2015

The Last State in the

Empire
HIS3MHI: Making History Final
Assessment

Today it is a quiet spot for an easy amble through a bush

reserve but Hustler's Reef Reserve is the site of the Bendigo
Goldfield's worst mining accident. The families of the seven
men killed there may have been the last in the Australian
states to be left outside a legal system of compensation.

Figure 1: Headstone of Frederick James Chinn, died 02 May 1914. Image: NMJoyce, 2015.

NATASHA MARIE JOYCE

La Trobe University
10/19/2015

THE LAST STATE IN THE EMPIRE

On a small hill in North Bendigo, seven stone slabs

fan out around the head of an old mine shaft. In the
centre a modern bronze plaque is carefully positioned,
upon which is listed the names of seven dead men. The
plaque and a few broken slabs of cement are all that
reminds as a public memorial for seven gold miners
who died over a century ago, a thousand feet below.

Figure 2 (and above) Public memorial to victims of Great Extended Hustlers

Mine disaster. Images NMJoyce, 2104.

At the opposite end of that scrubby block of land

stands a rough cube of granite. It bears a similar
plaque, this one for the hundreds of women who lost
their husbands to gold mining on Bendigos Goldfields.
Two thousand people died in mining related accidents
on these fields, the last as recently as 2001. i Thousands
others were left maimed and diseased, unable to earn
a living.
In May 1914, at the time of the Great Extended
Hustlers Reef Mine disaster Victoria remains the last
state in Australia with no workers compensation
system in place. Although the legislation is finally
passed in February 1914, it is not made active
pg. 2

(gazetted) until November. Consequently, the families

of the seven men killed in the worst industrial accident
on the Bendigo Goldfields are left with no means of
support unless they sue for it.
Immediately following the accident, newspapers are
filled with intimate details of the dead miners, family
grief and inquest reports. However as time moves on,
the overwhelming number of reports reflect the
intense fundraising efforts of the community. For
months after the disaster, entertainments are
advertised and subscriptions are published, while state
politicians use their positions in Parliament to bemoan
the lack of legal compensation available.
A century later in a new millennium, health and
safety has become the catch-all phrase for the
complex rules and regulations seemingly enforced to
prevent worker death and injury. However, such
regulations are equally focussed on the cost of
insurance premiums and are mocked in the media for
creating a molly-coddling nanny-state preventing the
advancement of business interests. ii The complexity of
systems of workers compensation is by no means a
recent development, but Victoria is particularly slow to
respond to current trends.

Figure 3: All newspaper clippings and headlines from Bendigo Advertiser in

weeks directly following disaster.

An Awful Accident
Late at night on Saturday May 2nd, 1914 an explosion
on the 13th level - 1053 feet underground (or 321
metres) - kills all seven men working on that level, and
a further seven men working in the levels below are
injured. The newspapers are overflowing with details.
From descriptions of the corpses in the morgue to the
sobs of a new widow, every aspect is recorded. The
description in Mondays paper is graphic:
The sight of the seven bodies at the morgue was
ghastly. They were still in their working clothes, or
rather, what had not been blown away by the
explosion; still begrimed by the black dust that adhered
to them during their work where the flesh had not
been reddened by blood. The bruised and battered
bodies, with feet twisted and broken bones projecting
through the flesh, were lying in sawdust. iii
While the reporting appears macabre it is also
transparent. As soon as the accident is reported,
subscriptions to a Families Relief Fund begin to flow.
Every donation, from offers of practical support from
the Melbourne Stock Exchange to a lecture night in
Axedale that collects and passes on 1/15, is faithfully
recorded:
A generous and modest shareholder in the
Great Extended Hustler's Company living at
California Gully has fulfilled his promise...that
he would contribute the whole of his share of
this week's dividend from the mine towards
the relief fund. Yesterday his cheque for 11/5
duly came to hand... Would there were more
like him. iv
The same article simply notes that the Chinese
community of Kangaroo Flat and Golden Square sent in
a substantial aggregate collection yesterday which is
also acknowledged with appreciation. v
4000 is raised by the community and administered by
Sandhurst Trustees for distribution to families. For all
this public generosity, where is the mining company
and what is its legal obligation? As it turns out, thanks
to a delay in administrative bureaucracy, the families of
the dead and those incapacitated have limited legal
recourse.

