Half-Caste Act facts for kids
The Half-Caste Act was the common name for special laws passed in Victoria and Western Australia in 1886. These laws became a model for similar rules across Australia. They aimed to control the lives of Aboriginal people.
These laws allowed the government to take "half-caste" children. This term was used for children of mixed Aboriginal and European heritage. These children were forcibly removed from their families. The idea was to place them in homes where they would grow up to work as domestic servants. This was also part of a plan to make them live like Europeans. "Half-caste" people were treated differently from "full-blood" Aboriginal people.
The children who were removed are now known as the Stolen Generations. These laws were a big reason for a special vote, called a referendum, in 1967. Some of these controls stayed in place until the early 1970s.
Laws in Victoria
The Victorian Half-Caste Act 1886 was a longer version of an earlier law from 1869. It gave a group called the Board for the Protection of Aborigines a lot of power. This Board could control where Aboriginal people in Victoria lived and worked. They also controlled who they married and who looked after their children.
The 1886 law allowed the Board to remove Aboriginal people of mixed descent, aged 8 to 34, from Aboriginal reserves. The goal was for them to join mainstream European society. This policy broke up families and communities. It caused great sadness and led to protests. These removals and other rules caused the number of people on reserves to drop. Much of the reserve land was then sold or leased to European settlers. By 1926, almost all Victorian Aboriginal reserves were closed. Only Lake Tyers in Gippsland remained open.
Laws in Western Australia
In Western Australia, the Aborigines Protection Act 1886 (also called the Half-Caste Act) created the Aboriginal Protection Board. This Board had five members and a secretary. All were chosen by the Governor.
This 1886 law was passed after concerns about how Aboriginal farm workers were treated. It introduced work contracts between employers and Aboriginal workers over 14. These contracts did not always include wages. However, workers were supposed to get "good and sufficient rations," clothing, and blankets. The law also allowed a local judge to arrange for "half-caste" and Aboriginal children to work as apprentices until they turned 21.
The Aboriginal Protection Board was meant to stop unfair treatment. But it mostly put Aboriginal people under tighter government control. It was supposed to make sure contracts and apprenticeships were followed. However, in the northern parts of the state, these rules were often ignored. The Act defined "Aboriginal" as "every Aboriginal native of Australia, every Aboriginal half-caste, or child of a half-caste." The Governor, Frederick Broome, made sure the law included a rule. This rule allowed traditional owners to keep hunting on their tribal lands.
The law gave the Board more power over Aboriginal people. It did not set up a system to punish white people for treating Aboriginal people unfairly. An Aboriginal Department was created under the Chief Protector of Aborigines. Some politicians wanted to allow children as young as 10 to work under contract. One member even said that child labor for 6 or 7-year-olds was common. He claimed it helped them become "domesticated." The Attorney General, Septimus Burt, said that contracts were being used to hold Aboriginal people on stations like slaves. This was to make sure they couldn't leave for other work.
Aboriginal Protection Boards
Protectors of Aborigines were chosen by the Board under these laws. In theory, Protectors could take legal action for Aboriginal people. They could also decide where Aboriginal people lived or worked. They could even keep all the wages earned by employed Aboriginal people.
The Boards had little money. So, Protectors were paid very little. Many different people became local Protectors. These included judges, jail wardens, and police inspectors. Sometimes, religious ministers also served. The Board's records show they mostly dealt with requests for money from religious groups. They also received reports from judges about trials and convictions of Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal Protection Boards also gave out permits. These permits allowed Aboriginal people to leave their missions for a set time. This let them enter mainstream society.
See also
- Aboriginal history of Western Australia
- History of Indigenous Australians
- History of Western Australia
- Indian Act (Canada)
- Stolen Generations
- Detraditionalization
- Detribalization
