The Child Welfare Act Amendment Act 1952 amended the Child Welfare Act 1947 to increase the power of authorities to make children wards of the State. Changes were made to the definition of destitute and neglected children and to the definition of ‘ward’ (s.2) and it became an offence to try and prevent an officer…
The Child Welfare Act 1947 was the principal legislation governing child welfare in Western Australia, regulating the treatment of children sent to WA as unaccompanied child migrants after 1947 as well as all others in out of home care in the State. The Act repealed the State Children Act 1907 (as amended to 1941) but…
The Natives (Citizenship Rights) Act 1944 (023 of 1944 (8 & 9 Geo. VI No. 23)) had the full title ‘An act to provide for the acquisition of full rights of citizenship by aborigine natives’. This law made it possible for Aboriginal people to make an application to a magistrate for citizenship, as long as…
The Native Administration Act Amendment Act 1941 amended the Aborigines Act Amendment Act 1936, also known as the Native Administration Act 1936. It restricted Aboriginal people living in the north of Western Australia from travelling south of the 20th parallel. The Amendment Act 1941 was repealed by the Native Welfare Act 1963. The stated purpose…
The Child Migrants Trust (CMT) was established in 1987 by English social worker Margaret Humphreys to address the issues surrounding the deportation of children from Britain, and to offer to former child migrants and their families services including counselling, support for family reunions, and family research. Since 2010, the CMT has administered the UK government-funded…
The Aborigines Act Amendment Act 1936, also known as the ‘Native Administration Act 1936’, amended the Aborigines Act 1905. It created the Department of Native Affairs, and changed the title of Chief Protector to the Commissioner for Native Affairs. The Act also extended the powers of that role, especially as they affected children: the Commissioner…
The State Children Act Amendment Act 1927 created some new terminology and updated the schedule of industrial schools covered by the Act. The principal Act, the State Children Act 1907, became the ‘Child Welfare Act’ (s.2); the term ‘state child’ was replaced (s.3) by ‘ward’; and the State Children Department was renamed (s.4) the ‘Child…
The State Children Act Amendment Act 1919 repealed the State Children Act Amendment Act of 1915 and made significant amendments to the State Children Act 1907. It implemented changes recommended by the Select Committee of the Legislative Council which was appointed in 1918 to inquire into the State Children Act Amendment Bill. In terms of…
The Aborigines Act Amendment Act 1911 (Act no. 1911/042) (1 Geo. V No.53)) commenced on 16 February 1911. It amended the Aborigines Act 1905 to make the Chief Protector the guardian of ‘every aboriginal and half-caste child to the exclusion of the rights of the mother of an illegitimate half-caste child.’ This Act was repealed…
The State Children Act came into effect in Western Australia in 1907. It repealed the Industrial Schools Act 1874 (and related Amendment Acts of 1877 and 1822) and the Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act 1893. Its stated purpose was ‘to make better provision for the Protection, Control, Maintenance, and Reformation of Neglected and Destitute Children,…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
