How times have changed... and pay rates...

[Kev Murphy]

Friends son 17 was grizzling today about unemployment benefits..  He gets $233.60 per fortnight, living at home. (and loafing on the x-box for most of the day)

I sat back in my chair, and started reminiscing... "Lets see now, first of all, there was NO youth unemployment benefits back then... you went out and got a job! When I started my apprenticeship at 17, we were paid 3 pounds 6 shillings ($6.60) per week, that included 8 hours compulsory overtime on Saturdays. Then in our second year, that jumped to 4 pounds 2 shillings ($8.20)... 3rd year our pay rate went up to $20 per 48 hour week.. 4th year it was $36 per week, and we received full tradesman pay rate in our fifth year of $64.90 for Electrician Special Class (but only if we had attended electronics 1 & 2 classes at Tafe College 2 nights per week, 4 hours per night, for the final two years of our apprenticeship.)
Including compulsory overtime on Saturdays (48 hours, plus an additional 8 hours nights at Tafe) for a grand total of $129.80 cents per fortnight."

He went back into his room to the x-box, shaking his head....

Mind you, I did not elaborate about paying board, and OWNING a car and two motorbikes outright by the time I was 17... all on careful budgeting and not wasting money on video game disks, burgers and fizzy drinks, as he is apt to do. 

[Lionel]

I can't remember any of my mates who couldn't get a job when we left school in the sixties. I think there were more jobs than applicants in the good old days.
We had reps from banks, insurance companies, public service, Army, etc visiting our school trying to sell us a career with their institutions.
They must have been desperate to visit our school, Inala State High School.
I think the competition for jobs is a bit more fierce these days, which is a pity, particularly for our youth.
I started my "apprenticeship" in the Army in January, 1968 on $8 per fortnight, $10 in 1969, $27 in 1970 and $64 in 1971. We were not allowed to get married or drink alcohol but we were allowed to buy a car in our 4th year. Motorcycles were taboo.
We did get a uniform and board.

[Gadget]

When I started in the Army in 1980 it was $80 per fortnight with uniform and board included. This also included fortnighyly to monthly piquet duty of 2 hours on 4 hours off.
Now I'm earning around $60/hour.
I think inflation has a lot to do with it.

[Noffa]

I also joined the Army on the 14th Jan 1980 as an Army apprentice 35th class F&T, I can not remember the exact pay rate but after R&Q was taken out we were left with about $70 per forthnight. I would bank $50 and live on the rest. As an Army apprentice you didn't get much time to yourself in the first couple of years at Balcombe.

[Brock]

I know Balcombe well, I lived in the Village ( to the west of the creek) for 3 or 4 yrs in the mid 60s. My Old man was the Senior EDO at the time..

When I joined the RAAF in Feb 72, rookies pay was $36 a fortnight. That went up to about $50 when we  got to the next base for trade training..

[Kev Murphy]

When I got out of the Army in 1980 and commenced work (same day), my tradey wage jumped from $204 per fortnight to $176 per week, but there were other bonuses as well...had a company accommodation card if job was away from Melbourne for more than a day, (most of the time) but I used to sleep in my work van instead of using the card at a motel. Boss called me in after a few weeks as the card hadn't been used, and then quietly paid me a cash bonus in a separate envelope each week. Anywhere from $40 to $120, depending how many nights I was away from home. Two other workers had been milking the company by claiming extra hours for out of town jobs, and partying overnight in Motels. They were given local city jobs, and all the outlying works were funnelled to me. Stayed at that job for around 12 months until family obligations saw me move to the Gold Coast. Army Pay rates were so far behind, I still got backdated supplementary wage increases for 18 months after I left the Military.

[West Aussie Glen]

While in year 12 at school I received a letter from CSR Ltd dated 11th Nov 1969 accepting my application to do a Cadetship in Mechanical Engineering at the University of NSW subject to my HSC results getting me into uni. I was to start work on the 12th Jan on a starting salary of $164 per month (about $37.85 a week). As CSR held yearly salary reviews in December I then received a letter dated 19th Dec saying my starting salary would be $179 per month (about $40.31 a week). A nice Christmas present. For the first two years of my cadetship I did a fitting and turning apprenticeship while attending part time university which meant starting work at 7.00 am five days a week and two of those days had lectures from 2.00 to 5.00 and again from 6.00 to 9.00. It took a lot of will power to stay until 9.00 on a Friday night.
I went on to work for CSR for over 11 years until June 1981.

[alans1100]

Friends son 17 was grizzling today about unemployment benefits..  He gets $233.60 per fortnight, living at home. (and loafing on the x-box for most of the day)

I think that under the recent Newstart changes that being under 30 he may have to do 25 hours a week for work for the dole.

.................

My first job at age 16 (1971) was for the South Australian Railways for $21 a week with mum taking $7 a week. As a rail worker I had a 50 percent discount on travel but if you worked for what was then the state govt. bus company you got free travel. Just after age 18 I worked for Chrysler in 1973 for $80 plus shift allowances a week as adult rates came in for ages 18 and above.