Australian Government Policies

& The Aboriginal Peoples

1945-1991

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In 1972 the reformist Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, declared "Australia's treatment of her Aboriginal people will be the thing upon which the rest of the world will judge Australia and Australians - not just now, but in the greater perspective of history" (). Heeding Whitlam's statement, one thing becomes clear about Australian history: since the late eighteenth century, Australian Aboriginal Peoples have been misunderstood and abused by the Anglo Celtic population. A lack of understanding of Aboriginal society, culture and traditions has meant that a "rich" people have almost been destroyed. This destruction has stemmed, in part, from the policies of successive governments, which from the late eighteenth century through to the 1970s, showed occasional sympathy but little tangible protection for Aboriginal Australians. Arguably, indeed, the assumptions that underpinned these policies have been challenged but not dismantled. The Aboriginal People, however, should not be seen as victims, even though the impact of the infamous policy of assimilation, which was in force until 1969, could certainly provide this impression. Aboriginal interest groups and organisations have been, since 1945, at the forefront of policy reform, and their leaders have provided the necessary efforts to create awareness and self confidence. This paper will examine the period from 1945 through until 1991. Although this period has witnessed some improvement in government policies towards Aborigines, particularly since 1972, Australia's indigenous people, nevertheless, continue to suffer social, cultural, economic, and political discrimination.

Government policies during the post 1945 period, as in countries elsewhere, were influenced by the great upheaval of the Second World War. Although some Aboriginal policy reforms, such as old age pensions (which were granted in 1942), were introduced during this time, the reform momentum that had started before 1939 almost ceased. The end of the Second World War, however, invited political, economic, and social reforms on all subjects. One area that certainly required change, was Aboriginal affairs.

Aboriginals in 1945 had, to all intents and purposes, no rights in their own country. Nevertheless, there were some feeble attempts at change. The West Australian Native (Citizens Rights) Act (1944) was one such example. The Act allowed a magistrate to decide that an Aboriginal could become a citizen, if he or she was of good character, lived a `civilised' life, could speak good English, and did not suffer from leprosy, syphilis, granuloma or yaws (). Of course this seemed ludicrous to Aborigines, who recognised that a piece of paper would not immediately transform them from non citizens into full Australian citizens. Yet, from the white male political view, this was the fundamental achievement for the policy of assimilation.

The policy of assimilating Aborigines into Anglo Celtic Australian society was adopted by all the Australian States by 1951 (). Paul Hasluck, the Federal Government Minister for Territories, in 1951 assured the Native Welfare Conference that:

... assimilation does not mean the suppression

of the aboriginal culture but rather that, for

generation after generation, cultural adjustment

will take place ().

Huslack's assurance becomes lost, however, when the definition of assimilation was finalised in 1965 at the Aboriginal Welfare Conference:

... all Aborigines and part-Aborigines are

expected eventually to attain the same manner of

living as other Australians and to live as members

of a single Australian community, enjoying the same

rights and privileges, accepting the same

responsibilities, observing the same customs and

influenced by the same beliefs, hopes and loyalties

as other Australians ().

Predicably, perhaps, this did not occur. Aborigines continued to be excluded from white society by a number of factors: racial discrimination, low socioeconomic status and poor employment opportunities, and government administrations operated by paternalistic and segregationalist traditions (). Furthermore, the majority of Aborigines wished to retain their own cultural heritage and traditions and, therefore, had no desire to assimilate ().

The period of assimilation has become a dark era in Australian history and has been called the `stolen generation' era. The policy was in force until 1969 where, as part of the policy of assimilation, Aboriginal children were taken from their parents at an early age (). There was some variations in this policy, but the Northern Territory serves as one typical example. There police seized all lighter coloured children (these were considered only part Aboriginal) once they were three or four years old. As an act of protection and defiance, mothers would rub their children's skin with fat and charred wood to darken the child's colour. Other families camped deep in the bush in order to protect their children. In New South Wales alone, it is estimated that 5625 children were taken from their families. This tragedy was justified by the various government authorities on the grounds that the children required proper formal training for social, moral, and material improvement. The children would, thus, be able to enter Australia's, so called, egalitarian and industrial society ().

