Metrication in Australia - History

History

Although there was debate in Australia's first Parliament after federation to consider adopting the metric system, metric units first became legal for use in Australia in 1947 when Australia signed the Metre Convention (or Convention du Mètre). However, Imperial weights and measures were most commonly used until the Commonwealth government began the metric changeover in the 1970s. In 1960, SI units were adopted as a worldwide system of measurement by international agreement at the General Conference on Weights and Measures. The metre, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, candela and mole were defined as base units in this system and units formed from combinations of these base units were known as "derived units". SI units were subsequently adopted as the basis for Australia's measurement standards, whereby they were defined as Australia's legal units of measurement.

In 1968, a Select Committee of the Australian Senate examined metric weights and measures and came to the unanimous conclusion that it was both practical and desirable for Australia to change to the metric system. Some of their considerations included the "inherent advantages of the metric system" that meant that weighing and measuring was facilitated, "often with substantial increases in efficiency". Educationally, the reform would "simplify and unify the teaching of mathematics and science, reduce errors, save teaching time and give a better understanding of basic physical principles". In 1968, more than 75% of Australia's exports went to metric countries, and at that time it was noted that all countries except the United States were metric or were converting to the metric system. It was also noted that because of Australia's large migrant program, more than 10 per cent of people over 16 years of age had used the metric system before coming to Australia. They also noted that school students were widely familiar with the metric system because it had been taught in the schools for many years.

By 1968, metrication was already well under way in Australian industry. The pharmaceutical industry had metricated in 1965 and much of the electronics and chemical industries worked in metric units. One of the country's major automobile manufacturers had already declared its intention to metricate before the Government announced its decision to change to the metric system. "The change itself provided a unique opportunity to rationalise and modernise industrial practices and bring Australia's technical standard specifications into accord with those adopted internationally."

In 1970, the Parliament of Australia passed the Metric Conversion Act, which created the Metric Conversion Board to facilitate the conversion of measurements from imperial to metric. A timeline of major developments in this conversion process is as follows:

• 1971 – the Australian wool industry converted to the metric system.
• 1972 – all primary schools were teaching the metric system alone. Many had been teaching both imperial and metric and later, metric alone since Australia changed to the decimal currency system in 1966. Horse racing converted in August 1972 and air temperatures were converted in September 1972.
• 1973 – all secondary schools were now using the metric system.
• 1974 – large scale conversion across industries, including packaged grains, dairy products, eggs, building, timber, paper, printing, meteorological services, postal services, communications, road transport, travel, textiles, gas, electricity, surveying, sport, water supply, mining, metallurgy, chemicals, petroleum and automotive services. Most beverages, aside from spirits, also converted to metric units by the end of 1974. The conversion of road signs took place in July 1974. There was a publicity campaign to prepare the public.
• 1977 – all packaged goods were labelled in metric units, and the air transport, food, energy, machine tool, electronic, electrical engineering and appliance manufacturing industries converted.
• 1987 – The Real estate industry converts to metric.
• 1988 – Metrication is completed with the metric system becoming the only system of legal measurements in Australia.

The Metric Conversion Board spent A$5.955 million during its 11 years of operation, and the federal government distributed $10 million to the states to support their conversion process. The cost of metrication for the private sector was not determined but the Prices Justification Tribunal reported that metrication was not used to justify price increases.

Opposition to metrication was not widespread. The Metric Conversion Board did not proceed with education programs as polling revealed that most people were learning units and their application independently of each other, rendering efforts to teach the systematic nature of the metric system unnecessary and possibly increasing the amount of opposition.

The Metric Conversion Board was dissolved in 1981, but the conversion to the metric system was not completed until 1988. Between 1984 and 1988, the conversion was the responsibility of the National Standards Commission, later renamed the National Measurement Institute. In 1987, real estate became the last major industry to convert, and, in 1988, the few remaining imperial units were removed from general use.

Restrictions of volume and weights that had previously compelled manufacturers to package products to rounded imperial sizes despite metric labelling, for example packaging a soft drink can as a rounded 13 imp fl oz but labelling it as 375 ml, were removed in 2008.