Changes Over the Years

It is around fifty years since I worked in the Outback of Queensland, and it is  interesting to compare wages.

Hours of work in my day was for as long as there was something that needed doing.  I spent four nights in a row on a bushfire out near Aramac, and when it came time to sleep, I couldn't.  A couple of good stiff OP rums cured that little malady.

A stationhand, who would just arrive at the station and ask for work was often accepted straight on, no questions asked.  A weekly wage of sixteen pound sixteen shillings and keep was the usual offer.  I make this $33.60.  There was no overtime pay.

You could get $40.00 a week and keep droving, and $39.90 as a shed hand.

The jackaroo of those days was usually the son of some grazier that wanted his offspring to be trained in the management of a properties.  They were pretending Silvertails, and  the ringers and others would not give the jackaroo much encouragement or compliments.

This is from the past, and one would hope that things are different now, but a common phrase or question "What is the difference between a Jackaroo and a kangaroo?" brought the answer: "A kangaroo jumps around and eats the bosses grass, a Jackaroo jumps around and licks the bosses ar....."

The wage of the Jackaroo or trainee manager/overseer was about a third of the ringers, something  like the equivalent to $11 per week and keep.

I see that today, the jackaroo and the jillaroo earn between $550 and $750 per week and keep.