METRIC SWITCH A SIGN OF THE TIMES

How Australians found their metre

In September 1972, Australians withstood a radical climate change.

Temperatures dropped sharply, and permanently, overnight. Literally.

But fortunately, the only lasting change was on the temperature gauge itself, not the actual climatic conditions.

It was 50 years ago, on September 1, that Australia officially converted from Fahrenheit to Celsius, in one of the first major shifts in the conversion to the metric system.

From that point, the near-century temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded and reported as closer to 37° Celsius.

Winters yielded cold mornings of 0° (zero) Celsius, instead of around 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Meteorological temperatures and pressures took on a new look a month after horse racing converted from imperial to metric distances on August 1; three months later the Melbourne Cup – previously two miles – was run at 3200 metres.

Two years later in July 1974, road signs, speed limits and commercial weights and measures underwent metric conversion.

Road distances went from miles to kilometres; lengths from inches, feet and yards to millimetres, centimetres and metres, and ounces, pounds and tons to grams, kilograms and tonnes.

Given the difficulty of implementing major reforms (think referenda and major tax changes), it’s worth examining why and how the metric system was able to be introduced into, and rolled out across, Australian society.

There’s a few potential explanations.

First, the introduction of decimal currency in early 1966 helped to pave the way for conversion of an everyday component, in this case, dollars and cents for pounds (that is paper notes) and pence.

People had been conditioned into a conversion of everyday items.

Trade was another compelling force behind metrication.

As Australia diversified its trading partners after World War 2 – such as with Japan and the European Community – it made sense to trade in measures that were generally acceptable around the world, through the International System of Units, otherwise known as the metric system.

The metric system was also promoted for its greater interchangeability of machines and equipment and easier exchange of scientific information and technology. Defence, science and technology would be obvious beneficiaries.

Communication between countries in the areas of travel, news and sports exchanges would also benefit from the adoption of metric measures.

And of course, in the classroom, metrics would be easier to teach than the imperial system because its conversion factors were based on multiples of 1, 10, 100 or 1000, such as in the case of grams and kilograms, and metres and kilometres.

A 1982 paper by the then Federal Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce spells out the benefits of the metric system and the progress in conversion over the previous 10 years.

Written by Kevin Wilks, a former senior adviser to the Federal agency, the Metric Conversion Board, the paper compliments Australia’s adoption of the metric system.

Unlike the US, Australia’s path to metrication was relatively smooth and successful.

Like Australia, the US passed legislation in the 1970s to establish a National Metric Conversion Board. Unlike Australia, it did not complete the task of conversion – hence international visitors to the US are still greeted with inches, feet and miles; and ounces, pounds and tons.

Australia’s success in converting to metrics may have also relied on the way the program was planned, supported, communicated and implemented.

Building on the momentum of the decimal currency conversion in 1966, an all-party Senate Committee recommended the adoption of the metric system, leading to the Metric Conversion Act 1970.

One month after the meteorological conversion, in October 1972, the Liberal MP (and future Prime Minister) Malcolm Fraser was lauding the progress of the transfer to metrics.

Tabling in Federal Parliament the annual report of the Metric Conversion Board, Fraser promoted the 16-page information booklet, ‘Metric Conversion and You’, to be delivered to “every letter box in Australia.”

The booklet provided information about metric weights and measures, and contained charts that showed the conversion from imperial units to metric units, all designed to educate, inform and comfort.

Fraser promoted the use of the metric system as the sole system of measurement of physical quantities, as well as a quick conversion, with no retention of imperial units in some isolated areas.

Fifty years later, however, the former PM clearly did not get all his own way.

While the property industry publishes land measures by square metre and hectare, many farmers still talk in acres – maybe 100 acres sounds more impressive than 40 hectares.

And even if sportspeople and athletes are weighed by kilograms, they often still refer to their height in feet and inches. (Possibly influenced by coverage of the US National Basketball Association to its Australian fan base.)

Even many new parents, born years after the metric conversion of the 1970s, publicise the birth of their child in pounds and ounces, rather than kilograms.

And pints of beer remain popular orders in Australian hotels.

But metric teaching remains the standard in Australian school education.

For current students, that means no grappling with the mathematics of feet, inches and yards; no ounces and pounds (or even ‘stones’).

Importers and exporters can generally conduct global trade on one standard of measure.

For that, Australian business and the general public can thank the Federal politicians of the late 1960s and 1970s for their openness and willingness to embrace and promote a major reform. 

Gavin Clancy is a Senior Consultant with Lunik, with memories of pre-metric measures.