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
	New South Wales	Control	^[1]
	South Australia	Control	^[2]
Aboriginal Witnesses Act	South Australia	Control	^[3]
	New South Wales	Control	^[4]
Aboriginal Protection Act 1869	Victoria (colonial)	Control
	Western Australia	Control	^[5]^[6]^[7]
Half-Caste Act 1886 (Vic)	Victoria	Control	^[8]
Half-Caste Act 1886 (WA)	Western Australia	Control
(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
	Victoria
	South Australia	Control	^[9]
	South Australia	Control	^[10]
	South Australia	Control	^[11]
	New South Wales	Control
	South Australia	First native title legislation in the country	^[12]
	South Australia	Control	^[13]
Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966	South Australia	Land rights
	New South Wales	Control	^[14]
	Victoria	Land rights
	Commonwealth of Australia	Inter-governmental administration
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW)	New South Wales	Heritage
	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	Native title	^[15]
	South Australia	Native title
Aboriginal Lands Act 1995	Tasmania	Land rights
	Tasmania	Protection
	Commonwealth	Development	^[16]^[17]
Native Title Amendment Act 1998	Commonwealth	Native title	^[18]
	Tasmania	Control
	Tasmania	Protection and Control
	Tasmania	Protection
	South Australia	Land rights
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld)	Queensland	Heritage
	South Australia	Investigatory/ Child protection	^[19]
	Tasmania	Elections
Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006	Victoria	Heritage	^[20]
	Tasmania	Compensation for people of the Stolen Generations
Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (No. 129, 2007)	Commonwealth	Land control, protection, Control	^[21]

References[]

^ An Act to prohibit the Aboriginal Natives of New South Wales from having Fire Arms or Ammunition in their possession without the permission of a Magistrate (No.13a/1840)
^ An Ordinance to Provide for the Protection, Maintenance, and Up-Bringing of Orphans and other Destitute Children of the Aborigines (No.12/1844)
^ To facilitate the admission of the unsworn testimony of Aboriginal inhabitants of South Australia and parts adjacent (No.8/1844)
^ An Act to prohibit the supply of Intoxicating Liquors to the Aboriginal Natives of New South Wales
^ 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
^ 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)
^ "Aboriginal Protection Board at the State Records Office of Western Australia, accessed 20 March 2008". Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
^ Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to Provide for the Protection and Management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria
^ An Act to make provision for the better protection and control of the Aboriginal and Half-Caste Inhabitants of the State of South Australia (No.1048/1911)
^ An Act to make Better Provision for the Care, Control, and Training of Aboriginal Children, for placing Aboriginal Children under the Control of the State Children's Council, to amend the Aborigines Act, 1911, and for other purposes (No.1565/1923)
^ An Act to consolidate certain Acts relating to the protection and control of the aboriginal and half-caste inhabitants of South Australia (No.2154/1934)
^ Barrass, Tony; Victoria Laurie (27 September 2006). "From Terra Nullius to Noongar (in 'Long road home')". The Australian. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
^ An Act to repeal the Aborigines Act, 1934-1939, and to promote the welfare and advancement of Aborigines and of persons of Aboriginal blood in South Australia and for other purposes (No.45/1962)
^ Aboriginal Affairs in NSW: A Short History, NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs, accessed 20 March 2008 Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ Native Title Act 1993
^ Bills Digest 50 1996-97, Hindmarsh Island Bridge Bill 1996, Australian Parliamentary Library Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine
^ See Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy
^ Native Title Amendment Act 1998
^ Ted Mullighan is the Commissioner
^ Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006
^ Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (No. 129, 2007)

External links[]

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

[1] An Act to prohibit the Aboriginal Natives of New South Wales from having Fire Arms or Ammunition in their possession without the permission of a Magistrate (No.13a/1840)

[2] An Ordinance to Provide for the Protection, Maintenance, and Up-Bringing of Orphans and other Destitute Children of the Aborigines (No.12/1844)

[3] To facilitate the admission of the unsworn testimony of Aboriginal inhabitants of South Australia and parts adjacent (No.8/1844)

[4] An Act to prohibit the supply of Intoxicating Liquors to the Aboriginal Natives of New South Wales

[5] 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

[6] 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)

[7] "Aboriginal Protection Board at the State Records Office of Western Australia, accessed 20 March 2008". Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2008.

