<P> The Australian Fair Pay Commission was replaced by Fair Work Australia in 2010 . </P> <P> The minimum wage was a major factor in British industrial relations from 1909 until the 1930s . </P> <P> After a study of the minimum wage laws in Australia and New Zealand The Liberal Party acted to set up a minimum wage in the most heavily sweated or underpaid industries, as part of a broad range of social reforms . Winston Churchill, president of the Board of Trade, introduced the Trade Boards Act in 1909 . It created boards that set minimum wage criteria that were legally enforceable . The main provision was to set minimum wages in certain trades with the history of low wages, because of surplus of available workers, the presence of women workers, or the lack of skills . At first it applied to four industries: chain - making, ready - made dresses . paper - box making, and the machine - made lace and finishing trade . About 70 per cent of their 200,000 workers were women . </P> <P> Coal mining was added in 1912, after a major strike . In 1913, five additional wage boards were set up that covered hollow ware making, shirt making, sugar confectionery and food preserving, tin box making, and linen and cotton embroidery, along with a portion of the laundry industry . These extensions led to an additional 140,000 being covered by minimum wage legislation . Unions pushed for the 1918 Act to greatly extend the coverage of minimum wages In 1917, Whitley councils or Joint Industrial Councils were established in 41 industries with over 2 million employees to bring together unions and management to discuss not only wages and conditions but also a wide range of related issues such as jobs, security, benefits and technical education . </P>

When was the minimum wage introduced in uk