Rae Frances | President's Column | Labour History, 89

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

I am very pleased to bring you the first 'President's Column', which aims to keep members of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH), including subscribers to Labour History, in touch with activities of the Society. This first column will also introduce members to the structure and functions of the Society as well as provide an update of recent activities.

Origins and Functions of the Society

The ASSLH was formed in 1961 and serves as an umbrella organisation for each of the regional branches, of which there are now seven: Sydney, Canberra, Illawarra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The Society acts as a lobby group on issues of concern to labour historians, such as being active in the establishment of the History Council of New South Wales, and in opposing the proposed closure of the Noel Butlin Archives of Business and Labour. Much of the regular business of the Society is carried out by the executive committee, known as the Federal Executive to distinguish it from the branch executives. This body, elected each year at the Society's Annual General Meeting in November, comprises the office-bearers (president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer), three ordinary committee members, and representatives of each of the Society's affiliated branches. The Federal Executive is responsible for managing the business activities of the journal, Labour History, which since 1986 has been based in Sydney, receiving financial support from the University of Sydney. The Federal Executive also oversees and supports the organisation of the biennial National Labour History Conference, which is sponsored by the affiliated branches on a rotating basis.

Recent Activities and Initiatives

Some of the more important recent developments include:

Foundation membership of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS). This is new peak body whose mission is to promote an appreciation of the value of the humanities, arts and social sciences in Australia, especially at the Federal Government level. It is based in Canberra and since its inauguration in June 2004 has been active in preparing submissions to government agencies on behalf of its member organisations.
Foundation membership of the International Social History Association. This organisation was formed in Sydney in July 2005. Membership is open to both individuals and organisations and currently has members based in France, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Sweden, the USA, Italy, Japan, Hungary, the UK and India as well as Australia. The President of the ASSLH is a member of the executive committee. The new organisation is planning a series of international forums on social history topics, including indentured labour and welfare history. Further details will be communicated in the journal as they come to hand.
Labour History: A major goal of the Federal Executive, and of the journal's Editor, Greg Patmore, and the Editorial Working Party, is the maintenance of a vibrant and viable journal. We are fortunate in that the journal receives financial support and office space from the Business and Labour History Group, School of Business within the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney. In 2001/02 we joined the History Co-operative, a non-profit online history resource run from the University of Illinois, and the journal's Editor has been actively involved in representing the Society's interests in this important forum of independent journal publishers. This co-operative provides on-line access to member journals, giving our journal a much higher international profile than ever before. The number of hits our journal receives each month has been steadily increasing. The latest figures show that August was our biggest month so far with 9,674 unique visits.
Website: For many years, the ASSLH has owned a website generously designed and maintained by former president and editor of Labour History, Terry Irving, with the assistance of his son, Nick. This website is in the process of re-design and will include improved links to branch sites. We encourage you to visit it at <www.asslh.org.au>.
Conferences: As many of you will be aware, the Ninth National Labour History Conference was held in Sydney in June/July this year, jointly organised by the Federal Executive and the Sydney Branch ASSLH with the support of Unions NSW and the Business and Labour History Group, School of Business at the University of Sydney. The next national conference will be held in Melbourne in 2007 under the auspices of the Melbourne Branch ASSLH. We are also planning to work with labour historians in New Zealand to organise a trans-Tasman labour history conference, possibly in early 2007.
Future Activities: In the current political and industrial relations climate, we are aware that there is a need for a greater appreciation of Australian labour history in order to effectively meet the challenges which lay ahead. Several branches have already organised conferences which seek to bring together academics and activists for a profitable sharing of knowledge and strategies. The ASSLH would like to take a more active part in this process of disseminating labour history in an accessible way to activists and the general public. We are working on several ideas ourselves but welcome suggestions from individuals and branches on this issue.

The Federal Executive is keen to foster greater interaction between branches and the Society. We hope that the more comprehensive website will contribute to this, but we plan to schedule Special General Meetings at future national conferences to provide a forum in which members outside the Sydney area can participate.


	*Rae Frances*

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