Out of work: the voice of the unemployed
A short-lived Australian Communist Party newspaper supplement focused on unemployment, working-class hardship, and anti-capitalist politics.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Out of work: the voice of the unemployed was a short-lived political and labour publication supplement issued within The Communist, a Sydney newspaper associated with the Communist Party of Australia. It began publication on 16 June 1922, during a period when unemployment, insecure work, and the cost of living were major concerns for Australian workers. The supplement was produced from the Sydney Trades Hall building in Sussex Street and operated under the direction of Jock Garden, a prominent figure in the early Australian labour and communist movements. The publication addressed the experiences of people without work as well as workers attempting to survive on the basic wage. Its editorial position was explicitly hostile to capitalism and framed unemployment as a structural consequence of the economic system rather than an individual failing. The first issue described the paper as being written by unemployed people for unemployed people and presented it as a forceful protest against a system that deprived sections of the working class of employment and income. Its content combined domestic labour commentary with broader political analysis. Articles were generally critical of capitalism, anti-imperialist in tone, and internationalist in outlook. The publication referred to the struggles of workers in countries including the United States and Germany, connecting Australian unemployment and low wages to wider international conflicts between labour and capital. This approach reflected the political language and priorities of the Communist Party of Australia and its affiliated labour networks in the early 1920s. The duration of publication is uncertain. The latest surviving issue identified in an Australian library was dated 7 July 1922, only a few weeks after the first issue, so the supplement is generally treated as defunct or short-lived. The available record does not establish whether publication ended immediately after that issue or continued briefly without surviving copies. Nor does it provide reliable information about circulation, staffing, financing, or the precise number of editions. Although it had a limited lifespan, Out of work is significant as an example of radical labour journalism in interwar Australia. It gave unemployed people a dedicated political voice and documented how communist and labour activists interpreted unemployment, poverty, wages, imperialism, and international working-class solidarity. The surviving issues have been digitised through the National Library of Australia's Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program and are available through the Trove newspaper archive.
History
Out of work: the voice of the unemployed emerged in Sydney in June 1922 as a supplement incorporated into The Communist, a newspaper published by the Communist Party of Australia. Its appearance reflected the importance of unemployment and low wages within Australian labour politics after the First World War. The supplement was directed from Sydney Trades Hall in Sussex Street, a significant labour setting, and operated under the direction of Jock Garden. The publication's central purpose was to address the experiences of unemployed people and workers struggling to live on the basic wage. Its first-edition editorial presented the paper as being written by unemployed people for unemployed people. It sought to act as a strong protest against an economic system that, in the publication's view, repeatedly excluded sections of the working class from employment and left them without adequate means of support. The supplement's editorial approach was shaped by communist politics. Its articles criticised capitalism and treated unemployment as a political and economic problem rather than merely a personal condition. The publication also used an anti-imperialist perspective and connected Australian labour concerns with international working-class struggles. References to workers in the United States and Germany placed local unemployment and wage issues within a wider account of conflict between workers, employers, and capitalist institutions. The first known issue was published on 16 June 1922. The publication history after that date is uncertain. The most recent surviving issue located in an Australian library is dated 7 July 1922, indicating that at least two or more issues existed but not proving the precise length of the run. There is no reliable information in the available reference material about circulation, print quantities, subscription arrangements, editorial staff beyond Garden's direction, or the formal reason for the supplement's disappearance. It is therefore best described as a defunct and probably short-lived publication rather than assigned an unsupported closing date. Out of work has historical value as a record of radical labour communication in early twentieth-century Australia. It sought to create a direct political voice for unemployed people and to link their immediate economic hardships with broader critiques of capitalism, imperialism, and international inequality. Its surviving issues form part of the documentary record of the Communist Party of Australia's publishing activity and of the labour movement's attempts to organise public discussion around unemployment and poverty. The surviving material has been preserved through the National Library of Australia's Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program. Digitised copies can be consulted through Trove, alongside related Australian communist and labour publications including The Communist and later newspapers connected with the same political milieu.
- 1922
First issue published
[1]The first known issue of Out of work appeared on 16 June 1922 as a supplement to The Communist.
- 1922
Publication directed from Sydney Trades Hall
[1]The supplement was issued from the Sydney Trades Hall building in Sussex Street under the direction of Jock Garden.
- 1922
Latest known surviving issue
[1]The latest surviving issue identified in an Australian library carries the date 7 July 1922.
Digitisation in Trove
[2]Surviving issues were digitised through the National Library of Australia's Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program and made available through Trove.
Products and positioning
A radical labour publication positioned as a protest voice for unemployed people and low-paid workers, combining local economic commentary with communist, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, and internationalist perspectives.
Newspaper supplement · 1922
Out of work: the voice of the unemployed
A Sydney-based political supplement included within The Communist and associated with the Communist Party of Australia. It focused on unemployment, basic-wage hardship, and working-class protest. Its editorial stance was anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist, and it used international examples to relate Australian labour problems to struggles among workers overseas. The surviving publication run is brief or incomplete, with the earliest known issue dated 16 June 1922 and the latest known surviving issue dated 7 July 1922.
Recent events
- 1922
Out of work begins publication as a supplement to The Communist[1]
Product launch
The first known issue of the supplement appeared on 16 June 1922 from Sydney Trades Hall. It presented itself as a publication written by unemployed people for unemployed people and focused on protest against unemployment and working-class deprivation.
- 1922
The latest known surviving issue is dated 7 July 1922[1]
Other
An issue dated 7 July 1922 is the latest surviving copy identified in an Australian library. The evidence does not establish the exact date on which the supplement ceased publication.
Issues are digitised through the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program[2]
Other
Surviving issues of the publication have been digitised by the National Library of Australia and made available through the Trove newspaper archive.
Sources4 sources
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