Industrial development in Australia after World War II

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From the middle years of World War II – with the creation of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction in late 1942 – the Australian Government was giving consideration to how the country's economic and industrial resources could be successfully transformed from a war to a peacetime footing once hostilities had ceased.

The Division of Industrial Development

Responsibility for planning the needs for postwar industrial development lay with the Division of Industrial Development (CA 776) of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction. Originally the Secondary Industries Division, this division became a permanent body in 1948, and operated until 1956 when its functions were incorporated into the Department of Trade.

The Division of Industrial Development aimed to develop and expand secondary industry in postwar Australia in areas that included rural reconstruction, conversion of munitions and armament factories for other industrial uses, encouragement for an Australian car manufacturing industry, workforce training and employment opportunities and electricity supplies, fuel production and industrial technology. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Secondary Industries provided direction and support to the work of the division.

Records of the Division of Industrial Development

The administrative records of the Division of Industrial Development are held by the National Archives in Melbourne. Correspondence records series of the division (including those created by agencies that subsequently fell within the functional responsibility of the division) are listed below.

Searches using series numbers and narrowed by keywords relating to key subject areas of industrial development conducted on the RecordSearch database will identify record of interest.

Administrative records

Collection references
Title or description of record Date range Series number
General correspondence of War Organisation of Industry and Post-War Reconstruction 1941–46 MP1/1
Correspondence files 1941–52 MP61/1
General administrative and correspondence files 1941–52 MP98/1
General administrative and correspondence files 1941–52 MT105/8
Correspondence files with ’IC’ or ‘SI’ prefix (series relates to matters dealt with by industry advisory panels) 1942–47 B6571
General correspondence files – multiple number series 1942–56 MP188/1
General correspondence files – multiple number series 1942–56 MP219/1
Secret correspondence files 1942–56 MP208/1
General correspondence files of the Trade Services and Industries Branch 1942–58 MP267/1
General correspondence files of the Trade Services and Industries Branch 1942–58 MP394/1
General correspondence files of the Trade Services and Industries Branch 1942–58 MT412/1
Correspondence files of the Secondary Industries Division 1943–48 MT35/1
General correspondence (relates to Commonwealth factories disposal) 1946–55 MP271/1

Selected topics of interest

Use the information below to identify records about a number of selected topics dealt with by the Division of Industrial Development. Searches on RecordSearch using the item number stems shown in the table followed by an asterisk (eg ‘2/312/*’) will identify relevant files.

Postwar reparations
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Papers of the Inter-Allied Reparation Agency (IARA) 1946–49 B6572
Files relating to German reparations (plant allocations) 1946–53 MP252/1
General correspondence and administrative files Search for German reparations (files with numbers 2/312/*) or Japanese reparations (files with numbers 2/313/*) 1945–52 MT105/8
General correspondence and administrative files Search for German reparations (files with numbers 2/312/*) or Japanese reparations (files with numbers 2/313/*) 1948–51 MP61/1

German scientists in Australia
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Index to applications for employment by German scientists 1946–53 MP252/6
Correspondence files Files with numbers 1/6/* refer to German Scientists and the Employment of Scientific and Technical Enemy Aliens (ESTEA) program 1946–51 MP61/1
Correspondence files Files with numbers 1/6/* refer to German Scientists and the Employment of Scientific and Technical Enemy Aliens (ESTEA) program 1946–54 MT105/8

Post-war car manufacture
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files Files with numbers SI1944/108/* refer to postwar car manufacture 1941–46 B6571
General correspondence files – Trade Services and Industries Branch Files with numbers 5/18/* refer to postwar car manufacture 1940–58 MP394/1

Collection references
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Papers relating to the British Commonwealth Scientific Conference 1946–52 M252/4

Technical Industry Advisory Bureau
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Technical Industry Advisory Bureau reports 1946–49 MT105/10

Cabinet records

The records listed below are the set of Cabinet Sub-Committee on Secondary Industries papers maintained by the Division of Industrial Development. The set of agenda and decisions for this subcommittee maintained by Cabinet Office are held by the National Archives in Canberra as series A3995.

Collection references
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Miscellaneous papers relating to secondary industries (includes papers of Cabinet Sub-Committee on Secondary Industries) 1941–56 B6410
Agenda and decisions – Cabinet Sub-Committee on Secondary Industries 1945–49 MP271/1
Agenda – Cabinet Sub-Committee on Secondary Industries 1946–49 MP188/12