Changes in Freedom Rights for Aboriginals in Australia
Australia’s attitude towards the rights and freedoms of Aboriginals has changed drastically from 1920 to the present. It is evident that Australia has made a greater effort throughout the years, to bridge the gap between the rights and of Aboriginals and the rest of Australia. This has been improved by the implementation of different policies such as the Protection policy, Assimilation, Integration, Self Determination and Reconciliation.
In the early 20th century it was believed that Aboriginals we unable to care for themselves or make effective decisions as they were considered uncivilised by the Australian public. The protection policy was implemented; therefore the government would control every aspect of an Aboriginal’s life. The Aborigines Protection Act was passed in 1909 to control and restrict the movement of Aborigines across reserves, the money distribution and removing children from their families to ‘educate’ them. The removal of Aboriginal children from their families was known as The Stolen Generation. It was a system used to strip the Aboriginal culture from a child from a young age to bring them up into a civilised, white culture. The Stolen Generation continued through from 1869 to 1969 and in some places, even through till the 70’s. This destroyed many Aboriginal families, some children never saw their parents again and they were taken to reserves or white foster families which only a handful of children received a kind upbringing. This was considered the cruelest act towards Indigenous Australians which time still hasn’t entirely healed.
The Protection policy regarding Aboriginals shifted to Assimilation in the 1940’s to have aborigines of mixed blood abandon their traditional culture and beliefs to live as a white Australian. Before the Assimilation policy Aboriginals had no citizenship rights, this policy allowed Aboriginal to receive citizenship only if they could prove that they had completely abandoned their traditional way of life for
In the early 20th century it was believed that Aboriginals we unable to care for themselves or make effective decisions as they were considered uncivilised by the Australian public. The protection policy was implemented; therefore the government would control every aspect of an Aboriginal’s life. The Aborigines Protection Act was passed in 1909 to control and restrict the movement of Aborigines across reserves, the money distribution and removing children from their families to ‘educate’ them. The removal of Aboriginal children from their families was known as The Stolen Generation. It was a system used to strip the Aboriginal culture from a child from a young age to bring them up into a civilised, white culture. The Stolen Generation continued through from 1869 to 1969 and in some places, even through till the 70’s. This destroyed many Aboriginal families, some children never saw their parents again and they were taken to reserves or white foster families which only a handful of children received a kind upbringing. This was considered the cruelest act towards Indigenous Australians which time still hasn’t entirely healed.
The Protection policy regarding Aboriginals shifted to Assimilation in the 1940’s to have aborigines of mixed blood abandon their traditional culture and beliefs to live as a white Australian. Before the Assimilation policy Aboriginals had no citizenship rights, this policy allowed Aboriginal to receive citizenship only if they could prove that they had completely abandoned their traditional way of life for