Bill Robbins
Office location: Albury
Consultation times: Monday 10-11; Wednesday 3-4; Thursday 4-5.
Full mail address: CSU POBox 789, Albury, NSW 2640
Telephone: 19808 (internal)
Fax: 19878 (internal)
Email: wrobbins@csu.edu.au
Qualifications:
PhD (UNSW) MEc (Monash) BEC (Hons) (Monash)
Brief Professional biography:
Bill has worked in higher education, in small business and with a large, federal trade union. He has extensive teaching experience in the broad disciplines of management, industrial relations and human resource management. He has completed research into unfair dismissal laws, the impact of individual contracts and AWAs, labour force controls, regional employment and development, convict labour management history as well as the evolution of Australian wage determination.
Teaching:
He teaches undergraduate, honours and post graduate students.
Admin responsibilities
He is an Associate Head of the School of Business, is a member of the Faculty’s Research & Higher Degrees Committee and is the co-ordinator of the Faculty’s Management Research Group.
Recent Research
Books
- Robbins, B. and Wallace, D. (1992.) The Family Business. The Business Library. Melbourne. pp iv-200. ISBN1-86350-099-5
Books chapters:
- Robbins, W.M. ‘The Four Docs – The Qualitative Interpretation of Four Historical Documents’ in Whiteford, G. (ed) (2003) Qualitative Research and Interpretive Practice. Charles Sturt University, Bathurst.
- Robbins, W M. “Contested Terrain: The Convict Task Work System 1788-1830” in Markey, R. (ed) (2001) Labour and Community. University of Wollongong Press, Wollongong.
Refereed Journal Articles
- Robbins, W. M. ‘Re-writing the origins of the job description in the history of Australian human resource management’, Labour History, No. 96, May 2009.
- Robbins, W. M. & Harriss, I. ‘A Theatre of Words and Wages; reading the script of the Harvester hearing.’ Labour History November 2007.
- Robbins, W.M. ‘Spatial Escape and the Hyde Park Barracks’ in Journal of Australian Colonial History. Vol. 7. 2005. Robbins, W.M. & Voll, G. ‘The Case for Unfair dismissal Reform: A Review of the Evidence’ in Australian Bulletin of Labour. Vol. 31 No. 3. 2005.
- Robbins, W.M. & Voll, G. ‘Unfair Dismissal Laws and Small Business: a Regional Survey’ in Journal of SEAANZ Vol. 13, No. 2, 2005.
- Robbins, W M. “The Supervision of Convict Gangs in New South Wales 1788-1830” Australian Economic History Review. Vol.44, No.1, March 2004.
- Robbins, W M. “Management and Resistance in the Convict Work Gangs 1788-1830” in Journal of Industrial Relations Vol.45, No.3, Sept 2003.
- Robbins, W.M. “The Lumber Yards: A Case Study in the Management of Convict Labour 1788-1832” in Labour History Number 79, November 2000. (DETYA Collection 2000).
Refereed Conference papers:
- Robbins, W.M. ‘Australia’s First Job Descriptions’ in AIRAANZ Diverging Employment Relations Patterns in Australia and New Zealand Proceedings of AIRAANZ Conference 2007, 7-9th February 2007, University of Auckland.
- Robbins, W.M. ‘Student Workers and Trade Unions: a preliminary report of findings’ in AIRAANZ Diverging Employment Relations Patterns in Australia and New Zealand Proceedings of AIRAANZ Conference 2007, 7-9th February 2007, University of Auckland.
- Robbins, W.M. ‘Old or New Human Resource Management? the management of convict labour in New South Wales1788-1830’, International Employment Relations Association Conference (IERA), Canterbury, UK, July 2007.
- Robbins, W.M. ‘Learning to Work: Australian university students and the growth in their paid employment’ International Employment Relations Association Conference (IERA), Canterbury, UK, July 2007.
- Robbins, W.M. & Dodd, C. ‘Degrees of Work; trends and implications for the management of university students in paid employment’ Australian Universities Community Engagement Alliance Conference (AUCEA) Alice Springs, July 2007.
- Robbins, W.M. & Harriss, I. ‘From Harvester to Work Choices’ Labour History Association Conference, Melbourne, July 2007.
- Robbins, W.M. ‘Macquarie, Marsden and the Sunday Muster Dispute: Some thoughts on the role of religion and the management of convict workers’ in Pocock, B., Provis, C. & Willis, E. (eds) (2006) 21st Century Work: High Road or Low Road? Proceedings of 20th Conference AIRAANZ, Adelaide, Feb 2006.
