Staff Profiles

Bobbie is an active researcher in the Faculty of Humanities, having attracted two major research grants from the Australia Research Council (2000-01 and 2002-04), to collect interviews and documents, research and co-edit a history of the Midland Government Railway Workshops, as well as forming partnerships with a range of organisations in the community.  A major research outcome of this project – The Workshops.  A history of the Midland Government Railway Workshops, co-edited with Dr Patrick Bertola – was the 2006 winner of the Premier's Prize for Western Australian History. In 2006-07, Bobbie was a Chief Investigator on an ARC-funded project (managed by Murdoch University), to research and write the history of the East Perth Power Station.  She is the author of a chapter on apprenticeship training in Lenore Layman (ed) Powering Perth. A History of the East Perth Power Station, published by Black Swan Press in 2011. .

Bobbie has always endeavoured to achieve excellence in teaching at both under and post-graduate levels.    As an historian, a heritage practitioner, and the author of a history of the Australian Labor Party - Unity is Strength.  A history of the Australian Labor Party and the Trades and Labor Council in Western Australia 1899-1999, (API Network, 2003) – she contributes significantly to the disciplines of History, Politics and Cultural Heritage.

Bobbie's publications may be accessed on espace at http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au/view/person/Oliver,_Bobbie.html

Bobbie’s major research interests are in the fields of Australian and comparative labour history; civil liberties (in particular conscientious objection to military service); labour and industrial heritage, and Western Australian history.  Current research projects include  a history of the Locomotive Engine Drivers, Firemen’s and Cleaners’ Union (WA Branch), and a biographical web resource on Elsie Curtin, the wife of wartime Prime Minister John Curtin. 

 
Since 2000, with others, Bobbie has lobbied for the preservation of the Midland Government Railway Workshops buildings,and the establishment of an on-site rail heritage centre.

Bobbie’s scholarship in the field of conscientious objection to military service includes a national history and contributions to several national and international publications. She is currently researching conscientous objection during the periods of National Service and the Vietnam War (1950-73).

A History of the Locomotive Engine Drivers', Firemens' and Cleaners' Union in Western Australia, involving comparison with its British counterpart, the Association of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) and Eastern States Engine Drivers Unions. 

A history of apprenticeship training in Western Australia.

Legacies of Empire 111

Australia an Alternative History 212

Interpreting History 312

Australians at War 222

Bobbie has successfully supervised several Doctorates and Masters theses to completion, in topic areas including heritage policy, a history of child welfare in WA, John Curtin's relations with the media and French exploration along the Western Australian coast. In 2012 Bobbie was supervising one Doctoral and one Masters student.

For several years, Bobbie was Undergraduate Coordinator in the Social Science program.

Bobbie is a member of:  the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (Vice President of Perth branch); the Australian Historical Association; the History Foundation of Western Australia, and the History Council of Western Australia. For several years, she served on the Curriculum Council of Western Australia, as a member of a panel tasked with designing the History examination for the WACE, and also as an author of the TEE History examination paper.  She serves on the Editorial board of Labour History, the national journal of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, and is a past convenor of the Editorial Committee for Papers in Labour History, the journal of the Society’s Perth Branch.  This journal often features published work from students at Curtin and other universities in the State.  Bobbie convened the Eleventh Biennial National Labour History Conference, which was held in Perth in July 2009.lease enter data here

2006:  Winner – Western Australian Premier's Awards – Western Australian History Prize. [The Workshops.  A history of the Midland Government Railway Workshops, co-edited by Dr. P. Bertola]

2003:  Short-listed – Western Australian Premier's Awards – Non-Fiction Section [Unity is Strength. A history of the Australian Labor Party and the Trades and Labor Council in Western Australia]

Books (Authored, Research)

• Oliver, B. 2007. Jean Beadle: A Life Of Labor Activism. Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
• Oliver, B. 2003. Unity is Strength. A history of the ALP and the Trades and Labor Council in Western Australia, 1899-1999, First Edition. Perth WA: API Network.
• Oliver, B. 1997. Peacemongers: Conscientious objectors to military service in Australian 1911-1945. South Fremantle, Australia: Fremantle Arts Centre Press.

Book Chapters (Authored, Research Quality)

