Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Australia Melbourne Eight-Hour-Day Monument
AO Edited

Eight-Hour-Day Monument

Commemorating the 19th-century labor movement in Australia.

Melbourne, Australia

Added By
Gavin
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Eight Hour Day Monument   John Englart / CC BY-SA 2.0
Eight-Hour-Day Monument   avlxyz
An Eight-Hour-Day Parade in Melbourne, 1907   State Library Victoria Collections
A May Day event at the Eight Hour Day Monument   John Englart / CC BY-SA 2.0
Eight Hour Day Monument   Rexness / CC BY-SA 2.0
South side of monument   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

A campaign for the eight-hour-day was led by the labor movement in the 1850s that brought about a revolution in worker's rights. Skilled tradespeople who had immigrated to Australia for the gold rush had been influenced by the Chartist movement in Britain and the democratic crucible of the United States.

In the 1800s, most Victorians worked up to fourteen hours a day, six days a week. There was no sick leave, no holiday leave, and employers could fire employees at any time, without giving a reason. The eight-hour-day campaign was based on the ideal of an eight-hour working day with “eight hours labour, eight hours rest and eight hours recreation.”

As authored in the Victorian Operative Masons' Society report from June 1884, there were three main arguments for a reduced working day in Victoria. The first was that Australia's harsh climate necessitated shorter working hours: "...the period of labour under the relaxing influence of an Australian climate, cannot extend to the length of daily toil ruling in the mother country [Britain], without sacrificing health, and shortening the duration of human life."

The second was that working men needed time to develop their minds through education: "The self-cultivation...of the ‘adult man'...can only be the work of time. It would be a great advantage then to give the worker time to read and study, and to progress in knowledge and virtue."

The third was that tradesmen could become better husbands, fathers and citizens if they were granted leisure time: "The man whose mind is unclogged by the action and influence of severe bodily work, when in health will have his natural flow of animal spirits and kindred sympathies, inclining him to self respect, and respect for other, for law, order, and forms so essential to freedom, domestic virtues and good citizenship."

The campaign came to a head in 1856 when stonemasons James Stephens and James Galloway led tradesmen from the construction site at the University of Melbourne on a march to Parliament House. They made their way through the Hoddle Grid picking up workers from other sites as they went.

When they arrived at Parliament House, the parliamentarians emerged and agreed to their claims, granting a reduction in the working day to eight hours and host of other rights, without a pay reduction.

It was a victory that became famous the world over. The eight-hour day spread to other trades, across the Australian colonies and to other nations. It was a pivotal point in Victoria’s political history and paved the way for a long line of major advances in human rights and pioneering democratic reforms.

This publicly-funded monument was designed to commemorate the eight-hour working day, introduced on April 21, 1856. The monument consists of a stone pedestal, granite column, and bronze globe with gold leaf. The base and obelisk are made of the same Harcourt granite.

The top of the obelisk is decorated by a bronze emblem featuring "888," on top of which is an encircled globe supporting a crown and orb. Around the monument’s globe the inscription reads: "Labour, Recreation, Peace." While the eight-hour day was an important achievement for the building workers, conditions for women and child labourers in particular remained unchanged and unreasonable for decades. The monument was unveiled in 1903 and 14 surviving pioneers of the eight-hour-day movement attended the ceremony. These pioneers had led the way, not only for the state of Victoria, but for the rest of the world.

Related Tags

Monuments History Labor Statues

Community Contributors

Added By

Gavin

Edited By

Collector of Experiences, Michelle Cassidy

  • Collector of Experiences
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

June 29, 2022

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/eight-hour-day
Eight-Hour-Day Monument
8 Hour Reserve
Cnr Russel St. and Victoria St.
Melbourne, 3000
Australia
-37.807127, 144.965581
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Old Melbourne Gaol

Melbourne, Australia

miles away

'Mr. Lizard and Gumnut Baby' Statue

Melbourne, Australia

miles away

Ned Kelly's Armour

Melbourne, Australia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Melbourne

Melbourne

Australia

Places 54
Stories 4

Nearby Places

Old Melbourne Gaol

Melbourne, Australia

miles away

'Mr. Lizard and Gumnut Baby' Statue

Melbourne, Australia

miles away

Ned Kelly's Armour

Melbourne, Australia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Melbourne

Melbourne

Australia

Places 54
Stories 4

Related Places

  • A crowd of statues

    Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Garden of the Generalissimos

    A Taiwanese garden teems with the retired statues of the island's former dictator.

  • The Juneteenth Monument at Ashton Villa.

    Galveston, Texas

    Juneteenth Monument at Ashton Villa

    The statue, located at a mansion-turned-emancipation museum, honors Galveston’s history as the birthplace of Juneteenth.

  • Monument to Princess Kristina of Norway

    Covarrubias, Spain

    Monument to Princess Kristina of Norway

    Princess Kristina played a pivotal role in fostering diplomatic ties between two kingdoms, Norway and Spain.

  • A bronze fast of a female face atop a pedestal with a lighthouse in the background

    New York, New York

    Girl Puzzle Monument

    An art installation commemorates journalist Nellie Bly's undercover reporting inside a New York asylum.

  • Everard t’Serclaes Monument

    Brussels, Belgium

    Everard t'Serclaes Monument

    A shining memorial to a Belgian hero is said to bring luck to anyone who touches it.

  • Halle (Saale), Germany

    Anton Wilhelm Amo Monument

    The monument honors the first (and for a long time, only) African-born philosopher to teach at a German university.

  • The “Hijo del árbol de la Noche Triste” with its statue of Hernan Cortes.

    Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico

    Son of the Tree of the Night of Sorrows

    A sapling of the legendary tree where conquistador Hernán Cortés sat and wept after an Aztec uprising.

  • Skagway Centennial statue with the train in the background.

    Skagway, Alaska

    Skagway Centennial Statue

    A monument commemorating the role of Alaska's native Tlingit guides in the Klondike Gold Rush.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.