[8] Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to Provide for the Protection and Management of the Aboriginal Natives of Victoria

[9] An Act to make provision for the better protection and control of the Aboriginal and Half-Caste Inhabitants of the State of South Australia (No.1048/1911)

[10] An Act to make Better Provision for the Care, Control, and Training of Aboriginal Children, for placing Aboriginal Children under the Control of the State Children's Council, to amend the Aborigines Act, 1911, and for other purposes (No.1565/1923)

[11] An Act to consolidate certain Acts relating to the protection and control of the aboriginal and half-caste inhabitants of South Australia (No.2154/1934)

[12] Barrass, Tony; Victoria Laurie (27 September 2006). "From Terra Nullius to Noongar (in 'Long road home')". The Australian. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

[13] An Act to repeal the Aborigines Act, 1934-1939, and to promote the welfare and advancement of Aborigines and of persons of Aboriginal blood in South Australia and for other purposes (No.45/1962)

[14] Aboriginal Affairs in NSW: A Short History, NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs, accessed 20 March 2008 Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[15] Native Title Act 1993

[16] Bills Digest 50 1996-97, Hindmarsh Island Bridge Bill 1996, Australian Parliamentary Library Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine

[17] See Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy

[18] Native Title Amendment Act 1998

[19] Ted Mullighan is the Commissioner

[20] Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006

[21] Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (No. 129, 2007)

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show v t Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders
Peoples	Aboriginal Australians Communities Aboriginal groups Tasmanians Torres Strait Islanders Victorians Western Australians
Individuals	Activists Musicians People from politics and public service Performing artists Sportspeople Visual artists Writers
Culture	Astronomy Avoidance Bora Corroboree Deadly Awards Deities Dreamtime Enumeration Elders Flags Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Kinship Kurdaitcha Literature of Indigenous Australians Marn Grook Message stick NAIDOC Week National Indigenous Human Rights Awards Outstation movement Religion and mythology Riji Seasons Sacred sites Smoking ceremony Songlines Tjurunga Torres Strait Islands Woggabaliri
Language(s)	Avoidance speech Australian Aboriginal English Macro-Gunwinyguan languages Australian Creole Language groups Loanwords into English Palawa Pama–Nyungan languages Placenames Sign languages Torres Strait English Torres Strait Island languages
Organisations	ATSIC Aboriginal Medical Service Aborigines Advancement League Aborigines Progressive Association AIATSIS Australian Aboriginal Progress Association Australian Aborigines' League Central Land Council Mass media National Congress of Australia's First Peoples National Indigenous Council Northern Land Council Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations Politics Reconciliation Australia National Reconciliation Week Sorry Day TSRA
Bushcraft	Boomerang Buka Bush bread Bush tucker Bush medicine Coolamon Dugout canoe Fibrecraft Fire-stick farming Food groups Humpy Possum-skin cloak Scarred tree Soaks Spinifex resin Sweet foods Waddy Woomera
Arts	Artifacts Bark painting Contemporary visual art Dance Didgeridoo Dreaming Music Music groups Rock NATSIA Award Papunya Tula Sandpainting Vibe Visual art Yininmadyemi
History	Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 Australian Frontier Wars Bathurst War Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars Caledon Bay crisis Cummeragunja walk-off Day of Mourning Gurindji Strike Historical figures History Prehistory History wars King plates Massacres Black War Missions Native police Pilbara strike Pintupi Nine Stolen Generations Apology Tent embassy Western Australia
Issues	Crime Health Land rights Native title Protected Area Media portrayal Northern Territory National Emergency Response Self-determination Stolen Generations Half-Caste Act Treaties Voting rights 1967 Referendum Constitutional recognition

List of laws concerning Indigenous Australians

Contents

See also[]

References[]

Further reading[]

External links[]