W.G. South, Aboriginal protector in South Australia 1908, able to take children; shift others for cheap labour
About 1885: Six Aboriginal women, with an Aboriginal man and two European men, one of whom has an Aboriginal child on his knee.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia
The legal removal of Aboriginal children from their families began soon after W.G. South became protector in 1908. At first, the removals were made under general child welfare laws. The State Children's Act 1895 was used to remove Aboriginal children for “destitution” or “neglect”. This applied to children whose parents were nomadic or involved in seasonal work or impoverished.
South urged the South Australian government to extend his powers to remove Indigenous children. He wanted to remove the need for approval by the courts that sometimes refused to accept children were neglected or destitute.
The Aborigines Act 1911 gave the South and the Aboriginals department total control. South became legal guardian of every “Aboriginal and half-caste”. The department distributed rations, had custody, institutionalised and educated Aboriginal children.
South was also given additional powers to move Indigenous people between reserves. This power was often used to provide cheap labour to farmers near reserves. South believed that “half-castes and quadroons (one-quarter Aboriginal)” ought to be trained for work.
Mission life restricted aspects of Aboriginal culture and language, including hunting, ceremonies and access to sacred sites. Children were taught to reject Aboriginality and expect to become labourers or servants. The act restricted Aboriginal people to camping at towns’ fringes.
In 1913, the government set up a royal commission “to inquire into and report upon the control, organisation and management of institutions … set aside for the benefit of Aborigines”.
The enquiry heard protests against removals from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people but the royal commission’s report favoured assimilation. This resulted in the Aborigines (Training of Children) Act 1923, allowing Indigenous children to be committed to a child welfare institution and later sent to work. Aboriginal families’ protests met some success, with the act suspended in 1924.
