The Department of Labour and Industry was established by the State Government of New South Wales in 1896 to provide assistance to the unemployed and their families. In 1912 the State Labour Bureau was merged into the Department of Labour and Industry, and renamed the State Labour Branch. The State Labour Branch maintained responsibility for the Government Agricultural Training Farm at Scheyville, which it had run since 1905. In 1940 the Department of Labour and Industry became the Department of Labour and Industry and Social Services.