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51-640: The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Aboriginal Tribes, (British settlements.) of the UK's Parliamentary Select Committee on Aboriginal Tribes . On 31 January 1838, Lord Glenelg , Secretary of State for War and

102-506: A book about the Point McLeay mission. The Aboriginal Affairs Act 1962 abolished the position of "Protector." The "Chief Protector" role became the "Director of Aboriginal Affairs." The APB was replaced by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs . The act also created an Aboriginal Affairs Board , whose members were chosen by the governor. The Department of Aboriginal Affairs became part of

153-567: A chief protector was appointed. Matthew Moorhouse became the first non-interim Protector of Aborigines in South Australia in 1839. In 1841 he led volunteers who committed the Rufus River massacre , which slaughtered 30 to 40 Aboriginal people. From the 1890s, the role often included social control up to the point of controlling whom individuals were able to marry and where they lived and managing their financial affairs, through legislation like

204-721: A mission village at the Aboriginal camp on the Yarra where the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria now are. Replacing this effort, the Port Phillip Protectorate was established in 1839. Four full-time Assistant Protectors were allocated to a quarter of the district. In 1843, the Port Phillip District was greatly expanded. The Protectorate operated until 1849, when a Select Committee recommended its closure. At

255-406: A number of Aboriginal people sought refuge at Framlingham . By the 1940s most people of Aboriginal ancestry were considered by the board to be "legally white", and the board generally only had power over Aboriginal people living at Lake Tyers. General Inspectors and Secretaries: Presidents and Vice-Chairmen: The Child Welfare Act 1954 was used by police to remove Aboriginal children, without

306-568: A segment of our community which has been consistently underrepresented in the past." Walter MacDougall and Bob Macaulay were first appointed as "Native Patrol Officers" by the Commonwealth government for the state's rocket and nuclear testing, and were then also appointed as protectors by the SA government. From 1863 to 1911, the Northern Territory was a territory of South Australia. In 1864,

357-477: The Aboriginal Protection Act 1886 gave the board extensive new powers over the lives of Aboriginal people , including regulation of residence, employment and marriage. It was used to release the government station-living "half-castes" aged under 35 into the community. From about 1898, all "half-caste" children on the stations, after leaving school, were given vocational training and sent out to work by

408-559: The Aboriginal Affairs Act 1967 meant that in 1968, the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs was established. Approximately 40% of its staff were Aboriginal. In the late 1960s, the residents of Manatunga and then Rumbalara requested that they be transitioned to mainstream housing, and they were. The Aboriginals Land Act 1970 transferred the remaining land at Lake Tyers and Framlingham to Aboriginal trust ownership in 1971. In January 1975,

459-674: The Aborigines Select Committee , was a select committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Fowell Buxton chaired the committee, which had 16 members. Other members included Charles Lushington , Rufane Shaw Donkin , and William Ewart Gladstone (later prime minister). Buxton moved for Parliament to create the committee in March 1835. Hearings started in August 1835 and

510-858: The Aborigines Welfare Board in 1940. ACT/JBT regulation was separated from NSW between the enacting of the Aborigines Welfare Ordinance 1954 and the Aborigines Welfare Repeal Ordinance 1965; however the regulating body remained the NSW Board. The Aborigines Welfare Board become the Aborigines Welfare Directorate in 1969 through the Aborigines Act 1969 . The Directorate was abolished on 1 July 1975, with most of its functions being transferred to

561-601: The Advisory Council of Aborigines was established to advise the Chief Protector. It was composed mainly of Protestant clergy, and was largely ignored. The Aborigines Act 1939 created the Aborigines Protection Board (APB), which was "charged with the duty of controlling and promoting the welfare" of Aboriginal people. The Chief Protector was typically Secretary of the board. Chief Protector Bartlett wrote

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612-545: The Department of Social Welfare and Aboriginal Affairs in 1970. The latter became the Department of Social Welfare in 1972. In 2018, the South Australian government established the role of "Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People". At the role's creation, the Premier Stephen Marshall was quoted saying, "In creating this new position, we have established a highly visible and powerful champion for

663-781: The Fraser government 's first budget, in 1976. In 1980, the Fraser government established the Aboriginal Development Commission . Media speculated at the time that the government was considering abolishing the department, but it was not abolished until 1990, by the Hawke government , when it was amalgamated with the Aboriginal Development Commission to create the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission . A "wake"

