Leslie Massey
Australia has a long history of Aboriginal slavery, which began with the colonisation of the country in 1788 and continued until the 1970s. Although slavery was technically abolished in the British Empire in 1833, the exploitation of Indigenous Australians continued for many decades after, with some accusing the Australian government of being complicit in these practices well into the 20th century.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date when slavery was made illegal in the British Empire | 1807 |
| Date when slavery was abolished in the British Empire | 1833 |
| Date when slavery practices ended in Australia | 1950s |
| Date when some Indigenous Australians were freed | 1970s |
| Date when Aboriginal workers were characterized as "slaves" by the North Australian Workers' Union | 1932 |
| Date when the Aboriginals Ordinance was passed | 1918 |
| Date when the Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act was amended | 1897 |
| Date when the South Australian Aborigines Act was passed | 1911 |
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What You'll Learn
The British Empire abolished slavery in 1833
In 1833, the British Empire abolished slavery in most of its colonies with the Slavery Abolition Act. This was the culmination of a long anti-slavery movement that had been building since the late 1700s. The Act outlawed the trade of enslaved people and stated that all such persons should be freed, but it did not bring about an immediate end to the brutal practices of slavery. Instead, former slaves were redesignated as "apprentices", forced to remain on the plantations, and subjected to harsh working conditions for several more years.
The road to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire was a long and complex one. As early as 1772, Lord Mansfield's judgment in the Somerset case ruled that slavery had no legal basis in England, setting a precedent for the movement to abolish slavery. In 1787, the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was established, and public support for the cause grew. The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1807, ending the buying and selling of enslaved people within the Empire. However, this did not protect those already enslaved, and illegal trading persisted.
The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was a significant milestone, but it did not end slavery overnight. The Act provided for compensation to slave owners, who shared £20 million (approximately £17 billion in today's money), but the emancipated people received no compensation. They were forced into apprenticeships, which tied them to their plantations for up to six more years. The first set of apprenticeships ended in 1838, and the final ones were scheduled to cease in 1840.
While the 1833 Act abolished slavery in most parts of the British Empire, there were some exceptions. The Territories in the Possession of the East India Company, the Island of Ceylon, and the Island of Saint Helena were excluded from the Act's scope. These exceptions were eliminated in 1843 with the Indian Slavery Act.
The abolition of slavery in the British Empire had far-reaching consequences, including in Australia, which was a part of the Empire at the time. While the 1833 Act abolished the legal framework for slavery in Australia, it is important to note that the exploitation and forced labour of Indigenous Australians continued well into the 20th century. Various forms of unfree labour persisted, and Indigenous Australians were subjected to discriminatory laws, policies, and practices that denied them their rights and freedoms.
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Indigenous slavery continued in Australia until the 1950s
Indigenous slavery in Australia has existed in various forms since colonisation in 1788. Although slavery in the British Empire was abolished in 1833, slavery practices in Australia continued into the 1900s.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the rapid economic development of Queensland was due in large part to the work of Aboriginal children. Some as young as two years old were forced to work with white people to build the region's industries. Aboriginal children were also traded and sold as servants, with some children being taken far away from their lands and traded to other colonists.
Slavery practices continued in Australia into the 1930s, with the North Australian Workers' Union (NAWU) characterising Aboriginal workers as "slaves" in 1932. In the 1940s, anthropologists Ronald and Catherine Berndt surveyed conditions on cattle stations owned by Lord Vestey, noting that Aboriginal people "owned neither the huts in which they lived nor the land on which these were built, they had no rights of tenure, and in some cases have been sold or transferred with the property".
In the 1950s, wages started to be paid in cash, but they were still much lower than those of white people doing similar work. The continued underpayment of wages and the denial of basic working conditions for Aboriginal workers meant that slavery practices effectively continued in Australia until the 1950s and even into the 1960s and 1970s.
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Indigenous Australians were forced into unpaid labour
From the early stages of British colonisation in 1788, Indigenous Australians were forced into unpaid labour. This practice continued until the 1960s, with Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders being used for unpaid labour in various sectors, including the pastoralist industry, pearling, and prostitution. In return for their labour, they were given inexpensive commodities such as tobacco, rum, and flour. The trade in Aboriginal children was also common, with children being taken from their camp-sites and used as servants or labour by colonists.
The practice of forcing Indigenous Australians into unpaid labour was facilitated by legislation such as the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, which allowed the Protector of Aborigines to control the wages of Indigenous workers, often resulting in non-payment. The Aboriginals Ordinance 1918 further legalised the non-payment of wages and forced recruitment of Indigenous labour in the Northern Territory.
