Discussion Poster No.34 - What The People Earn: How Australians Spent Their Income in 1947-48 - May 2 1949

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Type: Posters
Date: 2 May 1949
Place: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Materials: Ink, Paper
Collection: George W Barber collection
Accession number: 2009.0004.0002

Description

A colour print graphic poster in orange, black and white with text at the top right corner "WHAT THE PEOPLE / EARN". The poster is illustrated with black and white photographs of three coins forming statistical charts, and four figures representing different occupations, all arranged on a diagonal line. There is a tear at the top right corner of the poster.

About the collection

This collection consists of forty-six colour paper wall posters and one A5 paperback booklet, 'This Changing World: An Atlas of Current Events - No. 1: The Pacific', issued by the Commonwealth Office of Education between 1948 and 1950. The heavily-illustrated posters present simplified viewpoints about world and national events and were designed for group discussion in schools, adult education organisations, community organisations and private enterprise. The booklet is a ready reference to post-war social, political, economic and geographic data on nations in the Asia-Pacific region and Antarctica. The objects were salvaged from the Maryborough Technical School, Victoria, which provided classes for ex-service personnel under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme (1944-1950) as well as general vocational training. The Commonwealth Office of Education was created in 1945 under the Chifley Government as an agency of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction. The posters and booklet provide insight into a society undergoing profound change and embody official efforts to explain Australians' socio-economic and political position. Imaging an increasingly independent Australia forging a new role in the global and regional community, the collection documents the nation's industrial expansion and social restructuring at a time of full employment, a booming population and an increasingly sophisticated urban society. It also represents the Chifley Government's drive to stimulate post-war intellectual life and to reassert the concepts of democracy, egalitarianism and social justice. The posters additionally demonstrate contemporary ideas and techniques in pedagogy and graphic design.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:05:00 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-02-24. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.