Research dossier · History & Society

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007)

Australian government department, 2001-2007

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia

Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0

Source revisionAug 8, 2026

Entity authorityQ16834975 ↗

Source-derived summary

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (also called DEWR) was an Australian government department that existed between November 2001 and December 2007.

Scope

Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements, in the department's annual reports and on the department's website.

According to the Administrative Arrangements Order made on 26 November 2001, the department dealt with:

Employment policy, including employment services

Job Network

Labour market programs, including the Work for the Dole scheme

Workplace relations policy development, advocacy and implementation

Promotion of flexible workplace relations policies and practices

Co-ordination of labour market research

Australian government employment workplace relations policy, including administration of the framework for agreement making and remuneration and conditions

Occupational health and safety, rehabilitation and compensation

Equal employment opportunity

Work and family issues

Structure

The department was an Australian Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. The secretary of the department was Peter Boxall.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007)” as australian government department, 2001-2007. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Department, Employment and Workplace.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2001, 2007—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—2001, 2001-11-26—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Department, Employment and Workplace providing the first useful test.

Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007)”, the useful work is to connect “australian government department, 2001-2007” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16834975. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2001 and 2007.

Critical limits

Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for

Event chronology
Institutional context
Locating named record creators

Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

Establish the record: confirm the title “Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007)”, its source revision and the description used here.
Expand the search: follow Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007) primary sources, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007) archive and Department research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007)”?
Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?

Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007) history →Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007) primary sources →Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007) archive →Department research →Employment research →Workplace research →Relations research →

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001–2007)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.