- Robbins, W.M. and Macklin, R. ‘Fairness, the Work Choices Act and HR Practices’ in Proceedings ACREW/KCL Conference, H. De Cieri, A. Bardoel, R. Barrett, D. Buttigieg, A. Rainnie, K. McLean (eds) (2006) ‘Socially Responsive, socially responsible approaches to employment and work. July 1- 4 2006, Monash University/Prato Italy.
- Robbins, W.M ‘Managing Undergraduate Work and Study Some preliminary findings of a survey of undergraduate paid employment’ in Proceedings of International Business Research Conference, Victoria University, Melbourne, November 2006.
Non Refereed Journal Articles
- Robbins, W. M. ‘Australia’s First Workplace Revolution’ Sydney Morning Herald 8th November 2007.
- Robbins, W.M. and Voll, G. “Who’s Being Unfair?” Australian Financial Review. 21 November 2004.
Public Lectures
- Debauchery, Riot and the Strike: new perspectives on the management of Convict Labour in NSW 1788-1830. Albury 2003, Bathurst 2004
- Australia’s First Workplace revolution: the Harvester Basic Wage Case, 1907: Albury October 2007. Fair Wages and the Living Wage in Australia, Albury, Trades and Labour Council Annual Dinner, October 2009.
Research Grants:
2009
Pending
Project Title: Billy Hughes, A B Piddington and the Politics of the Basic Wage, 1920
Research Funding Application: Australian Prime Ministers Centre, Old Parliament House, Research Fellowship
Research Team: Bill Robbins
Funds Sought: $16,000
Received
Project title - Measuring the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Small and Medium Enterprises in the Regional
Economy of Albury Wodonga
Research Funding Application: ERD.
Research Team: Bill Robbins, Ian Coghlan, Dianne McGrath, Daniel Murphy and Sue Petzke.
Business Partners: Business Enterprise Centres (BEC) Albury/Wodonga, Albury and Wodonga Chambers of Commerce.
Funds Awarded: $5,000.
Project Title: “What advice do small businesses really want?”
Research Funding Application: Faculty of Business Seed Grant
Research Team: Sue Petzke, Ian Coghlan, Bill Robbins.
Business Partners: Business Enterprise Centres (BEC) Albury/Wodonga, Albury and Wodonga Chambers of Commerce.
Funding Awarded: $3,000.
2008
ARC Discovery Development Grant, CRGT – Piddington Basic Wage Inquiry and 1931 Basic Wage Reduction Case.
Research Team: Bill Robbins and Ian Harriss
Funding Awarded: $5,000
Outcome: construction of ARC application, generation of further research materials
2006
Project Title: Piddington Basic Wage Inquiry,
Research Funding: Faculty of Commerce Research Seed Grant
Research Team Dr W M Robbins and Dr Ian Harriss
Funding Awarded:$3000
Outcome: 3 journal articles and 2 conference papers under preparation
2004
Project Title: Albury Wodonga and Region Employment Survey
Research Funding: Albury Wodonga Business and Albury and Wodonga City Councils
Research Team: Dr W M Robbins, Mr D. Murphy and Ms Sue Petzke
Funding Awarded: $37,500
Outcome: 1 refereed conference paper, 1 consultancy report
Research Title: An Historical Study into the federal industrial tribunal’s role in reflecting, reproducing and
transforming values in Australian society and organisations.
Research Funding: Faculty of Business Seed Grant
Research Team: Drs W.M Robbins & Ian Harriss
Funding Awarded: $2000
Outcome: 1 conference paper and 1 refereed article – A Tier
Project Title: Making History: the making of the Harvester decision
Research Funding: Faculty of Business Seed Grant
Research Funding: RIPPLE
Research Team: Drs Robert Macklin, W.M Robbins & Ian Harriss
Fund Awarded: $2986
Outcome: two refereed conference papers, 1 refereed journal article – A Tier
Project Title: University Student Employment Survey
Research Funding: Faculty of Commerce Research Seed Grant
Research team: Dr W M Robbins
Fund Awarded: $2000
Outcome: conference paper and refereed article – A Tier
Professional associations, professional activities and consultancies:
- Executive member of Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ) 2003-2009.
- Chair, HotHouse Theatre 1996-2009.
Areas of research interest:
- Industrial Relations of small and regional businesses
- Management of Convict Labour 1788-1830
- Fairness in Wage Determination
- Harvester Wage Case, 1907
- The Great Strikes of the 1890s
Areas of RHD supervision expertise:
- Management
- Industrial Relations
- Small Business Management
- Australian Management History