Australias Assimilation Policy
Time line
-
Racism Now Way. (2000). Timeline 1900's. Retrieved from https://racismnoway.com.au/about-racism/timeline/1900s/
The Constitution denies citizenship, franchise and the right to military duty to Aboriginal People, Asians and Africans. Indigenous people are not included in any census nor regarded as citizens, thus excluding them from civil liberties like Commonwealth voting rights, unless, as in South Australia, they already have the vote in State elections. In Queensland and Western Australia Indigenous people are specifically excluded -
HASS. SA. ASN. au. (n.d.) Timeline of Legislation Affecting Aboriginal People. Retrieved from http://hass-sa.asn.au/files/1415/5442/9962/Timeline_of_legislation_affecting_aboriginal_people.pdf
The information in this handout, aimed at South Australian middle and senior years learners, is of
legislation which specifically affected Aboriginal people, not only in South Australia but with
interstate comparisons as well. -
Dow, C. & Gardiner - Garden. J. ( n.d.) Overview of Indigenous Affairs: Part 1: 1901 to 1991. Retrieved from https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/pubs/bn/1011/indigenousaffairs1
This background note provides an overview of Indigenous affairs policy from federation to the end of the Hawke Labor Government in 1991.
Land Rights
-
Cromb, N. (2020, October 7). Land Rights. The Australian Museum. https://australian.museum/learn/first-nations/land-rights/
Land Rights refers to the struggle for legal and moral recognition of the ownership of the land and waterways that were home to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this country prior to the colonisation that occurred from 1788. -
Pierluigi, Claudio --- “Aboriginal Land Rights History: Western Australia” [1991] AboriginalLawB 56; (1991) 1(52) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 24. (2024). Austlii.edu.au. https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AboriginalLawB/1991/56.html
Aboriginal Land Rights History: Western Australia - The history of Aboriginal land rights in Western Australia is based on the denial of Aboriginal ownership, the systematic taking of land and encumbering Aborigines from the freedom to use and occupy the land in accordance with their traditions. -
Calla Wahlquist. (2016, October 26). Aboriginal land rights in Western Australia – timeline. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/11/aboriginal-land-rights-in-western-australia-timeline
Aboriginal land rights in Western Australia – timeline - The Guardian - The battle for land rights in WA has stretched from early resistance to European settlement through to the Whitlam-era push for self-determination and beyond
Indigenous protests
-
Exhibits | PilbaraStrike. (2018). Www.pilbarastrike.org. https://www.pilbarastrike.org/content/strike.html
Pilbara Strike - In the Pilbara, as in other parts of Australia’s north, dependence on Aboriginal labour, including domestic labour, was central to the colonial domination that started after European settlers began to establish sheep and cattle stations in the 1860s. The Aboriginal people were determined to change this system. Speakers of several different languages took part in the strike, including the Ngarla, Nyamal, Nyiyaparli and Kariyarra, who were traditional owners of the country where it took place. Men and women who had migrated into the region from other areas, including speakers of Nyangumarta, Mangarla, Warnman and the Western Desert languages, were also involved.
The Great Depression
-
Nat. Museum. Aust. (2021). Great Depression. Retrieved fromhttps://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/great-depression
In the second half of the 1920s the Australian economy suffered from falling wheat and wool prices, and competition from other commodity-producing countries. Australia was also borrowing vast sums of money, which dried up as the economy slowed. -
https://www.naa.gov.au/learn/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/society-and-culture/great-depression
A topic is a collection of records with interpretation and inquiry questions. Each topic is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and focuses on an aspect of Australian history. -
Deco, A. (2025). Museum of Perth. Museum of Perth. https://www.museumofperth.com.au/the-great-war-art-deco-the-depression-19141939
War broke out in Western Europe and due to the high rates of enlistment in Western Australia its effects were deeply felt in Perth.
Historical Context
Government Acts
-
VICTORIAE REGINAE. (n.d.). https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/52769.pdf
The Aborigines Protection Act, 1886 - 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. -
Quinto, A. (1905). 1905 Act. https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/52790.pdf
Aborigines Act 1905 - Western Australia - "The Governor shall appoint a Chief Protector of Aborigines...", "The Chief Protector shall be the legal guardian of every aboriginal and half-caste child until such child attains the age of sixteen years." -
Wikipedia Contributors. (2019, May 15). Native Title Act 1993. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Title_Act_1993
Native Title Act 1993 - Wikipedia - The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) is an act of the Australian Parliament, the purpose of which is "to provide a national system for the recognition and protection of native title and for its co-existence with the national land management system". The Act was passed by the Keating government following the High Court's decision in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992).[3] The Act commenced operation on 1 January 1994.
Missions
-
Taylor, E. (2018). Benevolent Benedictines?: Vulnerable missions and Aboriginal policy in the time of A.O. Neville. Aboriginal History, 42, 97–124. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.124268990137522
Benevolent Benedictines? Vulnerable missions and Aboriginal policy in the time of A.O. Neville -
Perpitch, N. (2018, May 25). A journey into the “hell on Earth” of one of Australia’s harshest settlements. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-26/moore-river-aboriginal-settlement-journey-into-hell-on-earth/9790658
The Moore River Aboriginal Settlement: A journey into 'hell on Earth' - Over 100 years, the Moore River Native Settlement became notorious as a camp where Aboriginal people from across Western Australia were sent — often against their will and often as young children — for "integration" into western society.
Social attitudes
-
Osborne, J. (2024). To “be sufficiently civilized”: Nyungar owners of town lots at Perth, Guildford, and York, 1841-51. Early Days: Journal of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, (108), 31–46. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.
In the decade beginning 1841, five town lots were granted to Nyungar people throughout the Swan River Colony. None of these lots were allocated or transferred to fee simple, and all had certain restrictive conditions applied by the colonial administration at their granting. -
A THEMATIC HISTORY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA PREPARED FOR THE HERITAGE COUNCIL OF WA CLARE MENCK · HISTORIAN. (n.d.). https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2022-10/Thematic_History_of_WA.pdf
A Thematic History of WA - Jump to the section on "Aboriginal People". -
National Library of Australia. (2024, October 17). Challenging terra nullius. Library.gov.au. https://www.library.gov.au/learn/digital-classroom/legend-and-legacy-james-cook/challenging-terra-nullius
Challenging terra nullius - Terra nullius, meaning land belonging to no-one, was the legal concept used by the British government to justify the settlement of Australia. While historians debate how and when the terra nullius legal concept was used to justify the colonisation of Australia, it is likely that Cook considered that the land belonged to no-one.