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Employer Body entry Queensland Confederation of Industry (1976 - 1994)

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    Chart 5: State and Territory Employers' Federations and Chambers of Commerce and Manufactures
    Details

From
1976
To
1994
Functions
Employer (Peak Body)
Reference No
Unregistered

Summary

The origins of the Queensland Confederation of Industry can be traced back to the establishment of the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce in 1868 by local merchants seeking representation of their interests to the British colonial government in Sydney. Twenty years later, nationally coordinated, organised labour unions became a major influence in Australia, and Queensland employers recognised a need to counterbalance the power and influence of these trade unions by forming the Queensland Employers´ Federation in 1886. With the development of the strong regional economic centres which make Queensland a decentralised State, Employers´ Associations were also established in North Queensland (1915), Central Queensland (1911), and Mackay (1920). The growth of manufacturing activity in the late 19th century led to the formation of the Queensland Chamber of Manufactures in 1899.

These organisations continued to represent their separate constituencies until the mid 1970s, when the end of the long post-war boom and the confluence of a number of other national and international economic influences led the Queensland Chamber of Manufactures, the Queensland Employers´ Federation, the North Queensland and Central Queensland Employers´ Associations and the Mackay Employers´ Federation to merge in 1976 to form the Queensland Confederation of Industry [QCI]. QCI combined the strengths of an important lobbying and industry policy advisory role with the established authority and expertise of Queensland´s leading industrial relations advocates and advisers. It was also the first truly State-wide employer, business and industry body with offices throughout the State.

The Brisbane Chamber of Commerce and Industry was re-named the State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Queensland) in 1987. It merged with QCI and the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce in 1994 to form the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry [QCCI]. In April 2001, QCCI relaunched itself as Commerce Queensland.

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Title
Chart 5: State and Territory Employers' Federations and Chambers of Commerce and Manufactures
Type
Image

Details

Bruce A. Smith