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constitutes an important landmark in the development of the federal system of industrial arbitration. The powers and influence of the federal arbitration tribunals have grown immensely since their establishment more than half a century ago and now dominate the policy of the whole Australian arbitration system. For example, .the federal tribunals in effect largely determine wage standards for the economy as a whole. This follows from the fact that these tribunals not only directly determine standard rates of pay for about 40 per cent, of all employees in Australia but that the various State tribunals have usually followed federal wage decisions fairly closely, except in regard to basic wage cost of living adjustments, since 1953. Yet in spite of their pre-eminence at the present time, the powers and functions of the federal tribunals have always been rigidly circumscribed by the nature of the industrial powers which were conferred upon the Federal Parliament by the Australian constitution. Thus their jurisdiction is limited to dealing with industrial disputes extending beyond the boundaries of any one Australian State, and by the methods of conciliation and arbitration. As originally conceived, the Commonwealth Arbitration Court, which was of course until quite recently the principal federal agency, would deal with a few major disputes of national importance only, leaving the remainder to be dealtr with by the State authorities. During the early years of its operation these initial limitations were aggravated by an unduly restrictive policy of the High Court towards the extension of Commonwealth powers generally. The years since the end of the first World War, however, have witnessed a remarkable extension of the incidence and influence of awards of the federal tribunals. Partly this was due to ihe emer-
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