Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910

The Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910 was an Act of the South Australian parliament (Act no. 1024/1910), assented to on 7 December 1910. On 1 January 1911, the Northern Territory was transferred from South Australia to federal control. The Act was repealed by the federal government's Aboriginals Ordinance 1918 on 13 June 1918, which carried forward many of the provisions of the 1910 Act.

Description

The Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910 was an Act of the South Australian parliament (Act no. 1024/1910), assented to on 7 December 1910.[1] On 1 January 1911, the Northern Territory was transferred from South Australia to federal government control.[2]

The Act established the Northern Territory Aboriginals Department and created the office of Chief Protector of Aborigines. The department was responsible for the control and welfare of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Under the Act, the Chief Protector of Aborigines was appointed the "legal guardian of every Aboriginal and every half-caste child up to the age of 18 years", and had the power to confine such children to an Aboriginal reserve or institution. The Act provided the legal basis for enforcing segregation. That is, Indigenous children could be removed by Administrative order, whereas non-Indigenous children at the time could only be removed by order of a Court.[3]

The Act allowed for regulations to be made for the "care, custody and education of the children of aboriginals". This included the power to transfer children to "aboriginal institutions" and "industrial schools". The Act was the first and only legislation passed in South Australia which related to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.

Aboriginals Ordinance 1918

The Act was repealed by the Aboriginals Ordinance 1918 (Act No. 9/1918) on 13 June 1918, which combined and replaced the Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910 and the Commonwealth Aboriginals Ordinance 1911. The 1918 Ordinance was amended 18 times over the following decades, and was repealed by the Welfare Ordinance 1953.[4]

Many of the provisions of the 1910 Act carried forward into the 1918 Ordinance, including the power to transfer Aboriginal children into institutions.

Under the Aboriginals Ordinance 1918, the Chief Protector was also given total control of all Indigenous women regardless of their age, unless married to a man who was "substantially of European origin", and his approval was required for any marriage of an Indigenous woman to a non-Indigenous man.[5]

Between 1918 and 1921, large areas of the Territory and adjacent states were classified as Aboriginal reserves and sanctuaries for remaining nomadic populations who had hitherto had little contact with white Australia. In 1920, the area including Uluru, in Anangu territory, was declared an Aboriginal Reserve under the Aboriginals Ordinance.

In 1953, the Aboriginals Ordinance 1953 amended the Aboriginals Ordinance 1918 (NT). This empowered the Director of Native Affairs (previously Chief Protector of Aborigines until changed by the Aboriginals Ordinance 1939) with legal guardianship of all "aboriginals", thus making them wards of the state. He would also oversee many matters relevant to the lives of Aboriginal people.[6]

See also

References
  1. "The Northern Territory Aboriginals Act (No 1024 of 1910)". Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  2. Walker, David (1999). Anxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia, 1850–1939. University of Queensland Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0702231315.
  3. Chapter 13 Grounds for Reparation. Bringing them home. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. April 1997. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  4. "Aboriginals Ordinance No. 9 of 1918 (Cth)". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  5. "The History: Northern Territory" (PDF). Sydney, Australia: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. December 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2008.
  6. "Aboriginals Ordinance 1953 (Legislation - Northern Territory)". Find & Connect. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.