Timeline of significant Events and Legislation in the History of Child Welfare in Western Australia
- 1840s
- 1850s
- 1860s
- 1870s
- 1880s
- 1890s
- 1900s
- 1910s
- 1920s
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 2010s
1840s
- Guardians to child immigrants Act, Crown Colony of Western Australia (1842)
- First child migration scheme (1842 - 1851)
- Aboriginal girls protection, Crown Colony of Western Australia (1844)
- Juvenile offender hanged (6 April 1844)
- Destitute Persons Relief Ordinance, Crown Colony of Western Australia (1845)
- Transportation of Convicts (1849 - 1868)
1850s
- First child migration scheme (1842 - 1851)
- Transportation of Convicts (1849 - 1868)
- Civil constabulary established (5 March 1853)
1860s
1870s
- New constitution and first elections in Western Australia (1870)
- Industrial Schools Act 1874, Crown Colony Western Australia
- Industrial Schools Act 1874 Amendment Act 1877, Crown Colony of Western Australia
1880s
- Industrial Schools Act Amendment Act 1882, Crown Colony of Western Australia
- Inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal Native Prisoners of the Crown, Crown Colony of Western Australia (1883)
- Committee to Consider the Capitation Grant for Orphanages, Crown Colony of Western Australia (1884)
- Aborigines Protection Act 1886, State of Western Australia
- Aborigines Act 1889, Crown Colony of Western Australia
1890s
- Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act 1893, Colony of Western Australia
- Adoption of Children Act 1896, Colony of Western Australia
- Aborigines Act 1897, Colony of Western Australia
- Health Act 1898, Colony of Western Australia
- Perth Zoo Opens (17 October 1898)
- Public Education Act 1899, Crown Colony of Western Australia
1900s
- Criminal Code Act 1902, State of Western Australia
- Royal Commission to Enquire into and Report Upon [inter alia] the Administration of the Aborigines Department and the Condition of the Natives, State of Western Australia (1904? - 1905)
- Public Education Amendment Act 1905, State of Western Australia
- Aborigines Act 1905, State of Western Australia
- State Children Act 1907, State of Western Australia
1910s
- Health Act 1911, State of Western Australia
- Aborigines Act Amendment Act 1911, State of Western Australia
- Child and Youth Migration (1913 - 1968)
- Select Committee of the Legislative Council on the State Children Act Amendment Bill, State of Western Australia (1918)
- Criminal Code Amendment Act 1918, State of Western Australia (24 December 1918)
- State Children Act Amendment Act 1919, State of Western Australia
1920s
- Child and Youth Migration (1913 - 1968)
- Adoption of Children Act Amendment Act 1921, State of Western Australia
- Empire Settlement Act, Commonwealth of Australia (1922)
- Adoption of Children Act Amendment Act 1926, State of Western Australia
- State Children Act Amendment Act 1927, State of Western Australia
- Education Act 1928, State of Western Australia (28 December 1928)
1930s
- Child and Youth Migration (1913 - 1968)
- The Salvation Army (Western Australia) Property Trust Act 1931, State Law Publisher of Western Australia (28 November 1931)
- Royal Commission to Investigate, Report and Advise upon Matters in Relation to the Condition and Treatment of Aborigines 1935, State of Western Australia (1934? - 1935)
- Native Administration Act 1936, State of Western Australia
1940s
- Child and Youth Migration (1913 - 1968)
- National Security (Overseas Children) Regulations 1940, Commonwealth of Australia (1940 - 1946)
- Native Administration Amendment Act 1941, State of Western Australia
- Child Welfare Act Amendment Act 1941, State of Western Australia (1942)
- Native (Citizenship Rights) Act 1944, State of Western Australia
- Adoption of Children Act Amendment Act 1945, State of Western Australia (1946)
- Care of Children Committee [United Kingdom] (1946)
- Child Welfare Act 1947, State of Western Australia
- Survey of Native Affairs 1947, State of Western Australia (1947 - 1948)
- Adoption of Children Act Amendment Act 1949, State of Western Australia
1950s
- Child and Youth Migration (1913 - 1968)
- Child Welfare Act Amendment Act 1952, State of Western Australia
- Adoption of Children Act Amendment Act (No. 2) 1953, State of Western Australia (1954)
- Native Welfare Act 1954, State of Western Australia
- Criminal Code Amendment Act (No. 2) 1956, State of Western Australia (18 December 1956)
- Child Welfare Act Amendment Act 1958, State of Western Australia
1960s
- Child and Youth Migration (1913 - 1968)
- Native Welfare Act Amendment Act 1960, State of Western Australia