From the 1950s to the late 1960s, however, political activity concerning civil rights considerably increased. Australia came under international scrutiny for its racist attitudes and legislation (). The centre of this attack involved the government's position on Aborigines and the White Australia Policy. In Australia, the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines was established independently in 1958, and in 1964 it was renamed the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (). These organisations aimed to coordinate the activities of the various groups demanding civil rights for Aborigines.

In reaction to international and local pressure, the leading area of government action became, and still is, land rights. Aborigines' link with the land have always affected government policy on them (). Control of both Aborigines and land was left with the States when Australia federated in 1901. One of the first major land rights issues of the post World War Two period, came to the public eye in 1963 where mining survey operations began at Yirrkala in the Northern Territory (). The issue of land rights for Aboriginal people caught the attention of the Australian public when the clans at Yirrkala sent a bark petition to the Federal government protesting against encroachment on their traditional lands by Nabaloo Pty. Ltd. With events like these, during the 1960s, Aborigines and their supporters managed to convince the majority of Australians that the policies being implemented by the States were not achieving equality for Aborigines (). Their health, standard of living, rates of imprisonment and unemployment were all unacceptable in a developed society. As a solution they argued that the federal government should be given the power to coordinate policy on Aborigines.

Thus began the challenges to the old paternalistic racial order which had been dominated by pastoral, church and government interests. The churches began revising and reforming their policies, especially on matters of social justice (). Australian governments had to respond to a whole range of new pressure groups demanding increased socioeconomic equality. These groups demanded that citizens become critically involved in policies and programs by both business and government (). Basic issues that involved other parts of the community, like equal pay and conditions, soon spread to the Aborigines. Very quickly the Australian Workers' Union campaigned in support of the right of Aboriginal pastoral workers to equal pay, which was finally granted to them by the Arbitration Commission in December 1968 ().

The fundamental victory, however, for the Aboriginal Peoples was the Constitutional amendment. The referendum to amend the Constitution was unopposed in both Houses of Parliament and received 90.9 per cent endorsement from the electorate in May 1967 (). The amendment enabled the Federal government in include Aborigines in the census and empowered it to legislate for Aborigines in the States as well as in Commonwealth territories. However, State governments could also legislate for Aborigines and this has, at times, led to conflict between State and Federal governments. Conservative State governments have, at times, obstructed reforming Federal governments. Nevertheless, in the 1960s and later, the South Australian government led the way in reforming Aboriginal affairs. Premier Dunstan was active in Labor Party's policy that introduced the South Australian "Aboriginal Lands Trust Act" and "Prohibition of Discrimination Act" in 1966 ().

Following Dunstan's lead, the Whitlam Government (1972-1975) assumed office with reforming policies that just about touched every aspect of Australian life. The Aboriginal area was one such domain. After its election the government set up the Woodward Commission to investigate the land rights issue (). The government also raised the Office of Aboriginal Affairs to the status of a Ministry and appointed Gordon Bryant, a long-time supporter of Aborigine policy reforms, as the first Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (). As part of its Aboriginal policy, the government had drafted, but not passed, legislation granting land rights in the Northern Territory. All in all, the Whitlam government introduced a policy of self determination, which was a true reversal from previous governments' policies in Aboriginal affairs. This raised Aborigines' expectations that they would now be permitted to run their own affairs, like all other Australians. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. Due to inexperience, the government's policy encouraged only limited Aboriginal self management at the community rather than at the national level, although there was increased funding for Aboriginal run functional and service organisations ().

Notwithstanding those limitations, a major innovation was the setting up of an elected Aboriginal advisory body, the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (NACC). In February 1974 the members of the NACC renamed it the National Aboriginal Congress, hoping it would be an Aboriginal parliament (). This was not acceptable to, and was rejected by, the Whitlam government. The more beneficial initiative, however, of the Whitlam government from which all racial groups, including Aborigines, have received assistance, was the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. This Act outlaws discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, and national or ethnic origin in employment, provision of goods or services, and access to housing or public places ().

