Resource Section

Title

Bill - Mental Deficiency. Second Reading [Hansard p739-747]

In

Hansard Archive 1870 to 1995

Imprint

Parliament of Western Australia, 17 September 1929

Url

https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Hansard/hansard1870to1995.nsf/83cc4ce93b5d4e0b48257b33001cfef6/341F55B19BB020C248257A5300146E79/$File/19290917_Assembly.pdf

Description

See pages 739-747 of the excerpt. 'Bill - Mental Deficiency. Second Reading' is an excerpt from the digital copies of the Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) of the Legislative Assembly of the Western Australian Parliament. The second reading gives insight into the purpose of the Bill, how it was developed and what the government hoped to achieve from the legislation. The second reading includes other speeches and questions which give more information about how the members of parliament felt about the legislation. This second reading mentions how children with 'mental deficiency' were treated in Western Australia.

Related Entries

Events

• Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly on the Mental Deficiency Bill (1929)

Glossary Terms

• Borderline Defective (1920s - 1950s)

  p.742

• Feeble-Minded (1920s - 1950s)

  p.742

• Idiot (1920s - 1940s)

  p.742

• Imbecile (1920s - 1940s)

  p.742

• Moral Defective (1920s - 1950s)

  p.742

• Ward (1927 - 2004)

  In his explanation of the Mental Deficiency Bill in 1929, the Minister for Public Health gave examples of children who had been made wards of the State because of ‘mental deficiency’ in their family background (p.741). These examples show the lack of options and support available to families.