C Series Index
Encyclopedia
The C Series Index was a consumer price index
constructed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
in 1921 (back calculated to 1914) and discontinued in 1961. It was notable for its role in centralised wage bargaining in Australia, and for the indexation of working class wages over an extended period of time.
), and due to inflation the judgement required periodic updating to account for inflation.
. Wages were then adjusted by the C Series by the Court until 1953 when indexation was discontinued. After indexation of wages based on the C Series was discontinued, trade unions and employee associations maintained demands for C Series wage indexation or wage indexation in general into the late 1960s.
Consumer price index
A consumer price index measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI, in the United States is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as "a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of...
constructed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
in 1921 (back calculated to 1914) and discontinued in 1961. It was notable for its role in centralised wage bargaining in Australia, and for the indexation of working class wages over an extended period of time.
Adoption
Australia's Bureau of Statistics maintained an A Series Index of prices from 1912, back calculated to 1901, the date of Australian Federation. As a result of the 1920 Royal Inquiry into the Basic Wage the ABS developed the C Series Index of different price bundles. The importance of statistical price series was caused by the Australian basic wage, a conception of minimal requirements for a family of four or five, based on a single male unskilled wage earner, as given in the Harvester Judgement. The basic wage was a common component of almost all Australian workers' wages (supplemented in most cases by a margin paid for advanced skills by awardAward (Australian industrial relations)
An award is a ruling handed down by either Fair Work Australia or by a state industrial relations commission which grants all wage earners in one industry the same conditions of employment and wages....
), and due to inflation the judgement required periodic updating to account for inflation.
Adoption as a wage setting device
Despite being crafted as a result of a Royal Commission into basic wages, the C Series was only adopted by the courts as a basic wage adjusting measure in 1934 by the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and ArbitrationCommonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration
The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration is a defunct Australian court, which had jurisdiction to arbitrate interstate industrial disputes....
. Wages were then adjusted by the C Series by the Court until 1953 when indexation was discontinued. After indexation of wages based on the C Series was discontinued, trade unions and employee associations maintained demands for C Series wage indexation or wage indexation in general into the late 1960s.
Coverage
The C Series Index covered, "food and groceries, house rents (4 and 5-roomed houses), clothing, household drapery, household utensils, fuel, lighting, urban transport fares, smoking and some miscellaneous items."Emendation and discontinuance
The C Series was emended in 1936 to reflect changed living requirements. Notably, in the post war environment, the C Series was not adjusted until its discontinuance.See Also
- A Series Index
- B Series Index
- D Series Index
- Interim Retail Price Index
- Consumer Price Index (Australia)