Overall, the Whitlam government made advances, but full "self determination" was not achieved. Although a number of Aboriginals felt that they were let down by the policies of the Whitlam government, there were a number of Aboriginals in pressure groups, services and functional groups who took up jobs in the expanded Aboriginal affairs bureaucracy. But, by doing so, their independence and purpose, had been compromised and, probably most importantly, absorbed nearly all their time and energy. One aspect was that those who had the time to examine the overall direction of Aboriginal affairs became limited and, furthermore, were not in control of sufficient resources to have an impact ().

Continuing the Whitlam Government's Aboriginal policy, the Fraser Government's (1975-1983) main policy was, again, "self determination". This was reflected in the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. This Act was a modified version of a Whitlam Government Bill, which had lapsed in Parliament after the Government had been dismissed and new elections called for in 1975 (). Basically:

... the Act provided for the creation of

Aboriginal land trusts to hold titles to Aboriginal

land, and the granting to land trusts of inalienable

freehold title to the Northern Territory Aboriginal

reserves and some other non-reserve land. ().

It also provided for Aboriginal land councils to act as agents for traditional Aboriginal owners in respect of land matters. Three councils were established; the Northern, the Central, and the Tiwi Land Councils. Further, a commissioner was appointed to investigate Aboriginal claims to unalienable Crown land and some other land claims made on the basis of traditional ownership ().

During the Fraser administration, however, there were two major failures as far as land rights supporters were concerned. The government failed to use its constitutional powers to override the Queensland government in the Mornington Island/Aurukun dispute in 1978 and the Western Australian government over oil drilling at Noonkanbah in 1979. To the government's embarrassment, the Noonkanbah issue was internationalised when it was taken to the United Nations Sub-Committee on Human Rights in Geneva ().

The Hawke Government (1983-1991), like the Fraser government, followed the Whitlam government's policy of "self determination". In its election campaigns of March 1983 and November 1984, the Labor Party promised to introduce national land rights legislation. In May 1984 it enacted the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Heritage (Interim Protection) Act (). However, the first three claims made under the Act were rejected. In February 1985 the government released its preferred national land rights model for discussion. The model contained no rights to veto mineral exploration, no guarantee of access to mining royalty equivalents, and no mention of compensation for lost lands as promised in the Labor Party election platform ().

With all this policy creation by the various governments, it is difficult to decide whether Aborigines have any better living conditions. In fact, in conservative white quarters, there has been a reactionary response to the reforms introduced by Australian governments. One caller, to a radio talk back station, illustrates their response:

I think there will always be prejudice while

there is the big handouts given to Aborigines. I

feel the white people are the people discriminated

against, not the Aboriginal people... We see cases

where Aboriginal people are given handouts for their

children to attend school, and in lots of cases the

money never reaches the school, it doesn't go to

their education, it goes to the local hotel and this

is why until something is done about this system of

this handout - I'm sure a lot of Aboriginal people

don't want these handouts - but I feel there is this

handout and this abundance of money that there'll

always be prejudice and this is a sad thing ().

In rebutting these, and similar arguments, and analysing the effectiveness of government policies, investigation of various census and other reports must be conducted. Much of the evidence, however, only relates from 1971 onwards, when Aborigines were first included in the national census, and even that information does not necessarily indicate whether conditions are improving or deteriorating for Aborigines. One thing, however, is clear from twenty years of these statistics: the vast majority of the Aboriginal community lives in poverty and squalor.

The 1981 Census indicates that the Aboriginal labour force participation rates, at 47 per cent, are far lower than for other Australians, at 61 per cent, and that in June 1981, that Aboriginal unemployment rate, at 24.6 per cent, was for higher than for all Australians which was 5.9 per cent (). In the 1991 Census, the figures are again rather uneven. The unemployment rate for Aboriginal males was 32.3 per cent, for females it was 28.6 per cent, while for other Australians it was 12.4 per cent and 10.6 per cent respectively (). Overall, this means an unemployment rate of 30.4 per cent for Aboriginals and 11.5 per cent for other Australians.

