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An institution of the Australian building industry

The LYSAGHT® Referee has been an Australian building and construction industry institution since its first publication in Melbourne in 1897 as "The Metal Trades Referee and Storekeepers Guide".

This long and proud tradition has seen the publication of thirty-five highly demanded editions. The eleventh publication saw the first publication under the title "The LYSAGHT® Referee", coinciding with the opening of LYSAGHT®'s first Australian factory at Newcastle in New South Wales, and the first Australian production of ORB® brand galvanised corrugated steel sheet.

Over many years, The LYSAGHT® Referee has become something of a steel-bible to people in the building and construction industry as well as plumbers, farmers and students of many disciplines. It was initially developed as a product guide, but over time the Referee became a "how-to" guide, especially for farmers and country folk, on everything from building a fence to animal husbandry. A lot of information is still in the latest edition - although somewhat updated to encompass modern techniques.

Now considered unique and sometimes quirky, the relevance of the "useful" and "general" information sections is now regarded as company heritage within the handbook and the publishers feel it important to maintain these historical qualities. Information such as stock breeding tables and haystack volume calculations were included to assist farmers and are known by the company to still be used today.

To browse through all the editions of the Referee is to take a journey through the history of a company and a country, as well as to learn something of the various trades and citizens catered for by the handbook. One sees reference to old LYSAGHT® brand names, prices, terms, how to detect signs of or treat ague, apoplexy, delirium tremens, rupture, snake bite, sore feet or sunstroke. Key highlights in Australian history can also be noted, such as the conversion from imperial to metric systems of weights and measures and implementation of the decimal currency system.

Compare the content in current edition of The LYSAGHT® Referee to that of the first and you will notice vast developments in the progressive steel industry over time. The first edition contained only thirty-two pages, a far cry from the 400-odd pages detailed in the current edition. The diversification and development of the LYSAGHT® business and products through time are detailed throughout each edition of the handbook. Exploring buildings and architectural history along with The LYSAGHT® Referees of that time demonstrates the way LYSAGHT® products have helped shape the Australian built environment over the past one hundred and fifty years.

The LYSAGHT® Referee is a sought-after publication with many avid collectors endeavouring to grow complete sets of the thirty-five editions. Early editions of the handbook have been known to be sold in second-hand bookstores and in more recent years have even been available for auction on the internet.

Get Your Copy Now

As a capstone to the 100th anniversary of Lysaght manufacturing in Australia in 2021, the 35th edition of The LYSAGHT® Referee is now available.
Get a copy of the latest edition of this iconic publication today!

Download the digital version

The LYSAGHT® Referee 35th EditionPDF (15.9 MB)

Help Us Keep Improving The Referee

Current & Previous Editions of the LYSAGHT® Referee

Edition No. Year Title
1st 1897 The Metal Trades' Referee and Storekeepers' Guide (2918 KB)
2nd 1900 The Metal Trades' Referee and Storekeepers' Guide
3rd 1906 The Metal Trades' Referee and Storekeepers' Guide (64MB)
4th 1908 The Metal Trades' Referee and Storekeepers' Guide
5th 1908 The Metal Trades' Referee and Storekeepers' Guide
6th 1910 The Metal Trades' Referee and Storekeepers' Guide
7th 1912 The Metal Trades' Referee
8th 1914 The Metal Trades' Referee With Other Useful Information
9th 1916 The Metal Trades' Referee With Other Useful Information
10th 1918 The Metal Trades' Referee With Other Useful Information
11th 1920 The Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information
12th 1921 The Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information (82MB)
13th 1923 The Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information
14th 1924 The Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information (20MB)
15th 1927 The Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information
16th 1934 Lysaght's Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information (25MB)
17th 1938 Lysaght's Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information
18th 1950 Lysaght's Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information (28MB)
19th (Centenary) 1957 Lysaght's Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information
20th (Centenary) 1957 Lysaght's Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information
21st 1961 Lysaght's Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information
22nd 1963 Lysaght Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information (30MB)
23rd 1967 Lysaght Referee
24th 1972 Lysaght Referee
25th 1974 Lysaght Referee
26th 1981 Lysaght Referee
27th 1985 The Referee
28th 1988 The Referee. A Handbook of Useful Information
29th (Centenary) 1997 The Referee
30th 1999 Lysaght Referee
31st 2005 Lysaght Referee
32nd 2009 Lysaght Referee
33rd 2012 Lysaght Referee 33rd Commemorative Edition
34th 2019 Lysaght Referee (15MB)

Please note: The information in these documents is included for historical general interest purposes only. BlueScope does not endorse the content for current use and recommends speaking with a suitable expert on related subject matters for current practices.