Many Aboriginal people who worked for white people did not receive their wages directly. Their bosses only gave them 'pocket money' while from 1897 to the late 1970s their wages were 'administered' for them by government or police authorities. In Western Australia wages were under "total government control" until 1968.
Now in September 1967, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission decided to remove the racially discriminatory clause from the Federal Pastoral Industry Award, and equal wages for Aboriginal pastoral workers were phased in from December 1968 in the Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia.
Between 2014–15 and 2018–19, after adjusting for inflation, the median gross weekly personal income for Indigenous Australians aged 18 and over fell by 5.6%, from $518 to $489 (Figure 1).
3 These unpaid wages have become known as 'stolen wages'. In some instances, Indigenous wages were put in trust funds, which Indigenous people were unable to access; in other cases, they were paid in the form of rations (food and clothing) rather than wages.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were granted Australian citizenship along with all other Australians in 1948. (Before this all Australians were British subjects). Citizenship did not give voting rights to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples though.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had the right to vote in some states before 1901, but it was taken away or limited when the constitution was enacted.
Background to status of Aboriginal Australians prior to 1967
When the Australian constitution took effect on 1 January 1901, each individual state acquired the primary lawmaking power over Aboriginal people. Consequently, the legal status of Aboriginal people shifted from British subjects to wards of the state.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Indigenous holding entities don't need to pay income tax or capital gains tax on native title payments or benefits.
At the end of the June quarter of 2016, around 45% of Indigenous Australians aged 15 and over (220,800 people) were receiving some form of Centrelink income support payment, compared with 26% of non-Indigenous Australians of this age (4.9 million people).
They received one-third of the pay given to non-Indigenous troops and were denied any benefits. In 1943, the Battalion went on strike for better pay. They were successful in having their pay increased to two-thirds that of non-Indigenous soldiers. Not until 1986 did they receive full back-pay for their war service.
See the list of payments and services available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians at Indigenous Australians through Services Australia. It includes: Parenting Payment. JobSeeker Payment.
There are no personal loans created exclusively for Aboriginal Australians. However, government services and community organisations can provide financial advice for our First Nations people. If you want a loan to buy a home, you can learn more about Aboriginal home loans.
The New South Wales Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme provides ex-gratia payments of $75,000 to living Stolen Generations survivors who were removed from their families and committed to the care of the New South Wales Aborigines Protection or Welfare Boards.
The National Indigenous Australians Agency funds projects aimed at helping Indigenous Australians. Funding is allocated through: the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS), National Partnership Agreements, Special Accounts and Special Appropriations.
From the first federal electoral Act in 1902 to 1965, when the last state changed its law, tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were subject to regulations which prohibited them from voting at federal and state elections.
The NLC manages the receipt and disbursement of royalty monies to Aboriginal people. The NLC maintains a royalty trust account that receives monies on behalf of individuals and associations of Aboriginal people and disperses them in accordance with section 35(2), (3) & (4) of the Land Rights Act.
Taking into account the $300 million allocated for Indigenous housing and the $177 million underspend in 2021–22, the October 2022–23 Budget provides $1.1 billion more than the March 2022–23 Budget for Indigenous Australians-related matters, averaging $4.2 billion per year over the forward estimates.
Funding available
The maximum available is $2,500. This grant can be used toward: Legal fees including the administrative costs of buying a property, and preparing a will. Property valuations.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and interests in land are formally recognised over around 50 per cent of Australia's land mass. Connection to land is of central importance to First Nations Australians.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of all ages can get an annual 715 health check. They are free at Aboriginal Medical Services and bulk-billing clinics.
But Aboriginal people are subject to the same social security laws and entitled to no more (and no less) government sponsorship than any other Australian. There has never been a government program that distributed free houses or cars, and Aboriginal students have to pay for university like everyone else.
These are: being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. identifying as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. being accepted as such by the community in which you live, or formerly lived.
The islands were settled by different seafaring Melanesian cultures such as the Torres Strait Islanders over 2500 years ago, and cultural interactions continued via this route with the Aboriginal people of northeast Australia.
1967 referendum
In 1967 Australians overwhelmingly voted to amend the Constitution. One of these changes was to remove section 127: In reckoning the numbers of people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted.
In the 1860s, Victoria became the first state to pass laws authorising Aboriginal children to be removed from their parents. Similar policies were later adopted by other states and territories – and by the federal government when it was established in the 1900s.