• Oliver, B. 2011. 'The best years of their lives': Apprentices and their Training. In Powering Perth: A History of the East Perth Power Station, eds Lenore Layman, 131-153. Perth, Western Australia: Black Swan Press.
• Oliver, B. 2010. Western Australian Senators - Donald Robert Willesee. In The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Volume 3 1962-1983, eds Ann Millar and Geoffrey Browne, 478-484. New South Wales, Australia: University of New South Wales Press.
• Oliver, B, and Cooke, P. 2010. Western Australian Senators - Joseph Alfred Cooke. In The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Volume 3 1962-83, 464-467. New South Wales, Australia: University of New South Wales Press.
• Oliver, B. 2010. Western Australian Senators - John Wheeldon. In The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Volume 3. 1962-1983, 515-521. New South Wales, Australia: University of New South Wales Press.
• Oliver, B. 2009. ‘Making Foreigners at the Midland Government Railway Workshops, 1904-1994’. In Foreigners. Secret Artefacts of Industrialism, 1 Edition, eds Jennifer Harris, 26-37. Bentley, WA: Black Swan Press.
• Oliver, B. 2009. The Locomotive Engine Drivers', Firemen's and Cleaners' Union: A British Transplant or a Home-grown product?. In Labour History in the New Century, eds Bobbie Oliver, 19-30. Perth, Western Australia: Black Swan Press.
• Oliver, B. 2009. Be Workmen True to Workmen Still. In Northbridge Studies Day Papers volume 1, 2007–2008, 1 Edition, eds Yiannakis & F. Morel Ednie-Brown, 0-0. Perth, WA: Network Books.
• Oliver, B. 2007. 'They can't take a trade off you' - Varying perceptions of job security over 50 years at the Midland government Railwa Workshops. In The Time of Their Lives: The Eight Hour Day and Working Life, eds Julie Kimber and Peter Love, 153-168. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History.
• Oliver, B. 2006. The apprenticeship system at the Workshops. In The Workshops, eds Patrick Bertola and Bobbie Oliver, 63-80. Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
• Oliver, B, and Bertola, P. 2006. Introduction. In The Workshops: A History of the Midland Government Railway Workshops, eds Patrick Bertola and Bobbie Oliver, 9-15. Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
• Oliver, B. 2004. The British Origins and the transformation of work culture in Australia. In Exploring the British World, 2004 Edition, eds Kate Darian-Smith, Patricia Grimshaw, Stuart Macintyre, Kiera Lindsey, 1032-1046. Melbourne: RMIT Publishing.
• Oliver, B. 2004. The Formation and Role of an Independent Trades and Labor Council in Western Australia. In Peak Unions in Australia: Origin, Power, Purpose, Agency, eds Bradon Ellem, Raymond Markey, John Shields, 116-132. New South Wales: The Federation Press.
• Oliver, B. 2003. Women in the Australian Defence Forces?. In Amazons to Fighter Pilots. A biographical dictionary of Military Women, FIRST Edition, eds R. PENNINGTON, 34-37. WESTPORT, CONN.: GREENWOOD PRESS,.
• Oliver, B. 2001. Australia: Jehovah's Witnesses, Censorship during World War II. In Censorship: A World Encyclopedia, 1 Edition, eds Derek Jones, 143-145. London, U.K.: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.
• Oliver, B. 2001. Back from the brink: 1917-29. In True Believers: the story of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, 1 Edition, eds Faulkner, John and Macintyre, Stuart, 47-59. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Refereed Articles (Scholarly Journals)

• Oliver, B. 2008. More than just locomotives: re-discovering working lives at the Midland Railway Workshops. Historic Environment 21(2): 19-23.
• Reeves, A, and Oliver, B. 2003. Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries : Labour History and Museum Studies. Labour History 85: 1-7.
• Oliver, B. 2001. 'In the thick of every battle for the cause of Labor' : the Voluntary Work of the Labor Women's Organisations in Western Australia, 1900-70. Labour History November 2001: 93-108.
• Oliver, B. 1999. A Truly Great Australian Woman. Studies in Western Australian History. 19: 87-98.
• Oliver, B. 1997. Lives of Misery and Melancholy: the Rhetoric and Reality of Industrial Reform in Post-World War 1 Western Australia. Labour History 73: 105-122.

Fully written papers (Refereed Conference proceedings)

• Oliver, B. 2011. Labour History in Western Australia and the role of the ASSLH, Perth Branch. Twelfth National Labour History Conference, 15/09/2011. Australian National University, Canberra: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH).
• Oliver, B. 2011. What has amalgamation achieved for transport union members?. 7th PATREC Research Forum, 13/09/2011. Curtin University, Perth: PATREC.
• Oliver, B. 2009. 'It's more than just the buildings; it's what they did inside': a case fro the preservation of industrial worksites. State of Australian Cities, 23/11/2009. Perth: Promaco Conventions.
• Oliver, B. 2007. Industrial apprenticeships - another dying Labour tradition?. Labour Traditions: 10th National Labour History Conference, 04/06/2007. University of Melbourne, Carlton: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History.
• Oliver, B. 2005. Shades of the Cold War: the role of communist workers at the Midland Railway Workshops. The Ninth National Labour History Conference, 30/06/2005. The University of Sydney, NSW: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History and the Business and Labour History Group.
• Oliver, B. 2003. `Transforming Labour? at the Westrail Workshops, Midland WA,1940s to 1990s?. Transforming Labour. Work, Workers, Struggle and Change. The Eighth Labour History Conference, 01/10/2003. Griffith University, Brisbane: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Brisbane.
• Oliver, B. 2001. The formation and role of an independent trades and labor council in Western Australia: A case study. Work - Organisation - Struggle: The seventh national Labour History Conference, 01/04/2001. Australian National University, Canberra, ACT: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History.
• Oliver, B. 1999. Reform or Reaction? Progress or Struggle: Labour and Liberal Perspectives on History. Sixth National Conference of the ASSLH, 01/10/1999. Wollongong, NSW: The Australian Society for the Study of Labour History.

Major Creative Works

• Oliver, B. 2010. Fighting Labor's Battles. Conscription, the Great Depression and Party Unity.. Online: John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library.