The above figures, however, came in for criticism from independent inquiries. The Millar Report of 1985 examined Aboriginal employment. It showed that as the overall employment for all Australians deteriorated, the total unemployment rate increased to about 8 per cent by the mid 1980s, while the situation for Aborigines in the labour force worsened dramatically. The report estimated that the true Aboriginal work force that was unemployed was about 50 per cent. Aboriginal unemployment rates are, therefore, about six times higher than for all other Australians (). Again, surveys by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and others by the Australian Bureau of Statistics have provided similar results. The figures from 1983 to 1991 are not encouraging. They indicate that about 80 per cent of the Aboriginal population aged between 15 and over was not even formally employed ().

The Census data of 1981 also analysed employment profiles. Aborigines are far less likely to be either employers or self employed. Aboriginal people run and operate few businesses in the private sector. Almost all of the employed Aborigines, 97 per cent in 1981 () and 96.2 per cent in 1991 (), are employees, compared with 85 per cent of all Australian in 1981. Further data indicate that there is a marked shortage of Aboriginal people at the upper end of the white-collar workers in the managerial, administrative, professional and technical categories. In 1991 the figures are 7.7 per cent for Aborigines and 13.3 per cent for other Australians (). Nevertheless, since 1971 there has been a relatively rapid increase in the number of Aborigines employed in this area. This has been partly linked to the establishment of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and other bureaucracies with functional responsibilities to deliver services to Aborigines, combined with affirmative employment policies that have often resulted in Aboriginal people being employed in the upper echelons of these bureaucracies ().

Due to low employment and employment status of Aborigines, their income status is also low, as these factors are the main determinants of income. In 1981 the average annual income for Aboriginal individuals aged 15 years and over was $3 677, and for families it amounted to $6 626, while for all Australians these figures were $6 509 and $12 191 respectively (). In 1991 63.5 per cent of Aborigines aged 15 years and over had an average income under $12 000 while only 45 per cent of other Australian had similar income ().

The majority of income comes from welfare and the implications are great:

The high dependence of Aboriginal people on

social security income condemns them to a life of

poverty. Even though in recent years more and more

Aboriginal people have been receiving the income

maintenance payments to which they are entitled,

these payments merely alleviate poverty, they do not

remove it ().

Due to the low income of Aborigines their housing status is at a particularly low level mainly because people cannot afford sufficient money to purchase decent housing (). While recent comparative data are not available on Aboriginal housing status, in 1971 about 76 per cent of all houses in Australia were owner occupied, whereas only 21 per cent of Aboriginal house was owner occupied (). Housing status seems to provide an extremely clear indication of the poverty of Aboriginal people because it is not only a reflection of current income status, but also of capital savings.

The main factor that results in low Aboriginal employment levels is low educational levels, although poor health, also plays a part. In 1984 it was clearly demonstrated that there is a close correlation between educational qualifications, occupational status and income status. The 1991 Census shows a divide between Aborigines and other Australians. Only 20.3 per cent of Aboriginal people aged 15 years and over had any post secondary qualification, compared with 37.9 per cent of other Australians. In times of high unemployment this clearly increases the extent of Aboriginal joblessness ().

Lower Aboriginal health standards are largely attributed to the low environmental conditions in which Aboriginals live, low socioeconomic status in the Australian community, as well as the failure of health authorities. Underlying these factors is discrimination to which Aborigines have been, and are still being, subjected ().

