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The ''Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910'' was an Act of the
South Australian parliament The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are h ...
(Act no. 1024/1910), assented to on 7 December 1910. The Act established the Northern Territory Aboriginals Department, to be responsible for the control and welfare of
Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
in the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
, and created the office of
Chief 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 ...
. On 1 January 1911, the Northern Territory was transferred from South Australia to
federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
control. The 1910 Act was repealed by the federal government's ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1918'' on 13 June 1918, which nevertheless carried forward many of the provisions of the 1910 Act. A 1939 amendment replaced the position of Chief Protector with Director of Native Affairs. The ''Welfare Ordinance 1953'' repealed the ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1918'', coming into force in 1957, along with the ''Wards Employment Ordinance 1953'', together making all
Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
in the Territory
wards of the state In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court". Overview The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient ju ...
, with the government having control over many aspects of their lives. With this act, the new position of Director of Welfare replaced the Director of Native Affairs. Each of these laws gave the state the power to place children in institutions, which contributed to the situation of people later dubbed part of the
Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...
. The 1953 Ordinances were repealed by the ''Social Welfare Ordinance 1964'', which removed many of the restrictions over the lives of Aboriginal people.


Description

The ''Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910'' was an Act of the South Australian parliament (Act no. 1024/1910), assented to on 7 December 1910. On 1 January 1911, the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
was transferred from South Australia to
federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
control. The Act established the Northern Territory Aboriginals Department and created the office of Chief Protector of Aborigines. The department was responsible for the control and welfare of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Under the Act, the Chief Protector of Aborigines was appointed the "
legal guardian A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, call ...
of every Aboriginal and every
half-caste Half-caste (an offensive term for the offspring of parents of different racial groups or cultures) is a term used for individuals of multiracial descent. It is derived from the term ''caste'', which comes from the Latin ''castus'', meaning pu ...
child up to the age of 18 years", and had the power to confine such children to an
Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...
or institution. The Act provided the legal basis for enforcing segregation. That is, Indigenous children could be removed by Administrative order, whereas non-Indigenous children at the time could only be removed by order of a Court. The Act allowed for regulations to be made for the "care, custody and education of the children of aboriginals". This included the power to transfer children to "aboriginal institutions" and "industrial schools". The Act was the first and only legislation passed in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
which related to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.


''Aboriginals Ordinance 1918''

The Act was repealed by the ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1918'' (Act No. 9/1918) on 13 June 1918, which combined and replaced the ''Northern Territory Aboriginals Act 1910'' and the Commonwealth ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1911''. The 1918 Ordinance was amended 18 times over the following decades, and was eventually repealed by the ''Welfare Ordinance 1953''. Many of the provisions of the 1910 Act carried forward into the 1918 Ordinance, including the power to transfer Aboriginal children into institutions. Under the ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1918'', the Chief Protector was also given total control of all Indigenous women regardless of their age, unless married to a man who was "substantially of European origin", and his approval was required for any marriage of an Indigenous woman to a non-Indigenous man. Between 1918 and 1921, large areas of the Territory and adjacent states were classified as Aboriginal reserves and sanctuaries for remaining nomadic populations who had hitherto had little contact with white Australia. In 1920, the area including
Uluru Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially Gazette#Gazette as a verb, gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone geological formation, formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the ...
, in Anangu territory, was declared an Aboriginal Reserve under the ''Aboriginals Ordinance''. The ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1939'' changed the title and position known as
Chief 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 ...
to "Director of Native Affairs".


1953 Amendment

In 1953, the ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1953'' (Act no. 7/1953) amended the ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1918'' empowering the Director of Native Affairs with
legal guardianship A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, calle ...
of all "aboriginals", thus making them
wards of the state In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court". Overview The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient ju ...
. There was a change in definition of "aboriginal" in this amendment, in that it excluded reference to "half-caste".


''Welfare Ordinance 1953''

From 1951,
Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding min ...
, the Commonwealth Minister for Territories, was responsible for drafting a new bill. This became the ''Welfare Ordinance 1953'' (Act No. 16/1953), which repealed the ''Aboriginals Ordinance 1918'' and its amendments, was passed on 15 July 1953, but did not commence until 13 May 1957. Under this Act, the position of Director of Native Affairs was replaced by a Director of Welfare, who still exerted as much control over the lives of Aboriginal people as his predecessors. At the same time, the ''Wards Employment Ordinance 1953'' was enacted, although this too did not come into operation until 1957. The 1953 Ordinance was different from the 1918 Ordinance in that it did not once refer to any racial category, avoiding the term "Aborigines" altogether within its text. It has been seen as part of his model for
cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. The different types of cultural assi ...
of Aboriginal people into the white population. It was clear that the provisions applied to Aboriginal people though, by specifying that nobody who was entitled to vote could be declared a ward; at the time, this meant that it could only apply to Aboriginal people. The Director had authority over the property of all wards, his consent was needed for wards to marry, and wards were not allowed to live with a "non-ward" unless they were related. The Director could authorise police to remove children from their parents, and put children into institutions, including interstate. Two high-profile cases attracted widespread criticism of these ordinances. One was the a man called Mick Daly, charged with cohabiting with a ward, Gladys Namagu, when they wanted to marry. The other was the conviction of famous artist
Albert Namatjira Albert Namatjira (born Elea Namatjira; 28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959) was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential Australian artists. As a pioneer of cont ...
for supplying alcohol to a ward, as he had been (against his wishes) been given an honorary exemption from the Register of Wards. Namatjira appealed against the conviction to the
Supreme Court of the Northern Territory The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory is the superior court for the Australian Territory of the Northern Territory. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. It is aro ...
(with his defence supported by the
Council for Aboriginal Rights The Council for Aboriginal Rights (CAR) was founded in Melbourne in 1951 in order to improve rights for Indigenous Australians. Although based in the state of Victoria, it was a national organisation and its influence was felt throughout Australi ...
in Victoria). The Supreme Court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence from six to three months. The
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...
refused an application to appeal, and there was widespread sympathy for Namatjira and negative publicity about the operation of the Ordinance both at home and abroad. The law was never properly debated in Parliament, and only finally lost its force after Aboriginal people gained franchise rights in both Commonwealth and Northern Territory in 1961. There were several amendments to the ''Welfare Ordinance 1953'' (each named "''Welfare Ordinance yyy'") before it was repealed by the ''Social Welfare Ordinance 1964'' (Act no. 31/1964) on 15 September 1964, which had much fewer restrictions over Aboriginal people.


See also

* ''
Kruger v Commonwealth In ''Kruger v Commonwealth'', decided in 1997, also known as the Stolen Generation Case, the High Court of Australia rejected a challenge to the validity of legislation applying in the Northern Territory between 1918 and 1957 which authorise ...
'' (1997), in which the High Court found that the 1918 Ordinance was beneficial in intent *
Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...


References

{{reflist Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory History of the Northern Territory South Australia legislation