714-553: The Half-Caste Act . A. O. Neville was a notable Chief Protector of Aborigines and later Commissioner of Native Affairs in Western Australia , and was in office from 1915 to 1940. By 1969 all states and territories had repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of protection. Protectors of Aborigines around Australia included the following: On 29 December 1880, George Thornton

765-708: The Health and Aboriginals Branch of the North Australia administration was established. The roles of "Chief Medical Officer" and "Chief Protector of Aborigines" were simultaneously held by Dr Cecil Cook. On 12 June 1931, the two territories were reunited as the Northern Territory. About this time, the North Australian body became the Northern Territory's Medical Services, Health and Aboriginals Branch, and operated until 1939. Chief Protectors of Aborigines: In 1939,

816-673: The Native Affairs Branch was established by the passing of the Aboriginals Ordinance 1939 . This heralded a new approach to native affairs under the Lyons government 's New Deal for Aborigines , with Ernest Chinnery implementing ideas he had used in a similar role in New Guinea. Directors of Native Affairs: Parliamentary Select Committee on Aboriginal Tribes The Parliamentary Select Committee on Aboriginal Tribes , or

867-579: The Aborigines was established in 1860. (Some contemporary sources call it the Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines). It was headed by a President, who was responsible for its work. It appointed Superintendents in the colony's Aboriginal stations and "Honorary Correspondents" in other areas who worked with the Aborigines being watched over. This board was replaced by a firmly-named Central Board for

918-469: The Aborigines of the state. The board was headed by a chairman (a politician with various simultaneous appointments), and had a superintendent as its executive officer. The act also removed the alcohol consumption ban. The Aborigines Act 1958 made minor changes. In 1958, the board established the Rumbalara settlement near Mooroopna to provide transitional housing for people living in camps. In 1960, it opened

969-576: The Colonies sent Governor Gipps of NSW the report. The report recommended that protectors of Aborigines should be engaged. They would be required to learn the Aboriginal language and their duties would be to watch over the rights of Indigenous Australians (mostly mainland Aboriginal Australians , but also Torres Strait Islander people ), guard against encroachment on their property and to protect them from acts of cruelty, oppression and injustice. In many colonial, state, territory and similar jurisdictions

1020-621: The Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs . The remaining state responsibilities were then transferred to the new Aboriginal Services Branch which operated within the Department of Youth, Ethnic and Community Affairs. The first European charged with protecting the Indigenous people of NSW's semi-autonomous Port Phillip District was George Langhorne. He was employed by the district's superintendent as "Missionary" in 1837. He built

1071-419: The Protection of Aborigines in 1869 (via the Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 ). This act made Victoria the first colony to enact comprehensive regulations on the lives of Aborigines . The Secretary now not only did the bulk of administrative work of the board, but was credited with making proclamations in public notices. The Chairman and the other Board members directed policy. The General Inspector inspected

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1122-650: The Superintendents and their stations. The 1869 Act authorised the removal of neglected Aboriginal children from their families. From the late 1870s, it became customary for the Colonial Secretary (aka Premier ) to be the Chairman. By the 1880s, the Honorary Correspondents had been replaced by "Guardians" (later "Local Guardians") operating from "depots". Prompted by the contested situation at Coranderrk ,

1173-508: The board's face to the public, reporting to a relatively hands-off Vice-Chairman. In 1917 it was decided to close all the stations except that in Lake Tyers , and to encourage all the station dwellers to move there. Most had moved by 1922. Almost all of the Depots had closed by this point. The Aborigines Act 1928 (from 1931) allowed more children and sick adults to live on the stations. In the 1930s,

1224-419: The committee's report was released in 1837. Its terms of reference instructed it to ... consider what measures ought to be adopted with regard to the native inhabitants of countries where British settlements are made, and to the neighbouring tribes, in order to secure to them the due observance of justice and the protection of their rights; to promote the spread of civilization among them, and to lead them to

1275-597: The control of the strongly "small government" John Hart . It was decided that the Office of Protector should again be absorbed into that of the Commissioner of Crown Lands. According to J. D. Woods in 1879, "With the cessation of the Protectorate of Aborigines as the function of a separate staff, all official interest in the native seems to have expired, and nothing is now done for them except periodically to give to them, through

