Life before the Mabo case was hard, throughout the 19th century white settlers gradually moved the aboriginal people off their land and into reserves. The Indigenous population were forced to experience dispossession and paternalism. In strictly legal terms they did not exist. Discriminatory policies such as the 'White Australia' policy and 'Assimilation' policy were imposed. In September 1901 the Australian government introduced the white Australian policy, trying to ban all non- caucasian people from entering the country. The assimilation approach was outlined in 1937. It presumed that Indigenous Australians could enjoy the same standard of living as white Australians if they were absorbed into white society. An example of a failed case would be the 1963 Bark Petitions, historic Australian documents that were the first traditional
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
The assimilation policy was brought into the aboriginal community in 1937, by numerous commonwealth and state government representatives. This policy aimed to make the aboriginals of Australia conform to the custom and traditions of the white Australians of British origin. When the policy was brought in it only applied to people of mixed decent, people who are part European and aboriginal. In1951 the assimilation policy changed to state all aboriginals shall attain the same manner of living as other Australians. Again in 1965 the policy was adjusted, but continued to apply to all aboriginal people. Aboriginal people of Australia have always had a strong connection with the land, each other and their religion. In 1960 the assimilation policy was declared a failure; through out the previous years surprisingly the community of aboriginals had continued to grow. This was to the white people, a sign of their strength, their traditions and how they as a community will continue to fight for their rights. While they still continued to grow in number
“The status of Indigenous health in contemporary Australia is a result of historic factors as well as contemporary socio-economic issues” (Hampton & Toombs, 2013, p. 1). The poor health position of Indigenous Australians is a contemporary reflection of their historical treatment as Australia’s traditional owners. This treatment has led to Indigenous
Assimilation policies existed in purpose of allowing the removal of Aboriginal children legal and believed as to be the right thing. The removal policy was managed by the Aborigines Protection Board. The Aborigines Protection Board was a government board established in 1909 with the power to remove children without parental consent and without a court order. These policies were especially detrimental to the Aborigines as a ‘government’ act prevented them with having authority over their own children and having no power in stopping the abducting of their children. Over causing a significant discrimination against the indigenous race, breeding hatred and inequality in Australian society, the implementation of these policies caused immense heartache and anguish for the Aboriginal parents for losing their children, the children of the Stolen Generation experiencing solitude and confusion for majority of their lives and the rest of society,
Discuss the impacts of European settlement on the Indigenous people of Australia Intro: -European settlement had a devastating and severe impact on Indigenous people. The deposition of their land, involvement in violent conflict and exposure to new diseases, resulted in the death of a vast number of Indigenous people. For the small population that did survive through this period of time, their lives were irreversibly changed, forever
Samuel Brown – 3100913 Indigenous Studies – Assessment 3 Topic 4: The relationship between the social work profession and Indigenous people has been a problematic one. Discuss with reference to Stolen Generations. Social work is a complex and broad field and the relationship between social workers and Indigenous Australians can be equally intricate
Aboriginal History and Culture Aborigines are believed to have lived in Australia for between 60,000 and 40,000 years, their early ancestors coming from South-East Asia. Precise population details for the period before European colonisation are unavailable, but it is estimated that there were between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aborigines in Australia when European settlers first arrived in 1788.
The policy of assimilation of Aboriginal people was first developed in 1937, by all of the Australian States and the Commonwealth Government during the Aboriginal Welfare conference. During the course of the meeting, the Western Australian Chief Aboriginal Protector, Auber Octavius Neville, concluded that, “In 50 years we should forget
The Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) was a law that changed Indigenous Australian lives forever. The act enabled the New South Wales Board for the Protection of Aborigines to essentially control the lives of Aboriginal people. It was the Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) that had major provisions that resulted in the containment and suffering that Aboriginal people endured. This suffering included the practice of forcible removing Indigenous children from their families. These major provisions help us understand what the Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) involved and the impact it has had on the daily lives and cultures of Indigenous Australian peoples today.
After many years of European settlement in Australia, many Aboriginal people had been removed from their families and placed into schools with white Australians. This was due to the ‘protection policy’ laws that encouraged the removal of Indigenous children. Because fewer indigenous children were able to learn about their own culture, there was a slow decline in the culture of the indigenous people. As a result of this, there were continued tensions between the free settlers and Indigenous people as they had no roles in the government and couldn’t vote. This made them feel as if they were excluded from greater society and had long term negative impacts upon their sense of belonging to the new
The Australian Indigenous community hold extremely significant corrections to the land of Australia, of which they refer to as ‘Country.’ Indigenous people acquire deep meaning from the land, sea and the countless resources derived from them. This special relationship has formed for many centuries. To them ‘Country’ is paramount for overall wellbeing; the strong, significant, spiritual bonds embody their entire existence. Knowledge is continually passed down to create an unbroken connection of past,
From 1910 to 1970 Indigenous children were taken from their home due to the policy called assimilation by the government (Australians Together, no date).Australians Together is a social group helping to see better relationships between indigenous and nonindigenous
Governments soon felt that to banish Indigenous Australians, the children needed to be removed from their family and assimilated with non-indigenous families, believing this was the best option to breed out the aboriginal race and to fit them into mainstream society.
At the turn of the twentieth century the systematic forced removal of Aboriginal children from their mothers, families and cultural heritage was commonplace. There were several reasons that the government and white society used to justify the separation but the prevailing ideology of nationalism and maintaining Australia for the ‘whites’ was the over-riding motivation and justification for their actions[1]. Progressive sciences such as anthropology espoused such theories as eugenics, miscegenation, biological absorption and assimilation which legitimated governmental policies relating to Aboriginal affairs[2]. It was