The Aboriginal and Islanders Advancement Department was created on 16 January 1975. Previously known as the Aboriginal and Island Affairs Department the main difference was that people now had to apply for a ‘Certificate of Entitlement’ in order to come under the Act. The Department ran the Kowanyama Mission from 1975 to 1984. In 1984, the Department was abolished when the Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 and the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 were passed.
On 16 Jan 1975 the name of the Aboriginal and Island Affairs Department was changed to the Aboriginal and Islander Advancement Department. From 1977 to 1980 the Department was established as a portfolio in its own right.
Previous administrations had emphasised protection and preservation of the Aborigines through assimilation into the broader white community; later a policy of equality with the white community was implemented whereby, instead of seeking ‘exemption’ from the provision of the Act, people had to apply for a ‘Certificate of Entitlement’ in order to come under the Act. The term ‘assisted Aborigines’ was abolished.
The overall policy of the Aboriginal and Islander Advancement Department remained the same as the previous one, with an emphasis on the “rapid development of Communities allied to a continuing expansion of the responsibility assumed by Community Advisory Councils”. In 1978 the Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act 1978 provided some communities (Aurukun and Mornington Island) with limited local government status. In 1982 the Land Act (Aboriginal and Islander Land Grants) Amendment Act 1982 allowed for the granting of land in trust to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Aboriginal and Islanders Advancement Department was abolished when the Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 and the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 were passed.