pg. 3

We in Victoria have waited a long time

A union meeting in the week following the accident
noted that a deputation had met with the Minister for
Mines in response to the the terrible fatality in the
hope that the Minister would come to the conclusion
that check inspectors were needed:
If check inspectors had been appointed, the
accident might not have happened many of
the accidents in the Bendigo mines would have
been prevented... [and] would be in the
interests of the mine owners as well as the
men. vi
Despite discussions about the introduction of
Victorias own Compensation Act beginning almost
immediately after the expiration of the Employers
Liability Act (see boxed timeline next page), ongoing
parliamentary debate prevented its passage for almost

16 years. While the legislation was passed in February

1914, it was not gazetted until November. On the
second reading of the bill, Joseph Sternberg
prominent Bendigo representative in the State
Legislative Council noted that we in Victoria had
waited a long time for a bill [that] recognised the fact
that men... should be dealt with under humanitarian
conditions. vii Local MLA Mr A.J. Hampson made his
opinion clear in parliament a few days after the
disaster:
Had the Act, which was passed last February
been gazetted, the onus of insuring these men
would have rested with the Great Extended
Hustlers Company. Victoria was the last state
in the British Empire to pass a Workers
Accident Compensation Act. The one just
passed is certainly one of the best, and it is
regrettable that any time should be lost in
making it effective. This calamity should bring
home to the directors of the Great Extended
Hustlers company their moral obligation to
render adequate monetary aid, which, if the
Workers' Accident Compensation Act had been
gazetted, would have been a legal
responsibility." viii

Figure 5: Workers at Great Extended Hustler's Reef mine, c 1914. Punch

pg. 4

The mine did eventually render monetary aid, but not

until well after community efforts raised almost double
the mines contribution (more on this later).

Fig4: Wood Carving of men working the Great Extended Hustlers Reef
quartz line in Bendigo, c 1880. (Ebenezer and David Syme) State Library of
Victoria.

Ancient History
Australian workers compensation originated in
nineteenth century British law. Before the
implementation of modern workers compensation
arrangements, an injured workers only means of
receiving compensation was to sue their employer for
negligence.
The compensation of workers for injuries incurred in
the workplace is a practice that dates to approximately
2050 B.C. in ancient Samaria. ix Ancient systems of
payments for loss of body parts were gradually
replaced as the feudalism of the Middle Ages saw
compensation decided at the will of the local lord and
changed again with the development of English
common law in the Renaissance. x
The common law system across Europe and America
came to rely on a combination of employer defences
that made it particularly difficult for an employer to be
found culpable for the death or injury of a worker. If a
worker was in any way at fault then contributory
negligence applied and the employer was not liable. If
injury or death resulted from the action of another
worker, the employer was not liable. If it was a
dangerous job, it was assumed the worker knew it was
a dangerous and thus the employer was not liable. xi

becoming the last Australian state to introduce

legislation in 1914. xii

Workers Compensation Timeline xiii

1838
1880
1884
1897
1900
1902

Modern History
The Industrial Revolution saw the introduction of more
specific systems of compulsory compensation
insurance funds. In 1838, the Prussian railroads
became legally responsible for most injuries to workers
and passengers and in 1884 the German government
introduced the Accident Insurance Bill.
In 1880 the United Kingdom had introduced a bill that
gave workers the right to sue their employer but it
proved to be little more than a system that tied up the
courts in costly cases. By 1897 the United Kingdom
introduced its own Workingmans Compensation Act as
a no fault system.
The first compensation law in Australia was introduced
in South Australia in 1900 while Victoria lagged behind,

pg. 5

1905
1910
1910
1914

PRUSSIA
Statute covers injured railroad workers

UNITED KINGDOM
Employer's Liability Act gives workers right to
sue.

