The Department of Aboriginal Affairs (Western Australia) is the former government authority that was involved with the matters of the Aboriginal population of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
Aborigines Protection Board
Prior to the creation of the Aborigines Department in 1898, there had been an
Aborigines Protection Board
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 hi ...
, which operated between 1 January 1886 and 1 April 1898 as a
Statutory authority. It was created by the ''Aborigines Protection Act 1886'' (WA), also known as the ''
Half-caste act'', ''An Act to provide for the better protection and management of the Aboriginal natives of Western Australia, and to amend the law relating to certain contracts with such Aboriginal natives'' (statute 25/1886); ''An Act to provide certain matters connected with the Aborigines'' (statute 24/1889).
The Board was replaced in 1898 by the Aborigines Department.
Current status
The department took its current name in May 2013.
On 28 April 2017 Premier
Mark McGowan
Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party.
McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...
announced that Western Australia's 41 departments would be reduced to 25 departments by 1 July 2017. The departments of Planning, Lands, Heritage and the Aboriginal heritage and land functions of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs amalgamated on 1 July 2017, forming the
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
. The Department of the Premier and Cabinet assumed responsibility for Aboriginal Affairs policy.
Agencies
* Aborigines Department - 1 Apr 1898 ~ 31 Dec 1908
* Department of Aborigines and Fisheries - 1 Jan 1909 ~ 1 Jan 1920
* Aborigines Department - 1 January 1926 – 1 January 1936
* Department of the North West - 1 January 1920 – 1 January 1926
* Fisheries Department - 1 January 1920 – 1 September 1964
* Department of Native Affairs - 1 January 1936 - 31 December 1954
* Department of Native Welfare - 1 January 1955 - 16 June 1972
* Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority - 16 June 1972 - 31 October 1994
* Aboriginal Affairs Department - 1 November 1994 - 30 June 2001
* Department of Indigenous Affairs - 1 July 2001 - 16 May 2013
* Department of Aboriginal Affairs - 2013 - 2017
* Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) 2017-
See also
*
Protector of Aborigines
The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836.
The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...
Notes
External links
{{Official website, www.wa.gov.au/service/aboriginal-affairs
Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians in Western Australia