The Aboriginal
Protection Act 1869 was the first colonial law to establish a comprehensive system of
control over the lives
of Aboriginal people. The Aboriginal
Protection Act 1886, known as the ‘half-caste’ Act, commenced a policy
of forcibly removing Aboriginal people of mixed descent from Aboriginal
stations and reserves in Victoria. This inhumane policy of separating
families created widespread distress and dislocation, and led to the Aborigines
Act 1910 which reversed some of these policies. For more
information, click
here
The Victorian government agencies responsible over time were:
Chief
Protector of Aborigines 1838–1849
Guardian
of Aborigines 1849–1860
Central
Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of Aborigines
1860–1869
Board
for the Protection of Aborigines 1869–1957
Aborigines Welfare Board 1957-1968
These agencies kept
detailed records which are held at the Public Record Office of Victoria
(PROV) who have produced a guide to their holdings.
The policies and practices of these
agencies controlled nearly all parts of Aboriginal
people’s lives in Victoria, from the removal of children, rations,
access to health, education, employment and housing of Aboriginal people
on stations
and reserves.
Annual reports were
published from 1860 onwards, but the Board for the Protection of
Aborigines failed to report with gaps from 1912-1922 and
1926 until 1957, when the Aborigines Welfare Board came into existence.
List of reports >>
