may remain on the lower sustenance rate.
The circular also establishes clear restrictions on workers' collective activities. It states that any man employed under the work-for-sustenance scheme who participates in Stop Work Meetings will be dismissed and have his sustenance cancelled. In addition, the previous practice of granting leave for delegates to present grievances through their organisations is abolished. Any complaints or representations must instead be made outside working hours, in line with the treatment of industrial disputes.
Finally, the Minister calls upon local councils to provide complete cooperation in enforcing these policies so that a reasonable level of efficiency can be maintained among men employed in return for sustenance. The circular concludes by noting that a copy has also been sent to the officer responsible for administering sustenance within each municipality, reinforcing the expectation that the policy be implemented consistently across Victoria.