1326-403: The different tribes, more especially of those in the vicinity of the settled districts. 2nd. To protect them in the undisturbed enjoyment of their proprietary rights to such lands as may be occupied by them in any especial manner. 3rd. To encourage as much as possible the friendly dispositions towards the emigrants which at present exist. 4th. To induce them to labour, either for themselves or

1377-575: The end of the Protectorate, Assistant Protector William Thomas was made "Guardian of Aborigines" starting 1 January 1850, predominantly acting in the Greater Melbourne area. The Port Phillip District became the Colony of Victoria in 1851. His position was a hands-on role that continued after a new administrative structure for protection was created. The Central Board appointed to Watch Over the Interests of

1428-616: The expense of having a dedicated "Protector", combining the role with that of the Commissioner of Crown Lands. In 1860, a Legislative Council Select Committee investigating "The Aborigines" found that a dedicated Protector should again be employed. In 1866, during illness by Protector Walker, his office became known as the Aborigines Office . 1868 saw Protector Walker die days after a new premier and cabinet were appointed. A political crisis over how to best sell and develop land possessed by Aborigines had just resulted in new government under

1479-620: The first "Protector of Aborigines" for the Territory was appointed. A public set of instructions for the Protector was published in 1874. For a long time, the Protector was typically also the chief medical officer, coroner and registrar of births, deaths and marriages of the NT. Protectors of Aborigines: The Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910 (passed by the South Australian parliament ), created

1530-576: The frontiers of colonial settlement to the very centre of the empire". John W. Cell argues that its report adopted rhetorical tropes of the Victorian era : "[t]he language of this report—its emphasis on Providence in having chosen Great Britain for a sacred mission in the world, on the need to atone for past sins, on the day of judgment when the nation would be called to account—is characteristic of this early Victorian period." Department of Aboriginal Affairs The Department of Aboriginal Affairs

1581-441: The government. The Aborigines Act 1910 re-affirmed that the board had the power to apply all the measures in the 1886 act to "half-castes". The board reduced its administrative function from 1912, it not publishing another annual report until 1922; and it didn't meet at all between 1914 and 1916. The Aborigines Act 1915 removed most Aboriginal people from the bounds of the board's regulation by removing their Aboriginal status for

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1632-469: The interest and welfare of Aborigines, and to protect them against injustice, imposition and fraud." It also allowed them to remove children that were deemed to be neglected, and this was very often the case. A chairman continued to be appointed, however the administrative power was now vested in a dedicated secretary. This regulatory environment remained in the Federal Capital Territory after it

1683-459: The involvement of the board. In response to dissatisfaction with the shanty towns on the edges of country towns (and overcrowding in Melbourne dwellings), Charles McLean was commissioned by the government to review the Aboriginal people of the state in 1955. The resulting Aborigines Act 1957 replaced the existing Board with the Aborigines Welfare Board. It was empowered to improve the welfare of all

1734-562: The mounted police, flour, tea, sugar, &c., and even this modicum of generosity is administered in a loose and perfunctory manner, owing to the pressure of more urgent duties on those who are in charge." "There is a Sub-Protector whose duties are centred in Adelaide and are merely clerical [Edward Hamilton], and there is only one other in the Far North [JP Buttfield], who is also a Stipendiary Magistrate." During much of this period, Edward Hamilton

1785-487: The office of "Chief Protector of Aborigines" and the Northern Territory Aboriginals Department . This department continued after the NT passed to Commonwealth government control in 1911. The powers of the department were then broadened by the Aboriginals Ordinance 1918 . On 1 February 1927, the Northern Territory was split into two territories, North Australia and Central Australia . In 1928,

1836-554: The peaceful and voluntary reception of the Christian religion. The terms of reference gave the committee the ability to investigate policies of the British Empire with respect to Indigenous people in southern Africa, Canada, Newfoundland, New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land . The committee's recommendations included more " missionary activity" in the empire; that the alienation of land by Indigenous people be regulated; an end to

1887-649: The preceding Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts created by the McMahon government . The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was one of several new departments established by the Whitlam government , a wide restructuring in line with the new government's programme. After the Whitlam government was dismissed in 1975, the department had its budget cut by 43 percent in

1938-411: The purposes of the act. In 1916, the state's Chief Secretary (Premier) Alexander Peacock , asserted his authority as Chairman, and convened the board for the first time in two years. He gave renewed responsibility of the organisation to its Vice-Chairman, who did so under his state government title of Under-Secretary (administrative head of the government). By 1920, the role of "Secretary" had again become

