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This ground-breaking work is the first comprehensive account of the lives of domestic servants in Australia. It shows the significance of domestic service for Australia's society and economy, from 1788 to the present day. For many years, domestic service was the most important form of paid employment for Australian women. European Australia has often seen domestic service as a civilizing force. It made possible a cultured life for the leisured classes, and promoted middleclass ideals of domesticity and fertility. The house was the architectural stage for the domestic theatre of social confrontation and accommodation. Barry Higman explores demography, technological changes, urbanisation and industrialisation, wealth inequalities, the economic role of women, household structure, childcare, the dual-career family, immigration policy, community organisation and much more in this major new book.