We invite you to explore the key milestones, stories and personalities of our history in our 125 Years Timeline. We also invite you toShare your story and become part of our digital history.
The Great Depression severely affected Australia. In 1929, The Wall Street stock market in New York crashed, sending the world economy into a downward spiral that would last for over a decade. The collapse of international commodity prices, including wheat and wool, led to heavy debts for the federal, state and territory governments.
During this time many Australians showed a high level of resourcefulness and self-sufficiency, such as tilling backyard gardens to grow food, and devising cheap forms of entertainment. However, many Australians were forced to rely on family or charities to survive, and those who could no longer pay rent were forced out of their homes to live in camps, which dotted the outskirts of the major cities.
This was an inhospitable environment for the University of Tasmania. Cuts in government funding were swift and severe, and University staff voluntarily reduced their salaries by up to twenty percent, in a futile effort to stem the bleeding. All Australian academics endured salary cuts during the depression, but those of Tasmania were among the very worst in the country.
However, this decade also saw the rise of the University’s first Academic Vice-Chancellor, Sir Edmund Morris Miller. Miller was determined to act as a mediator and ease the growing tensions between the teaching and administrative staff over issues such as wages and academic freedom. In this he succeeded, and during his time as Vice-Chancellor the University grew into a well-known centre of intellectualism, despite the difficulties presented by lack of funding and public hostility.