Orwell D. Foenander

Orwell de Ruyter Foenander, a former academic at the University, was one of the leading figures in industrial relations scholarship in the early 20th century

Foenander was born in 1890, and in 1909, he began a law course at the University of Melbourne. He joined the newly established Faculty of Economics and Commerce in 1926 as a part-time lecturer and, by 1954, was appointed the head of the newly-formed Department of Industrial Relations. He was the first head of an industrial relations department at an Australian university.

He retired from full-time teaching in 1957; but continued on a part-time basis to his retirement in 1969. He died in 1985.

Research

His research was focussed on the federal system of conciliation and arbitration. Foenander had met Henry Bournes Higgins (the second president of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration) during World War I. Higgins had advised Foenander to take up the study of Australia's system of industrial tribunals.

After contemplating this advice for about a decade, Foenander devoted his academic work to examining the activities and role of the federal tribunal. His primary focus was on the economic and protective functions of the federal tribunal. He was interested in the role of industrial tribunals to deal with social problems and influenced the role of unions.