Aboriginal Protection Board

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In Australia there were the so-called Aboriginal Protection Boards , in addition to the Chief Protector of Aboriginal as individuals who exercised far-reaching rights over the life, place of residence, work, private life and other areas of life of the Aborigines . The Boards had ultimate control over the entire life of the Aborigines. These organizations existed in Australian colonies and states. They were responsible for laws for various half-casts (mixed race of whites and blacks) and on the basis of this regulation they could take Aboriginal children away from their parents and either place them in homes or with whites. This injustice went down in Australian history with the concept of the stolen generation .

These boards also had the function of economic pressure on the Aborigines to have a job and thus also to exercise this on other dependent employees.

Colonies and states

Victoria

The Aboriginal Protection Board of Victoria enacted the Aboriginal Protection Act of 1869, renamed Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of the Aborigines . and in what was then the colony of Victoria as a law that comprehensively determined the life of the Aborigines in Victoria. The Board exercised extraordinary control over the Aborigines in terms of their place of residence, work, marriage, social life, and other aspects of their lives.

Queensland

The Queensland Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 was enacted to curb the opium trade that the Queensland Chinese conducted with the Aborigines. The 1897 Act was expanded to include Amendment Acts 1899, 1901, 1928, 1934, 1939, and 1946. While the Act appears to be a welfare measure, in reality it restricted rights far more than preventing intoxicant abuse.

The Act of 1897 allowed civilians, police and missionaries to be named Aboriginal Protectors . These had the right to determine where the Aborigines were allowed to move.

Furthermore, the legislature had the right to control the Aborigines in the workplace. The effect of these measures not only had a human rights side, but also an economic one. The measures are also seen as segregating unproductive, sick and problematic Aborigines from the effectively working Aborigines who were employed in European industry and other economic sectors. An employment reserve was also created, which could be used against the Aborigines and other workers who had employment contracts.

New South Wales

The New South Wales Aboriginal Protection Board was established in 1883 and empowered by the Aboriginal Protection Act (1909) to intervene widely in Aboriginal lives, including removing Aboriginal children from their parents. This organization was renamed the Aboriginal Welfare Board in 1940 and passed the Aboriginal Protection (Amendment) Act (1940) . The Aboriginal Welfare Board was not repealed until 1969 according to the Aboriginal Act of New South Wales (1969) .

Western Australia

The Western Australian Aboriginal Protection Board had established in its statutes between January 1, 1886 and April 1, 1898:

  • 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 (Statut 25/1886);
  • An Act to provide certain matters connected with the Aborigines (Statute 24/1889).

South Australia, Northern Territory, Tasmania

South Australia and the Northern Territory had no board after 1901, but an individual as Part-Time Chief Protector of Aborigines . There was no such facility in Tasmania , as the Tasmanians no longer existed as a people.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Archive link ( Memento from June 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) “ In effect, such reserves operated initially to separate unproductive, ill and 'problematic' Aboriginal people from those working efficiently in European industries - pastoral, agricultural, marine and domestic. As time passed, they also became labor reservoirs from which Aboriginal contract workers could be drafted to white rural and urban employers. “Retrieved June 24, 2009
  2. ^ Richard Broome: Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800 . Allen & Unwin , 2005, ISBN 9781741145694 , pp. 130-131.
  3. ^ Aboriginal Affairs in NSW: A Short History, NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs ( Memento of March 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved June 24, 2008
  4. ^ Aboriginal Protection Board at the State Records Office of Western Australia ( Memento of March 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved March 20, 2008
  5. ^ Aboriginal Records. Aboriginal Protection Board. State Records Office of Western Australia as of October 9, 2007, archived from the original on July 19, 2008 ; accessed on October 9, 2013 .
  6. ↑ John Chesterman, Brian Galligan: Citizens without rights. Cambridge, Melbourne. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 0521592305 Google Book fragment . Retrieved June 24, 2009