Department of Aboriginal Affairs (Western Australia)

Not to be confused with Department of Aboriginal Affairs in Australia 1972–1990.

The Department of Aboriginal Affairs (Western Australia) is the former government authority that was involved with the matters of the Aboriginal population of Western Australia between 2013 and 2017.

Aborigines Protection Board

Prior to the creation of the Aborigines Department in 1898, there had been an Aborigines Protection Board,[1] which operated between 1 January 1886 and 1 April 1898 as a Statutory authority. It was created by the Aborigines Protection Act 1886 (WA), also known as the Half-caste act, An Act to provide for the better protection and management of the Aboriginal natives of Western Australia, and to amend the law relating to certain contracts with such Aboriginal natives (statute 25/1886); An Act to provide certain matters connected with the Aborigines (statute 24/1889).[2][3]

The Board was replaced in 1898 by the Aborigines Department.

Current[when?] status

The department took its current name in May 2013.[4][5][6]

On 28 April 2017 Premier Mark McGowan announced that Western Australia's 41 departments would be reduced to 25 departments by 1 July 2017.[7] The departments of Planning, Lands, Heritage and the Aboriginal heritage and land functions of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs amalgamated on 1 July 2017,[citation needed] forming the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage. The Department of the Premier and Cabinet assumed responsibility for Aboriginal Affairs policy.[citation needed]

Agencies

  • Aborigines Department - 1 Apr 1898 ~ 31 Dec 1908[8][9]
  • Department of Aborigines and Fisheries - 1 Jan 1909 ~ 1 Jan 1920[10][11]
  • Aborigines Department - 1 January 1926 – 1 January 1936
  • Department of the North West - 1 January 1920 – 1 January 1926
  • Fisheries Department - 1 January 1920 – 1 September 1964
  • Department of Native Affairs - 1 January 1936 - 31 December 1954[12]
  • Department of Native Welfare - 1 January 1955 - 16 June 1972[13]
  • Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority - 16 June 1972 - 31 October 1994[14]
  • Aboriginal Affairs Department - 1 November 1994 - 30 June 2001[15]
  • Department of Indigenous Affairs - 1 July 2001 - 16 May 2013[16]
  • Department of Aboriginal Affairs - 2013 - 2017
  • Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) 2017-[17]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Western Australia. Aborigines Department (1897), Correspondence relating to the proposed abolition of the Aborigines Protection Board of Western Australia, HMSO, retrieved 3 April 2016
  2. ^ Aboriginal Protection Board Archived 10 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine at the State Records Office of Western Australia, accessed 20 March 2008
  3. ^ For records relating to the WA Aboriginal Protection Board see the WA States Records Office accessed 20 March 2008 Archived 29 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "AU WA A1767 - Department of Aboriginal Affairs [2]". State Records Office of WA. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  5. ^ Western Australia. Department of Aboriginal Affairs (2013) (2013), "Annual report", Annual Report of the Aboriginal Affairs Department for the Period, East Perth, Western Australia Department of Aboriginal Affairs, ISSN 1441-6409{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Department changes from Indigenous to Aboriginal". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Media Statements - Major changes introduced to create a more efficient public sector". Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  8. ^ First agency with the name, name resurrected in 1926
  9. ^ State Records Office of Western Australia (2007), Public Records Office of Western Australia Aborigines Department File 1898-1908, State Records Office of WA, retrieved 4 April 2016
  10. ^ Combination of the Fisheries and Aborigines portfolios occurred in various forms and arrangements through to the 1960s
  11. ^ "ABORIGINES AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT". Western Mail. Vol. XXVI, no. 1, 323. Western Australia. 6 May 1911. p. 34. Retrieved 4 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ Western Australia. Department of Native Affairs (1937), Annual report of the Commissioner of Native Affairs for the year ended 30th June, Government Printer, retrieved 3 April 2016
  13. ^ Western Australia. Department of Native Welfare (1964), Functions and activities : Department of Native Welfare, Western Australia, Commissioner of Native Welfare, retrieved 3 April 2016
  14. ^ "State Aboriginal affairs to be taken over". The Canberra Times. Vol. 47, no. 13, 439. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 19 May 1973. p. 8. Retrieved 3 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ Western Australia. Aboriginal Affairs Department (1995), Annual report of the Aboriginal Affairs Department for the period, The Dept, ISSN 1441-6409
  16. ^ Western Australia. Department of Indigenous Affairs (2002), Annual report, Dept. of Indigenous Affairs, retrieved 4 April 2016
  17. ^ "Aboriginal cultural heritage | Western Australian Government".

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