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Glossary Term Protector of Aborigines (1832 - 1954)

From
1832
To
1954
Categories
Government Department and Stolen Generations
Alternative Names
  • Aborigines Protection Board (1887 - 1897)
  • Chief Protector of Aborigines (1897 - 1936)
  • Commissioner of Native Affairs (1936 - 1954)
  • Commissioner of Native Welfare (1954 - 1972)
  • Guardian of Aborigines (1849 - 1857)
  • Guardian of Aborigines and Protector of Settlers (1857 - 1887)
  • Protector of Aborigines (1839 - 1849)
  • Superintendent of Natives (1832 - 1838)

Summary

Please note that this page reproduces the original language used in the historical sources drawn upon to compile this entry. This language includes offensive and derogatory terms which are today considered unacceptable. We apologise for any offence caused by such language.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this website may contain images and names of people who have passed away.

The 'Bringing them Home Report' shows that an Aborigines Protection Board was set up in 1886 to be 'responsible for the care, custody and education of Aboriginal children.' From 1905 to 1963, the 'Chief Protector' and later the 'Commissioner of Native Welfare' became 'the legal guardian of all Aboriginal children (except State wards after 1954)'. The 'Aborigines Department', until 1963, was responsible for the 'custody, maintenance and education' of Aboriginal children. p.226

'Protection' included the power to remove and 'confine' children. 'After 1909 the removal power in relation to 'half-caste' children under eight years [was] delegated to police protectors and Justices of the Peace.' By making the Chief Protector or Board their guardian, 'they were not in law guilty of wrongful imprisonment of Indigenous children' p.220-221.

Details

There was a significant divergence between the imported British notions of fairness and liberty and the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Australia. The major components of forcible removal were,

  • 1. deprivation of liberty by detaining children and confining them in institutions;
  • 2. abolition of parental rights by taking the children and by making children wards of the Chief Protector or Aborigines Protection Board or by assuming custody and control;
  • 3. abuses of power in the removal process; and
  • 4. breach of guardianship obligations on the part of Protectors, Protection Boards and other 'carers'.
Bringing Them Home Report, p.218

Skip to

Publications

Books

  • Jacobs, Pat, Mister Neville: a biography, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle, 1990. Details

Book Sections

  • van den Berg, Rosemary, 'Aboriginal protectors', in Gregory, Jenny and Jan Gothard [editors] (eds), Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, Crawley, W.A., 2009, pp. Pages 36-37. Details

Newspaper Articles

Reviews

  • White, Isobel, 'Mister Neville: A Biography [Book Review]', A review of Pat Jacobs' 1990 biography of the long-serving Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia., Aboriginal History, vol. 16, 1992, pp. 155-156. Details

Online Resources

Gallery

Title
Aborigines Protection Act 1886 (WA)
Type
Document
Date
1886

Details

Title
Long Service Ending: Mr AO Neville to Retire
Type
Image
Date
6 February 1940
Source
National Library of Australia

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Bringing Them Home: The 'Stolen Children' Report (1997), 2011, http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/bth_report/index.html.

Prepared by: Debra Rosser

Created: 4 January 2012, Last modified: 22 March 2012