About this season
From working the land, to digging up minerals, from manufacturing to the services industry, Yakka: Australia At Work explores how work has shaped Australia from the Second World War to the present.
Episodes (4)
1. Soil and Toil
Aired 21 November 2023 • 57 min
Explore how since the Second World War, Australian agriculture has had to adapt to survive in changing global and domestic economies, a volatile political landscape, and face the challenges of an unpredictable climate.
2. Making a Nation
Aired 28 November 2023 • 59 min
Explore how Australia was transformed from an agricultural economy into a manufacturing one & how this workplace revolution ended 40 years later amidst public acrimony, inflation, an oil crisis & the rise of the Free Market.
3. Groundbreakers
Aired 5 December 2023 • 57 min
Post-war Australia: the miner. From the 1949 coal miners' strike to the 'Axe the Tax' demonstrations in 2010, the Aussie miner has exerted huge political influence on the workplace and the country.
4. At Your Service
Aired 12 December 2023 • 56 min
The final episode is about the services industry and the workers who have created it, sustained it and now dominate it: Australian women.