The Development of Incentive Payment Systems in Australian Manufacturing Industry, 1945–1970

Abstract

The issue of enterprise specific payment systems has been largely ignored by Australian industrial relations writers. Much of this has been based upon an assumption that arbitration has limited or precluded the development of these forms of payment. This article seeks to rectify this neglect by examining the extent and development of various workplace payment systems in manufacturing industry during the period from the end of the Second World War to the late 1960s. Far from being inconsequential, the paper concludes that various forms of performance related payments have indeed played a central role in Australian workplace industrial relations and that the extent of their application has been on a par with overseas experience.