Aboriginal Protection Board

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There was an Aboriginal Protection Board in a number of Australian States with the function of protecting and regulating the lives of Indigenous Australians. They were also responsible for administering the various Half-caste acts where these existed and had a key role in the Stolen generations.

The Victoria Aboriginal Protection Board, established by the Aboriginal Protection Act of 1869, made Victoria the first colony to enact comprehensive regulations on the lives of Victorian Aborigines. The Board for the Protection of Aborigines exerted an extraordinary level of control over people's lives including regulation of residence, employment, marriage, social life and other aspects of daily life.

The New South Wales' Aborigines Protection Board was established in 1883, gaining legal power under the Aborigines Protection Act (1909) with wide ranging control over the lives of Aboriginal people, including the power to remove children from families. It was renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board in 1940 under the Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act (1940). The Aborigines Welfare Board was abolished under the Aborigines Act (NSW) 1969.[1]

The Western Australian Aborigines Protection Board operated between 1 Jan 1886 and 1 Apr 1898 as a Statutory authority under An Act to provide for the better protection and management of the Aboriginal natives of Western Australia, and to amend the law relating to certain contracts with such Aboriginal natives (statute 25/1886); An Act to provide certain matters connected with the Aborigines (statute 24/1889).[2][3]

There were also Aboriginal Protection Boards in Queensland and South Australia.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Aboriginal Affairs in NSW: A Short History, NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs, accessed 20 March 2008
  2. ^ Aboriginal Protection Board at the State Records Office of Western Australia, accessed 20 March 2008
  3. ^ For records relating to the WA Aboriginal Protection Board see the WA States Records Office accessed 20 March 2008

[edit] External links


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