Rationing
On May 19, 1942 the shortage of supplies around the world caused the introduction of rationing, this was implemented by the Rationing Commission. The Rationing Commission was a central group during World War 2 as it was responsible for the rationing of certain products (Australian War Memorial, 2014). Multiple every day necessities began to be rationed in order to address the shortage. Rationing was implemented on a range of products such as, dairy products, eggs, meat, tea, clothing, shoes, petrol and alcoholic beverages.
The government also held an important part regarding rationing as it began to issue the citizens with rationing books and coupons. These were used as an alternative of money and allowed the government to monitor the national consumption. Source Three provides visual evidence of what rationing cards and books looked like. The photograph shows how different ration books were needed for different things for example, in the image there is a ration card for clothing as well as a ration book for various food goods.
The amount of coupons that were distributed varied depending on a variety of aspects, the size of the family, their relationship status or the individual’s lifestyle. For example, a pregnant woman would receive more coupons than a single woman. A man who was a child during the period of World War 2 describes how important ration books were and what items were rationed, “A ration book had to last a whole year, so you had to be very careful how you used it. There were coupons for butter, sugar, meat and tea.” (ABC Splash, 2014) The Australian nation was never rationed as heavily as the other countries as the shortages were not as severe. Any violations or breaches of the rationing protocol were punishable under the provisions of the National Security Regulations by fines up to $150 or up to a 6-month jail time (Rationing in Australia WW2, 2002). The strictness of rationing affected many Australian families and their lifestyles.