Life expectation of Aborigines vary, with the best levels being, for Kimberley Aborigines in 1983-84, 61 years for males and 65 years for females. In contrast, Aboriginal males in country areas of New South Wales in 1980-81 had an expectation of life of only 48 years, and females of 57 years. These figures compare most unfavourably with those of the total Australian population in 1983 which was 72 years for males and 79 years for females. Further, the mortality rate of Aboriginal infants remains two to three times higher than that of non Aboriginal Australians. This again varies. In the remote areas, such as the Kimberley region and the Northern Territory, the figures were about 33-34 infant deaths per 1000 live births, while in country areas of New South Wales and the south-west of Western Australia the rate was between 21 and 25 per 1000 live births. In contrast, the overall Australian infant mortality rate was approximately 9 infant deaths per 1000 live births ().

There are many examples that can be offered to dramatically illustrate the impact on communities of the statistics discussed above. One is a township called Toomelah. On the 10th January 1987, a racial riot occurred which resulted in nineteen of its residents being arrested. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission appointed Justice Marcus Einfield to investigate the circumstances leading up to the Toomelah riot. Einfield found that:

... two-thirds of the 40 houses were

substandard, lacking glazed windows, water-tight

roofing, proper drainage and adequate bathrooms. A

housing shortage meant that each contained 20 people

on average. The water supply was rationed to half an

hour a day, forcing people to bucket water from the

nearby Macintyre River. Consequently eye, ear, and

skin diseases were chronic, leaving half of the

children with ear infections ()

After the release of Justice Einfield's report, one million dollars was released by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to dramatically improve the living conditions at Toomelah. Significantly, within three years town and Aboriginal pride had greatly improved and all racial troubles ceased.

Nevertheless, although Toomelah may have gained the support required, as indicated, there are hundreds of communities in need. In 1968, a year after the 1967 referendum, an Australian anthropologist, William Stanner, discussed the need to address the raising problems of health, education, employment and housing conditions of Aboriginals. As this paper has indicated, with many of the above conditions remaining stable or deteriorating, rather than improving, and governments and groups advocating numerous policies, not all of which are reformist, but reactionary, his observation is still relevant today:

They are all in part right and therefore

dangerous. If all these particular measures, with

perhaps fifty or a hundred other, were carried out

everywhere, simultaneously, and on a sufficient

scale, possibly there would be a general advance...

But who shall mobilise and command this regiment of

one-eyed hobby horses? And keep it in line or in

column? ().

This is the great dilemma. Australian governments have been reluctant to provide the enormous amount of time, resources and, above all, money, in order to produce `a general advance'. Above all, the advancements that have been made, have usually been achieved by the efforts of the Aboriginal communities and groups, like the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee, the National Aboriginal Congress, and these groups' replacement, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Council, along with the various land councils (). Likewise their leaders, including Charles Perkins, Pat Dobson, Lois O'Donoghue, and Noel Pearson, are displaying the necessary efforts to improve their People's conditions: as an Aboriginal writer, Kevin Gilbert wrote, "... because a white man'll never do it" ().

In conclusion, by using census and report data from 1971 onwards, one can only be sceptical about the ability of governments to fully comprehend the requirements of Aboriginal communities, the policies implemented by governments, or the abilities of the personal who execute government policy. Aboriginal Peoples, however, are beginning to improve their overall socioeconomic and cultural status in Australian society. But, the disparities in positions in a number of areas, like employment, for example, are so great, that any thing like real equality with the rest of the population, in the near future, is almost impossible. What is certainly the case is that Aboriginal groups, have done far more for the advancement of the Aboriginal community than has any government policy or department. Further, it has been governments reacting to new pressures from Aboriginal groups with reformed policies. Clearly, governments have not initiated reforming policies through their own efforts. In trying to discover whether government policy has improved Aboriginal quality of life, some things are apparent. By the end of 1991, Aboriginals have the right to vote, the right to equal pay, are protected in law from discrimination, and government schemes were available for education and "self determination". As this paper has indicated, whether they are enough to bring justice and gain a sense of equality, equivalent to the basics demanded as a standard of living, that the rest of Australia accepts, the data collected from the census and reports clearly indicates that the basic standards, of the Aboriginal Peoples, is far below those, that would be acceptable as minimal, to the rest of Australia.