"[1]During the 1860s, punitive provisions were extended by judicial interpretation, leading to the imprisonment of union officials who led strikes or issued verbal calls challenging an employer's hiring practices such as only using non-union workers.
A revised Master and Servant Act 1867 was passed, which supposedly limited imprisonment to "aggravated" breaches of contract (where injury to persons or property was likely to result), but it was clear that only workers were subject to its provisions.
Imprisonment, even for non-aggravated breaches of contract, continued when working people failed to comply with court orders for specific performance or for non-payment of monetary damages and fines.
In the Melbourne jurisdiction, between 1835 and 1845, when labour shortages were acute, over 20% of prison inmates had been convicted under the New South Wales Act 1823 for offences including leaving place of work without permission and being found in hotels.
[6] The 1823 act is not a widely remembered part of Australian political history (although there is a more general association of unacceptable exploitation of workers with the Victorian period).