GERMANY
Accident Insurance Bill

UNITED KINGDOM
Workingman's Compensation Act

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Workmen's Compensation Act

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Worker's Compensation Act

QUEENSLAND
Worker's Compensation Act

NEW SOUTH WALES

Workmen's Compensation Act

TASMANIA
Workmen's Compensation Act

VICTORIA
Workmen's Compensation Act

Proposed distribution

CURRENT AUSTRALIAN WORKERS

COMPENSATION ARRANGEMENTSxiv
Australian schemes are no fault meaning an injured
worker does not have to prove that the employer did
some something wrong to cause injury.

A compulsory levy is imposed by government on

employers to fund their potential liabilities associated
with injured workers. Those eligible may be provided
income replacement and coverage of medical costs.

To receive compensation the worker mut be an

employee, with a diagnosed medical condition that
arose out of or in the course of employment, who has
suffered a financial loss.

Approximately 90% of the Australian workforce is

covered by a workers compensation scheme.
Compensation can include income replacement, medical
treatment, rehabilitation, death benefits or lump sum
payments for permanent impairment.

In 2009-10, the total amount paid by workers

compensation schemes was $7.3 billion. In 2008-2009
the total cost to the economy was estimated to be $60.6
billion, or 4.6% of the GDP. (REF SAFEWORK)

pg. 6

All those killed had at some stage been a member of

the Bendigo Miners Association (herein referred to as
the union). The unions Watson Benevolent Fund
bequeaths 100 to eligible families of those who die in
mining accidents. At the time of the explosion only two
men, William Ryan and Leslie Martin, are up to date
with their dues. In fact they pay them the day before
the accident, to steward T. Trevorah. Two others,
William Blair and Frederick Chinn, pay Trevorah some
of what they owe but still have two weeks fees
outstanding. The remaining men were not members at
the time and so, only Ryan and Martins families are
eligible to receive the 100 bequest.
When it comes time to distribute the funds raised from
community efforts, controversy arises at the
suggestion that the families of the union men should
receive an adjusted lower amount to allow for them
having already received support from the union. The
Advertiser however sees no reason for such distinction:
It would be a shame if the families of the men
who would not join the [union]were to
receive more money from the relief fund than
the families of those men who had regularly
paid their subscription to the association for
years. xv
Allowing for marriage status and children the final
figure is equal. Fathers (not mothers) and wives alike
are paid a standard 1/10 to be paid per week for the
life of the fund, plus an extra 5 shillings for each child
(see list on page 7). According to local historian John
Kelly, the fund is expected to last just six years but
good management and investment...meant the funds
lasted...until June 1922. xvi
Ten days after the accident the families meet with the
mining company, where they learn that:
...aided by the insurance company to the
extent of 1000 [the company] had decided to
give the relatives 2100. Of course, the
company admits no liability in making the
payment, whilst the families, in taking the
money, regard the matter as ended. xvii
The Martin familys son was the youngest of those
killed tragically the second to be killed in such
circumstances and an unmarried union member. The
mine grants his parents 200. The only other similarly
unmarried was the non-financial union member Chinn
(Figure 1, cover page). His family

Leslie Martin, 23
Martin was buried with his older brother Murdock, who died 9 years
earlier in a rock fall at the Clarence United Mine. He was just 18. Murdocks
union membership meant Martins death was the second time in a decade
that parents Murdock Snr and Jean would receive 100 from the union.
Murdock Martin (Snr.) recvied 100 from the union benevolent fund, 200
from the mine and 1.10 per week from the Families Relief Fund.

William Ryan, 26
Ryans father John had died only three months before the explosion.
Ryan left behind his wife Gertrude and mother Jessie. A year later,
Gertrude returned to her home town Adelaide to remarry.
Gertrude recieved 100 from the union 300 from the mine, 1.10 pw
FRF.

Frederick James Chinn, 26

Chinn was the born in Bendigo in 1888, and was the eighth
child of Annie and James.
James recieved 245 from the mine and 1.10 pw FRF.

Matthew Forester, 28
Foresters wife Maud was left with their two children Irene and
Eric. Although she remarried two years later and moved to
Collingwood, she eventually returned to Bendigo to be buried
with Forester.
Maud recieved 340 from the mine and 1.25 pw FRF.

