History of policies and laws
In Queensland, the practice of removing Aboriginal children from their families and Aboriginal people from their land became law when the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act was passed in 1897.
This law established a system of reserves that had been proposed by Queensland Commissioners in 1874 and detailed by Archibald Meston in 1895. It was a way of ensuring that the lifestyle of Aboriginal, and later Torres Strait Islander people, would be more in keeping with white ways of organising and seeing the world and would be more useful to white settlers in their quest to create a new society reflecting the British origins of the colony.
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Aboriginal Protection and Restriction |
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View copies of all the legislation that was passed to remove and "protect" Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at AIATSIS [new window]
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View the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act [new window]
Last updated: 6th July 2009
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