The Apprenticeship Act 1828, also known as ‘An Act for enabling persons holding certain Public Offices in New South Wales to take Apprentices to serve under them and their Successors in Office and for regulating all matters relating to Masters and Apprentices’, [98/1828 (9 Geo. IV No.8)] allowed apprentices to be bound, as well as…
The Deserted Wives and Children Act 1840 [10/1840 (4 Vic. No.5)] was created to protect women and children who had been ‘deserted’ by their husbands or fathers, and left without financial support. It included ‘illegitimate’ as well as legitimate children in its terms, so long as proving paternity didn’t rest only on the mother’s oath….
The State Children Relief Act 1896 amended the State Children Relief Act 1881 to provide clearer regulations around the boarding out and apprenticeship of state children. It provided for state children to be cared for in cottage homes, and created a system for dealing with the money earned by apprentices. It also allowed children to…
The Adoption Information Act 1990 (63/1990) was ‘An Act to allow greater access to information relating to adoptions’. It was an important piece of legislation that reversed much of the secrecy relating to adoptions. This act improved the rights of all people involved in adoption to access information and created registers so adoptees and relinquishing…
The Deserted Wives and Children Act (17/1901) was ‘An Act to consolidate the enactments relating to Deserted Wives and Children.’ It was created to ensure men supported their wives and children. Deserting a wife or child was made a criminal offence in the Crimes Act 1900. Initially this Act permitted orders to be made for…
The Family Endowment Act 1927, passed by the Lang Labor government, introduced a new payment to families in New South Wales. Family endowment was a flat rate paid to all non-Aboriginal families, irrespective of circumstances and is considered the first universal welfare payment made in Australia. It made a significant difference to the wellbeing of…
The Adoption Act 2000 (75/2000) was ‘an Act with respect to the adoption of children and access of information relating to an adoption; to repeal the Adoption of Children Act 1965 and the Adoption Information Act 1990; to amend the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 with respect to registration of adoptions and adopted…
The Infants’ Custody and Settlements Act (39/1899) was also known as ‘An Act to consolidate the law relating to the custody of infants and the settlement of the property of infants’. This Act brought a number of previous pieces of legislation, to do with custody, marriage settlements, and damages recovered on behalf of children, under…
The Infant Convicts Act 1849 [21/1849 (13 Vic. No.21)], also known as ‘An Act to provide for the Care and Education of Infants who may be convicted of Felony or Misdemeanour’, allowed judges and magistrates to make custody orders, and send children into the care of other adults, when sentencing children convicted of crimes. It…
The Custody of Children and Children’s Settlements Act 1894 enabled courts to refuse a parents’ application for the return of a child if the court was of the opinion that the parent has abandoned or deserted or neglected the child or otherwise so conducted himself or herself that the court should refuse to enforce the…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
