Aboriginal Protection Board, also known as Aborigines Protection Board, Board for the Protection of Aborigines, Aborigines Welfare Board (and in later sources, incorrectly as Aboriginal Welfare Board), and similar names, refers to a number of historical Australian state-run institutions with the function of regulating the lives of Aboriginal Australians. They were also responsible for administering the various half-caste acts where these existed and had a key role in the Stolen Generations. The boards had nearly ultimate control over Aboriginal people's lives.
Protectors of Aborigines were appointed by the Board under the conditions laid down in the various Acts. In theory, protectors of Aborigines were often empowered to undertake legal proceedings on behalf of Aboriginal people, dictate where Aboriginal people could live or work, and keep all wages earned by employed Aboriginals. The exact powers varied over time and by jurisdiction.
As the boards had limited funds, protectors received very limited remuneration. A range of people were appointed as local protectors, including resident magistrates, jail wardens, justices of the peace and, in some cases ministers of religion, though most were local police inspectors. The minutes of the boards show they mostly dealt with matters of requests from religious bodies for financial relief and reports from resident or police magistrates pertaining to trials and convictions of Aboriginal people under their jurisdiction.
Aboriginal protection boards also issued permits to allow Aboriginal people the right to leave their respective missions and reserves and enter the mainstream society for a set period of time.
History
Victoria
The Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of the Aborigines was established in 1860. This was replaced by the Victorian Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines in 1869 (via the Aboriginal Protection Act 1869), making Victoria the first colony to enact comprehensive regulations on the lives of Aboriginal Victorians. The board exerted an extraordinary level of control over people's lives including regulation of residence, slavery as employment, marriage, social life and other aspects of daily life.
The Victorian Half-Caste Act of 1886 gave the Board extensive new powers over the lives of Aboriginal people, including regulation of residence, employment and marriage.
In particular, the 1886 Act started to remove Aboriginal people of mixed descent, known as "half-castes", from Aboriginal stations or reserves to force them to assimilate into European society. These expulsions separated families and communities, causing distress and leading to protest. Nevertheless, the board refused to assist the expelled people. It was assumed that the expulsions would lead to the decline in the population of the reserves and their eventual closure.
The Aborigines Act 1910 increased the rights of Aboriginal people in Victoria.
The board was abolished in 1957 by the Aborigines Act 1957.
The Aboriginal Lands Act 1970 gave recognition of Aboriginal people's right to land. Under this Act the deeds of land at the Lake Tyers Mission and Framlingham reserves were transferred to the communities.
New South Wales
The New South Wales Board for the Protection of Aborigines was established in 1883 and was reconstituted under the Aborigines Protection Act 1909 with wide ranging control over the lives of Aboriginal people, including the power to remove children from families because their parents were Aboriginals, as was written on many of the files, and the power to dictate where Aboriginal people lived to ensure protection from violent colonialists and provide education in the face of European opposition (McCallum, 2008). It also controlled their freedom of movement and personal finances. In particular, Aboriginal children could be removed from their homes and families and taken into care to be raised like white children, thus starting the Stolen Generations. The 1911 amendment to the Aboriginal Protection Act established Kinchela Boys Home and Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls. Aboriginal children were removed from their homes for various welfare reasons and transported to Kinchela and Cootamundra, where they were often abused and neglected while being taught farm labouring and domestic work, many of them ending up as servants in the homes of wealthy Sydney residents.
In 1915, the Aborigines Protection Amending Act 1915 gave the Board authority to remove Aboriginal children "without having to establish in court that they were neglected."