List of laws concerning Indigenous Australians

A range of laws applying to or of specific relevance to Indigenous Australians. A number of laws have been passed since the European settlement of Australia, initially by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, then by the Governors or legislature of each of the Australian colonies and more recently by the Parliament of Australia and that of each of its States and Territories, these laws, arranged chronologically, include:

Title	Jurisdiction	Focus	Notes
Aboriginal Protection Act 1869	Victoria (colonial)	Control
Aborigines Protection Act 1886 (WA)	Western Australia	Control	[1][2][3]
Act to provide certain matters connected with the Aborigines 1889 (statute 24/1889)	Western Australia	Control
Aboriginal Protection and restriction of the sale of opium act 1897	Queensland	Control
Aborigines Protection Act (1909)	New South Wales	Control
Aborigines Act 1910	Victoria
Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act (1940)	New South Wales	Control
Half-Caste Act 1886 (Vic)	Victoria	Control	[4]
Half-Caste Act 1886 (WA)	Western Australia	Control
Pitjantjatjara Lands Act 1956	South Australia	Land rights	[5]
Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966	South Australia	Land rights
Aborigines Act (NSW) 1969	New South Wales	Control	[6]
Aboriginal Lands Act 1970	Victoria	Land rights
Aboriginal Affairs (Arrangements with the States) Act 1973	Commonwealth of Australia	Inter-governmental administration
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW)	New South Wales	Heritage
Aboriginal Relics Act 1975 (No. 81 of 1975)	Tasmania	Heritage protection
Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976	Commonwealth of Australia	Land rights
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act, 1981	South Australia	Land rights
Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act 1984	South Australia	Land rights
Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (SA)	South Australia	Heritage
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989	Commonwealth	Control
Native Title Act 1993	Commonwealth	Land rights	[7]
Native Title (South Australia) Act 1994	South Australia	Land rights
Aboriginal Lands Act 1995	Tasmania	Land rights
Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 (No. 25 of 1995)	Tasmania	Protection
Hindmarsh Island Bridge Act 1996	Commonwealth	Development	[8][9]
Native Title Amendment Act 1998	Commonwealth	Land rights	[10]
Burial and Cremation Act 2002 (No. 4 of 2002)	Tasmania	Control
National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 (No. 62 of 2002)	Tasmania	Protection and Control
Nature Conservation Act 2002 (No. 63 of 2002)	Tasmania	Protection
Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee Act 2003	South Australia	Land rights
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld)	Queensland	Heritage
Commission of Inquiry (Children in State Care and Children on APY Lands) Act 2004	South Australia	Investigatory/ Child protection	[11]
Aboriginal Land Council Elections Act 2004	Tasmania	Elections
Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006	Victoria	Heritage	[12]
Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006	Tasmania	Compensation for people of the Stolen Generations
Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (No. 129, 2007)	Commonwealth	Land control, protection, Control	[13]

See also

• Aboriginal Land Rights Act
• Native title legislation in Australia

References

1. For records relating to the WA Aboriginal Protection Board see the WA States Records Office accessed 20 March 2008
2. 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)
3. Aboriginal Protection Board at the State Records Office of Western Australia, accessed 20 March 2008
4. Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to Provide for the Protection and Management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria
5. Barrass, Tony; Victoria Laurie (2006-09-27). "From Terra Nullius to Noongar (in 'Long road home')". The Australian. Retrieved 2006-03-26.
6. Aboriginal Affairs in NSW: A Short History, NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs, accessed 20 March 2008
7. Native Title Act 1993
8. Bills Digest 50 1996-97, Hindmarsh Island Bridge Bill 1996, Australian Parliamentary Library
9. See Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy
10. Native Title Amendment Act 1998
11. Ted Mullighan is the Commissioner
12. Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006
13. Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (No. 129, 2007)

Further reading

• To 1987 - "Appendix – Legislation: Major acts and ordinances relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people". The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture. 2. Aboriginal Studies Press. 1994. pp. 1294–1297.
• "Timeline: Legal Developments Affecting Indigenous People". Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 8 October 2010.

External links

• Indigenous Australia: Timeline - Contact 1901 - 1969 at the Australian Museum