Edward and William Harris were part of a delegation [vii] who fought the effects of the Act and advocated for Aboriginal people to be given basic civil rights like other Australians. This included the right to education in state schools not just token education. Deputation to the Premier Kickett and William Bodney. Front left to right : Edward Harris and William Harris.
Courtesy of Corrie Bodney and Claremont Museum, Subsequent legislation of and caught more Aboriginal people within its control and maintained the requirement for certificates of citizenship. A certificate of citizenship had to be obtained in order to get work. Noongar people were subsequently forced to renounce their identity to become an Australian citizen. You could not be a Noongar person and an Australian citizen at the same time.
It meant that some members in families were classed as citizens and had the same rights as European citizens, whilst others did not.
This created tensions within Noongar families. In , the Coolbaroo League Noongar word: Kulbardi was established. Instead, the Act laid the basis for the development of a repressive and coercive state control over Aboriginal people in Western Australia, as described by Anna Haebich in her excellent book For Their Own Good: Aborigines and Government in the South West of Western Australia p.
It set up the necessary bureaucratic and legal mechanisms to control all their contacts with the wider community, to enforce the assimilation of their children and to determine the most personal aspects of their lives. No provision was made for Aborigines to be consulted over decisions made on their behalf: they were simply expected to submit to these outside controls over their lives… Rather than promoting their advancement the Act drove a wedge between them and the wider community and served to hamper their efforts to make their own way of life.
The Act created an Aborigines Department under the control of the Chief Protector of Aborigines, who reported to the relevant Minister. The Department was:. The Act gave sweeping powers to the Chief Protector and to the honorary protectors he appointed to act in local districts.
The Chief Protector shall be the legal guardian of every aboriginal and half-caste child until such child attains the age of sixteen years.
As legal guardian, the Chief Protector had the right to take any Aboriginal child from their family and send them to missions or other institutions. With the approval of the Minister, he was allowed to:. The Act created the position of Chief Protector of Aborigines who became the legal guardian of every Aboriginal child to the age of 16 years, and permitted authorities to 'send and detain' Aboriginal children in institutions and in 'service' work.
The Aborigines Act remained in force as the key piece of legislation governing matters relating to Aboriginal people for nearly 60 years in Western Australia. It was described by Tilbrook in Nyungar Tradition p. The Act s. Its effects on children and families were particularly intrusive. Regional protectors to be appointed with power to grant permits for employment of Aboriginal males less than 14 years and Aboriginal females. No person to remove any 'aboriginal', any male 'half-caste' under 16, or any female 'half-caste' without the written authority of a protector.
The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs may remove 'aboriginals' from one reserve or district to another reserve or district. The marriage of an 'aboriginal' woman and a non-Aboriginal man requires the permission of the Chief Protector. Its effects on children and families were particularly intrusive.
Regional protectors to be appointed with power to grant permits for employment of Aboriginal males less than 14 years and Aboriginal females.
No person to remove any 'aboriginal', any male 'half-caste' under 16, or any female 'half-caste' without the written authority of a protector. The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs may remove 'aboriginals' from one reserve or district to another reserve or district.
The marriage of an 'aboriginal' woman and a non-Aboriginal man requires the permission of the Chief Protector. Minister may exempt 'aboriginals' from the Act but an exemption could be cancelled at any time. Regulations may be made for 'the care, custody and education of the children of aborigines and half-castes' and 'enabling any aboriginal or half-caste child to be sent to and detained in an aboriginal institution, industrial school or orphanage'.
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