Aboriginal Australia 1900-1945

As a large amount of white settlers moved into Australia they began to occupy the fertile land. The Aborigines were pushed further and further away from their traditional lands and into the harsh arid interior. Their families were broken up, their children taken away from them and sent to be "civilised", their sacred sites destroyed and their wild animals hunted.

The killing and exploitation of Aborigines by whites continued well into the twentieth century. The aboriginal population declined from the original 300,000 when the first white settlers arrived to only about 60,000 people during the early twentieth century. It is true to say that Aborigines were second class citizens in their own land.

With the exception of the remote parts of Australia, by 1901 Aborigines had lost control over their land. They had no control over their future, their culture was ignored and Aboriginal languages were becoming distinct and regarded with disrespect. State laws were aimed at isolating Aborig

In the final years of the war, citizenship rights began to be made available to Aboriginal Australians if they applied for certificates and met certain conditions. Certificates could be taken away for over consuming alcohol, contracting certain viruses or diseases that could effect the white population or not adopting ‘civilised white man habits’. Few Aboriginal people accepted this offer.

In 1911, when the Commonwealth government of Australia took control of the Northern Territory, it also gained responsibility for a significant proportion of the Aboriginal population. However, no immediate benefits were oncoming, with the federal government also following a policy of protection and regulating every aspect of Aboriginal life. The Aborigines experienced discrimination, the destruction of the tribal system, poor levels of pay and working conditions and a lack of social welfare.

The treatment of Aborignes following the end of world war 1varied from each state. In New South Wales and Victoria the policy of each state government was to eject Aborigines out of the current reserves they were living in, and into white society. In the Northern Territory and Western Australia, Aborigines continued to live in reserves. Here their lives were constantly controlled by white officers, few of which were qualified for the job. The white officers had absolute control over every Aborigine whom lived on their reserve. However it was in the outback cattle farms where Aborigines suffered from excessive exploitation. They worked from dusk to dawn, and were paid wages which barely sustained life. Aboriginal accommodation was isolated from that of the white stockmen – even when camping. This is because violence or the threat of it, was the main controlling device. Frequently, sexual misconduct of Aboriginal women occurred, with many of the resultant half-caste children being sent to government institutions ( state law) where they were “educated” in the ways and beliefs of white society. In extreme incidents these children became the source of cheap labour for pastoralists.

Some topics in this essay:
Northern Territory, Introduction British, Australia Aborigines, William Harris, Progressive Association, Chief Protector, Bathurst Islands, Strait Islander, World War, Wales Aborigines, progressive association, world war, aborigines progressive association, white society, northern territory, torres strait, aboriginal population, western australia, aborigines progressive, south wales, aboriginal people, families broken children, south wales aborigines, east arnhem land, torres strait islanders,