Details

Subject(s)

• New South Wales. Aborigines Protection Board—History [Browse]
• Aboriginal Australians—Treatment of—New South Wales—History [Browse]
• Aboriginal Australians—Government policy—New South Wales—History [Browse]

Related name

• Australian National University Press [Browse]

Series

Aboriginal History Monographs [More in this series]

Summary note

In 1883 the New South Wales Board for the Protection of Aborigines was tasked with assisting and supporting an Aboriginal population that had been devastated by a brutal dispossession. It began its tenure with little government direction - its initial approach was cautious and reactionary. However, by the turn of the century this Board, driven by some forceful individuals, was squarely focused on a legislative agenda that sought policies to control, segregate and expel Aboriginal people. Over time it acquired extraordinary powers to control Aboriginal movement, remove children from their communities and send them into domestic service, collect wages and hold them in trust, withhold rations, expel individuals from stations and reserves, authorise medical inspections, and prevent any Aboriginal person from leaving the state. Power and Dysfunction explores this Board and uncovers who were the major drivers of these policies, who were its most influential people, and how this body came to wield so much power. Paradoxically, despite its considerable influence, through its bravado, structural dysfunction, flawed policies and general indifference, it failed to manage core aspects of Aboriginal policy. In the 1930s, when the Board was finally challenged by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups seeking its abolition, it had become moribund, paranoid and secretive as it railed against all detractors. When it was finally disbanded in 1940, its 57-year legacy had touched every Aboriginal community in New South Wales with lasting consequences that still resonate today.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references.

Copyright note

Unless stated otherwise, the author retains copyright to their work while ANU Press retains exclusive worldwide rights for the distribution of the book. From 2018, the majority of ANU Press titles are published under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND; creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which broadens the ways in which works can be used and distributed. Please refer to the copyright page of each book for more information on a specific title's copyright licensing.

Rights and reproductions note

• Culturally sensitive.
• Licensed under Creative Commons. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Other title(s)

New South Wales board for the protection of Aborigines 1883-1940

ISBN

• 1760464732 ((electronic book))
• 9781760464738 ((electronic book))

OCLC

1273742980

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