Metrication in Australia effectively began in 1966 with the conversion to decimal currency under the auspices of the Decimal Currency Board. The conversion of measurements – metrication – started in 1971 under the direction of the Metric Conversion Board, and actively proceeded until the board was disbanded in 1981. Before 1970, Australia mostly used imperial units of measurement, as a legacy of its colonial history under the United Kingdom. Between 1970 and 1988, imperial units were withdrawn from general legal use and replaced with the International System of Units (SI), a process facilitated by legislation and government agencies. SI units are now the only legal units of measurement in Australia. Australia's largely successful transition to the metric system parallels that of metrication in New Zealand but contrasts with metrication in the United States, metrication in the United Kingdom, and metrication in Canada, which was only partial.
History Although there was debate in Australia's first parliament after federation to consider adopting the metric system, metric units first became legal for use in Australia in 1947 when Australia signed the Metre Convention (Convention du Mètre). However, imperial weights and measures were most commonly used until the federal government began the metric changeover in the 1970s. SI units were subsequently adopted as the basis for Australia's measurement standards, thereby becoming Australia's legal units of measurement. In 1968, a select committee of the Australian senate chaired by Keith Laught examined metric weights and measures and came to the unanimous conclusion that it was both practical and desirable for Australia to change to the metric system. Some of their considerations included the "inherent advantages of the metric system" that meant that weighing and measuring was facilitated, "often with substantial increases in efficiency". Educationally, the reform would "simplify and unify the teaching of mathematics and science, reduce errors, save teaching time and give a better understanding of basic physical principles". In 1968, more than 75% of Australia's exports went to metric countries, and at that time it was noted that all countries (except the United States) were using metric units or were converting to the metric system. It was also noted that, because of Australia's large migrant program, more than 10 percent of people aged 16 or older had used the metric system before coming to Australia. They also noted that school pupils were widely familiar with the metric system because it had been taught in the schools for many years. By 1968, metrication was already well underway in Australian industry. The pharmaceutical industry had metricated in 1965, and much of the chemical and electronics industries worked in metric units, as there were no imperial units for the latter. One of the country's major automobile manufacturers had already declared its intention to metricate before the government announced its decision to change to the metric system. "The change itself provided a unique opportunity to rationalise and modernise industrial practices and bring Australia's technical standard specifications into accord with those adopted internationally". On 12 June 1970, the Australian Metric Conversion Act passed by the Australian Parliament was given assent. This Act created the Metric Conversion Board to facilitate the conversion of measurements from imperial to metric. A timeline of major developments in this conversion process is as follows:
1971 – The Australian wool industry converted to the metric system. 1972 – Horse racing converted in August and air temperatures were converted in September. 1973 – All primary schools were teaching the metric system alone: many had been teaching both imperial and metric for some years. All secondary schools were now using the metric system. 1974 – Large scale conversion across industries, including packaged grains, dairy products, eggs, building, timber, paper, printing, meteorological services, postal services, communications, road transport, travel, textiles, gas, electricity, surveying, sport, water supply, mining, metallurgy, chemicals, petroleum, and automotive services. Most beverages, aside from spirits, were also converted to metric units by the end of the year. The conversion of road signs took place in July, aided by a publicity campaign to prepare the public. 1976 – The building and construction industry completed its change to metric measurements (within two years) by January. 1977 – All packaged goods were labelled in metric units, and the air transport, food, energy, machine tool, electronic, electrical engineering, and appliance manufacturing industries converted to metric. 1987 – The property industry, the last major industry holdout, converted to metric. 1988 – With Western Australia fully implementing the change, metrication was completed nationwide, and the metric system became the only system of legal measurements in Australia.
Metric Conversion Board Opposition to metrication was not widespread. The Metric Conversion Board did not proceed with education programs as polling revealed that most people were learning units and their applications independently of each other, rendering efforts to teach the systematic nature of the metric system unnecessary and possibly increasing opposition. The board was dissolved in 1981, but the conversion to the metric system was not completed until 1988. During its 11 years of operation, the board spent A$5.955 million, equivalent to A$26.276 million in 2022, and the federal government distributed A$10 million, equivalent to A$48.5 million in 2022, to the states to support their conversion process. Between 1984 and 1988, the conversion was the responsibility of the National Standards Commission, later renamed the National Measurement Institute in 1988. The cost of metrication for the private sector was not determined, but the Prices Justification Tribunal reported that metrication was not used to justify price increases.
Metrication of horse racing
An early change was the metrication of horse racing. This was facilitated because the furlong (one-eighth of a mile or 201.2 metres) is close to 200 metres (660 ft). Therefore, the Melbourne Cup was changed from 2 miles (3,218.7 m) to 3,200 metres (10,500 ft), a reduction of about 19 metres (62 ft) or about 0.6%. The first metric Melbourne Cup was raced in November 1972.
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