1989-483: The responsibility for Aboriginal affairs passed to the federal government and general Victorian agencies. In Adelaide's first year, 1836, its Province's first interim Protector was appointed by the Governor with the advice of his Legislative Council , and this practice continued for his replacements. The tasks for the third interim Protector, William Wyatt , were: 1st. To ascertain the number, strength, and disposition of

2040-599: The role. However, this would not come to pass, and instead Edward Hamilton would be given the title of "Protector of Aborigines" soon afterwards. Inspired by the Half Caste Acts in WA and Victoria, the Aborigines Act 1911 would greatly increase the control of Aborigines by the state. When enacted in 1912, the "Office" became the Aborigines Department , and the title of "Protector" was changed to "Chief Protector". In 1918,

2091-494: The sale of liquor; stricter regulation of contracts of labour with Indigenous people; and that Indigenous affairs be handled by the imperial Parliament, not colonial legislatures. The report catalyzed the formation of the Aborigines' Protection Society , which was founded soon after the report came out. According to historian Alan Lester , the committee "brought the relations between officials, settlers and indigenous peoples on

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2142-526: The settlers. 5th. To lead them by degrees to the advantages of civilization and religion. In March 1838, in response to the killing of a Mr Pegler by one or more Aboriginal people, a committee was formed to advise the Protector on his protecting. Of its twelve members, six (including the Protector) were appointed by the governor, while the other six were elected by the colonists. A list of instructions for Protector Matthew Moorhouse (longer than those for Wyatt)

2193-508: The similar Manatunga settlement near Robinvale . (The Aborigines (Houses) Act 1959 made it clearer that the board could contract the Housing Commission to build houses on Board land). After severe criticism, in June 1964 the board lost its executive powers, and became an advisory body to the state government; though it still continued to administer Aboriginal affairs. In June 1965, the board

2244-559: The wake of WA's Fairburn Report . It was part of the Department of Police, and apart from its first year, was chaired by the Inspector-General of Police (later known as Commissioner of Police). The Aboriginal Protection Act 1909 was enacted in NSW on 1 June 1910. This reconstituted the board. It now reported to the colonial secretary , and had its purpose defined as being "to exercise a general supervision and care over all matters affecting

2295-544: Was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and March 1990. The department had its origins in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA), which was established by the Holt government in 1967 following a constitutional amendment that granted the federal government new powers. In 1972, the OAA was transformed into a separate government department, replacing

2346-417: Was appointed the first NSW Protector of Aborigines. Measures similar to those overseen by chief protectors in other states had previously occurred, usually being organised by either the Chief Secretary (Premier)'s department, or by the police. The Aborigines Protection Board was established to manage reserves and the welfare of the estimated 9000 Aboriginal people living in New South Wales on 2 June 1883 in

2397-417: Was created in 1911, and in the Jervis Bay Territory after its creation in 1915. The Aborigines Protection Amending Act 1915 greatly reduced the requirements needed for Aboriginal children to be removed. The Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act 1936 extended the powers of the board further, giving them complete control of Aborigines resident in NSW. The Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act 1940 created

2448-400: Was handling most of the policy and administrative matters relating to Aborigines. In May 1881, it was decided to abolish the small Aborigines Office. This would combine the administrative Sub-Protector position with the "Secretary to the Commissioner of Crown Lands" to become the "Secretary to the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Protector of Aborigines", with protection being a very small part of

2499-413: Was held on 2 March 1990 by staff, to mark the department's demise. Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders , the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the department's annual reports. According to the Administrative Arrangements Order issued 19 December 1972, at its creation, the Department

2550-408: Was published in 1839. The Aboriginal Orphans Act 1844 empowered the Protector to apprentice out orphan Aboriginal children and, with parental consent, other Aboriginal children until the age of 21. It also gave the Protector the right to visit children and to penalise employers who mistreated the apprentices. On Moorhouse's retirement in 1856, the SA government decided that it could no longer justify

2601-474: Was transferred from the Chief Secretary's Department to the Housing Department, with the Housing Minister gaining the title "Minister in Charge of Aboriginal Welfare". At this time, the Minister was given a similar role to that previously held by the Chairman. The board was now largely devoted to improving Aboriginal housing. A dedicated Minister was appointed in 1967. The board now had an increased focus on education, health and other welfare matters. The passing of

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