ABOR2245 Written Assessment PDF

Preview

Summary

ASSESSMENT ABORIGINAL PROTECTION POLICY - DISTINCTION GRADE....

Description

ABOR2245 Written Assessment: Presentation Review

Topic: The Aboriginal Protection Act

Firstly, I would like to pay my respects to the Awabakal people on which Callaghan Campus resides and any Indigenous, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers of the below assessment, past, present and future.

The Aboriginal Protection Act 1909 (NSW) was implemented to devise specifically related indigenous laws and policies to better the lives of Aboriginal people. Australian Government Policies relating to Indigenous Australians were hoped to be beneficial to Indigenous peoples, although due to the lack of involvement of Aboriginal in creating such polices, the policies became increasingly detrimental and have had an ongoing impact on the lives of Indigenous peoples (National Museum Australia 2020). The core of the Aboriginal Protection Act 1909 (NSW) was to regulate the lives of Indigenous peoples and their families. New South Wales devised a Board for the Protection of Aboriginal peoples. This board had the power to take an Aboriginal child from their family at any time, for any reason. As a result of these laws, tens of thousands of Indigenous children were stolen from families. This has now become the “Stolen Generation”. The Act also allowed the Board to dictate other areas of Indigenous people’s livelihoods including their Country, marriage, family connections and day to day tasks. Indigenous peoples ultimately lost the right to dictate their own lives, and lost control of their culture and relationships with others within their Kin. Authorities put in place Reserves and Stations oversaw by “protectors” where Aboriginal were controlled through schooling, rations and housing and Missions, controlled by churches and missionaries, were put in place to convert people to Christianity (National Museum Australia 2020). The Aboriginal Protection Act 1909 (NSW) varied according to the State. In New South Wales, children were given apprenticeships and other workplace training. Their wages were often withheld by protectors. In Queensland, The Queensland government decided who an Aboriginal worker could work for, how much they could earn and the job they would carry out. Their wages were stipulated by the Queensland government and then paid directly to their protector. The protector then

Annabelle Williams C3328219 ABOR2245

had the power to spend the wages on behalf of the worker. Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and the Northern Territory, determined the appropriate jobs for Indigenous males and females, none of which received the same wage as their European counter parts. Wages were held in trust with controls on how it could be spent (Banks 2013). The ideology behind the Board and thus the Laws was the perception Aboriginal people were a “dying race”, which would soon become “extinct”. Because of this, authorities felt obliged to “protect” indigenous society. It was within this idea of protection that major injustices took place toward Aboriginal peoples that would have long lasting, detrimental effects on culture, language, belief systems and kinship amongst Indigenous people (National Museum Australia 2020). The Talking Circle discusses a variety of background issues related to The Aboriginal Protection Act. Initially, it gives an introduction of the Act itself and its purpose, then gives contextual information about why the Act is important and how it impacts the lives of Aboriginal peoples. The information has been delivered clearly, in a PowerPoint form with a voiceover. The overall information is presented concisely with an insight into major points that underpin the Act and its purpose. For example, the Presentation discusses, Human Rights for Indigenous peoples, a definition of the term “protection”, this leads onto the implication of protection and Human Rights to the Aboriginal Protection Act. The presentation then leads on to discuss the disadvantages of Indigenous people and how the law can take advantage of such vulnerable people – this is an important point when discussing Aboriginal law, and how the formation and intention of these laws impact their practice. To discuss this within the presentation, allows the audience to understand the implications of Laws to Indigenous people and the extent of the control Laws have over loss of country, family, culture beliefs and practices. Once the context and implementation of the original Aboriginal Protection Act was discussed, the procedural aspects were argued. This included an overview of Missions, Reserves and Stations which was useful as I had an unclear understanding of these sanctions in history. My understanding of a Mission was based upon contemporary knowledge, it was interesting to learn about the original ideology. The Circle concludes with a testimony from an Indigenous woman who

Annabelle Williams C3328219 ABOR2245

grew up in Beagle Bay Mission and how this impacted her life. This was an appropriate way to give a lived-in example of the treatment of Indigenous peoples within this time. Further detail into the Stolen Generation and these impacts to the wellbeing and the future of Aboriginal peoples and their families would have been beneficial to the report to understand the capacity of the act and how detrimental it was to Aboriginal Culture, not only in previous years, but for years to come. A description of the impacts of loss of Country, language, belief systems and Kin would have been useful and informative. To conclude overall, a personal reflection and some cues for questions for the audience to ask themselves and later respond to would have actively engaged the audience and given a though provoking finish to the Talking Circle.

Annabelle Williams C3328219 ABOR2245

References Banks, G 2013, Assessing policy impacts, Indigenous Disadvantage, viewed 8 August 2021, https://www.pc.gov.au/newsmedia/speeches/cs20031113/cs20031113.pdf. National Museum Australia 2020, Aborigines Protection Act, viewed 8 August 2021, https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/aborigines-protectionact. Probert, B 2021, ABOR2245 Aboriginal Protection Act, online course materials, Semester 2, 2021, University of Newcastle.

Annabelle Williams C3328219 ABOR2245...