- Child Welfare Act Amendment Act 1962, State of Western Australia
- Native Welfare Act 1963, State of Western Australia
- Adoption of Children Act Amendment Act 1964, State of Western Australia
- Criminal Code Amendment Act 1965, State of Western Australia (8 December 1965)
1970s
- Adoption of Children Act Amendment Act, 1971, State of Western Australia
- Native (Citizenship Rights) Act Repeal Act 1971, State of Western Australia
- Community Welfare Act 1972, State of Western Australia
- Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority Act 1972, State of Western Australia
- Adoption of Children Act Amendment Act 1973, State of Western Australia
- Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1976, State of Western Australia
- Child Welfare Amendment Act (No 2) 1976, State of Western Australia
1980s
- Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980, State of Western Australia
- Inquiry into Children in Institutional and Other Forms of Care (1982 - 1985)
- Child Abuse Review Panel (1984 - 1985)
- Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1985, State of Western Australia
- Child Sexual Abuse Task Force (1986 - 1987)
- Children's Court of Western Australia Act 1988, Western Australia
- National Inquiry into Homeless Children, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1989)
1990s
- Adoption Act 1994, State of Western Australia
- Adoption Regulations 1995, State of Western Australia
- National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families (1995 - 1997)
- Select Committee into Child Migration, Legislative Assembly, Parliament of Western Australia (1996)
- Apology to Aboriginal Families by the Parliament of Western Australia (28 May 1997)
- Inquiry into the Welfare of Former British Child Migrants, House of Commons Health Committee, Parliament of the United Kingdom (1997 - 1998)
2000s
- Inquiry into child migration (2000 - 2001)
- Inquiry into Response by Government Agencies to Complaints of Family Violence and Child Abuse in Aboriginal Communities (2001 - 2002)
- Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care, Parliament of Australia (2003 - 2005)
- Working with Children (Criminal Record Checking) Act 2004, State of Western Australia
- Children and Community Services Act 2004, State of Western Australia
- Working with Children (Criminal Record Checking) Regulations 2005, Strate of Western Australia
- Children and Community Services Regulations 2006, State of Western Australia
- Inquiry into Stolen Wages, Commonwealth of Australia (2006)
- Taskforce to Identify the scope and extent of the 'stolen wages' issue, and to suggest policy options and administration issues [Stolen Wages Taskforce] (2007 - 2008)
- Parental Support and Responsibility Act 2008, State of Western Australia
- Inquiry into the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Lost Innocents and Forgotten Australians Reports (2008 - 2009)
- Redress WA, State of Western Australia (2008 - 2011)
- Australian Parliament Apology to the Stolen Generations (13 February 2008)
- Parental Support and Responsibility (Disclosure of Information) Guidelines 2009, State of Western Australia
- Parental Support and Responsibility Regulations 2009, State of Western Australia
- Australian Parliament Apology to Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants (16 November 2009)
2010s
- Redress WA, State of Western Australia (2008 - 2011)
- Apology to Former Child Migrants by the British Government (24 February 2010)
- Removal of Children from Unmarried Mothers - Apology by the Parliament of Western Australia (19 October 2010)
- Apology by the General of the Salvation Army General Shaw Clifton, to care leavers of Salvation Army homes (7 December 2010)
- Commonwealth Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices (2011 - 2012)
- Special Inquiry into St Andrew's Hostel [Katanning], State of Western Australia (2011 - 2012)
- Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Commonwealth Government (2012 - )
- Stolen Wages Reparation Scheme WA, State of Western Australia (2012 - )
- On their own: Britain's child migrants (2012)
- Apology by the government of Western Australia to the victims of abuse at St Andrew's Hostel, Katanning (19 September 2012)
- Country High School Hostels Ex Gratia Scheme (2012 - )
- Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry [Northern Ireland] (2013 - )
Last updated: 25 March 2013
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/wa/timeline.html
First published by the Find and Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Australia License