Herbert John Thomas, 30

Thomas was just eight years younger than his father John had been
when John was killed in 1892 in an explosion at the same mine 1000ft
deeper. Thomas was 15 and had four siblings when his father died. His
wife Ethel was left with their three children Leslie, John ad Henry.
Ethel received 340 from the mine and 1.25 pw FRF.

John Henry Campbell, 31

The explosion left Campbells wife Margaret widowed with two
children, John and Mary. Seven weeks after her husbands
death, Margaret delivered their daughter Ida. Ida died and was
buried with John just five years later.
Margaret received 340 from the mine and 1.25 pw FRF.

William Crowther Blair, 40

Blair's death left his gravely ill wife Catherine with three children:
Margaret, Frank & Harold. Harold was also very ill and died two weeks
later. Blairs coffin bearers included explosion survivor John Bawden
and the union rep who had collected his dues T. Trevorah.
Catherine recieved 345 from the mine and 1.20 pw FRF.

Victims listed by age and showing distribution of funds from Union Watson Benevolent Fund; 4000 from community-raised.
Families Relief Fund, distributed at rate of 1.10 pw widow/father + 5s each child; and 2100 from the mine. xviii
pg. 7

received 245. The childless widow of union member

Ryan is granted 300 and the remaining, non-unionised
families are all paid 340, except that of Blair. The mine
granted Blairs widow 345. Her infant son Herbert
died of colitis a few day later.
Had the Workmens Compensation Bill been
active at the time of the accident, the widows
would have received approximately 374
each. xix

15. Australia-wide, 53 men died in mining accidents

that year. A century later, in the same year that the
federal government opened a Royal Commission into
Trade Union Corruption and Governance, 12 miners
were killed. Targeted for investigation by the
Commission are mining union health and safety
representatives the modern day equivalent of the
check inspectors sought from the Minister for Mines
following the Great Extended Hustlers Reef disaster.
10 have been killed in the mining industry this year.

Seven men survived the explosion and were rescued

within hours. One of those rescued was John Bawden,
who gave evidence at inquest. He was left
incapacitated by the inhalation of heavy fumes and
joined union rep T. Trevorah as a coffin bearer for
William Blair. The medical certificate from Dr. P.J.
Rockett stated that Bawden suffered from the effects
of the fumes and shock, and would in his opinion
never be able to resume active work of any
description. xx He received 50 from the Families Relief
fund. There are no records of any payment being
disbursed by the union or the mine.

One hundred years later

In addition to the seven men killed at the Great
Hustlers Extended Mine Disaster, in 1914 three more
miners were killed in Bendigo and 15 in total in Victoria

John Kelly, A Bereaved City. (Golden Square, Vic., 2002), 40.

Koziol, M, 'Nanny state rules making Australia 'world's dumbest nation': Tyler Brl'. The Sydney Morning Herald, 2015.
iii
'The Victims'. Bendigo Advertiser 4 May 1914, p. 7.
iv
'Extended Hustler's Disaster: Nearly 2000 collected'. Bendigonian, 24 May 1914, p. 14.
v
Ibid.
vi
Miners Association Meeting. Bendigo Advertiser, May 8 1914, p. 5.
vii
'Workers' Compensation Bill'. 07 November 1914, p. 8.
viii
Workmens Compensation Act. Bendigo Advertiser, 5 May 1914, p.7.
ix
Grant Guyton, A Brief history of Workers Compensation, The Iowa Orthopaedic Journal, 1999, p.107.
xx
ibid.
xi
Ibid.
xii
The Territories are not considered in this assessment due to the Federal nature of the relevant legislation applied.
xiii
Graphic by author, source SafeworkAustralia.com
xiv
Ibid
xv
'Extended Hustler's Disaster: Relief Funds Growing' Bendigo Advertiser, 9 May 1914, p.7
xvi
Kelly, 2002, p.46
xvii
Extended Hustler Disaster, Bendigo Advertiser, 12 May 1914.
xviii
'Bendigo Disaster Fund'. Age 24 1914, p. 11
xix
Workers Compensation Act, Bendigo Advertiser, 5 May 1914.
xx
Kelly, 2002, p. 49.
ii

pg. 8

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pg. 9

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pg. 10