Year 9 NSW » History » Australia and World War II » Government control

Topic : Government control

In this topic you will learn...

Chapter 1 : Conscription and manpower controls

Conscription is mandatory (compulsory) military service for a certain group of a country's citizens
The issue of conscription for Australia's military forces had been defeated in two plebiscites during World War I
Prime Minister John Curtin was opposed to conscription during World War I but when faced with a shortage of soldiers, he reconsidered conscription
Limited conscription had been used in the early years of World War II to recruit men to defend mainland Australia
Curtin proposed to use conscription for Australian troops in the south Pacific
In 1943, the Defence (Citizen Military Forces) Act 1943 (Cth) was passed, allowing Australian soldiers to serve in the Pacific, south of the Equator
The shortage of manpower was not limited to the military forces alone - the economy was suffering from a lack of labour
The Directorate (later Commission) of Manpower was created in 1942 and was overseen by John Dedman
Dedman appealed to women to start working in war factories, and cut down on non-war factory workers
As a result, there was a shortage of everyday items and the government was forced to introduce rationing of essential products

Chapter 2 : Censorship and propaganda

Chapter 3 : Rationing and other controls

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