Despite international obligations under the League of Nations Slavery Convention, Australia continued to allow the forced employment of Indigenous Australians, with wages well below those of white people doing similar work. It was not until the 1966 Wave Hill walk-off, a strike by Gurindji workers, that international attention was brought to the injustice of the system, leading to the government mandating equal pay in 1968. However, this also led to the mechanisation of stations and the lay-off of many Indigenous workers.
The impact of this history of forced labour has been significant, with historian Dr Rosalind Kidd noting that "the vast majority of non-Indigenous Australians have no idea of the enormous debt they owe to the Aboriginal men, women, and children whose labour built this country". The book "Something Like Slavery" by Shirleene Robinson further reveals how the economic development of Queensland was largely dependent on the forced labour of Aboriginal children as young as two years old.
While the practice of forcing Indigenous Australians into unpaid labour has largely been eradicated, there are still reports of modern slavery and human trafficking offences in Australia, with concerns particularly in the agricultural and pearling industries.
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Indigenous children were forced to work with white people
The history of slavery in Australia is a dark and often overlooked chapter in the country's past. While Australia was not a "slave state" like certain other countries, slavery and forced labour were prevalent, particularly for Indigenous Australians. From the early days of British colonisation in 1788, Aboriginal people were subjected to various forms of slavery and unfree labour. This included the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families, who were then exploited as servants and labourers by colonists.
The practice of forcibly taking Indigenous children from their communities was widespread, with estimates suggesting that between one in ten and one in three Indigenous children were affected between 1910 and 1970. This policy of removal was driven by the assumption that "pure-blood" Aboriginal people were dying out and that mixed-race children could be trained to work in white society and eventually assimilate. The children were often separated based on their lighter skin colour, and once removed, they were forbidden from speaking their traditional languages or practising their cultural traditions.
The book "Something Like Slavery" by Shirleene Robinson sheds light on the experiences of Queensland's Aboriginal child workers from 1842 to 1945. It reveals how Aboriginal children, some as young as two, were forced to work alongside white people, contributing significantly to the economic development of the region. These children were often part of Queensland's earliest "stolen generations", a term that refers to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed under government policy.
The impact of these practices extended beyond the children themselves, as entire Indigenous families and communities were traumatised by the loss of their young members. The removal policies were often justified as being for the protection of the children, yet they caused immense harm and disrupted the transmission of language and culture. The Bringing Them Home Royal Commission report (1997) characterised these actions as genocide, and in 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd presented an official apology to Indigenous Australians.
It is important to note that while slavery was banned in the British Empire in 1807 and 1833, the exploitation of Indigenous Australians continued well into the 20th century. Various pieces of legislation, such as the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 and the Aboriginals Ordinance 1918, facilitated the control and exploitation of Indigenous labour, including the non-payment of wages. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that these practices began to be phased out, with the government mandating equal pay for Indigenous workers in 1968.
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Indigenous women were abducted and traded
Indigenous Australians were subjected to various forms of slavery and forced labour from the colonisation of Australia in 1788. European settlement relied heavily on convicts who were sent to Australia as punishment for crimes and forced into labour. Similarly, many Aboriginal people were forced into slavery and unfree labour. Some Indigenous Australians remained enslaved until the 1970s.
Indigenous women and girls were frequently abducted and traded as slaves in colonial Australia. They were often sold and traded among sealers in Van Diemen's Land and mariners in North Queensland. These abductions were so common that they were considered ubiquitous in certain parts of colonial Australia. The law rarely intervened on behalf of Indigenous women, and they were denied legal recourse, as they could not serve as witnesses in trials. This allowed the trade, abduction, and sexual slavery of Indigenous women to continue unabated.
The widespread abduction and enslavement of Indigenous women is well-documented in historical accounts. For example, I.S. Swan's letter to a friend in 1891 describes witnessing the chaining of a gin (an Aboriginal woman) to a tree and her subsequent enslavement. Mary Durack also recounted how one of her relatives in the Kimberley region purchased an Aboriginal boy from Queensland for a tin of jam. These accounts provide stark reminders of the harsh realities faced by Indigenous people during colonial times.
Legislation enacted during this period further facilitated the enslavement of Indigenous people. The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 in Queensland allowed the Protector of Aborigines to withhold wages, resulting in non-payment to Aboriginal workers. Amendments to this Act gave the Protector or police officer the power to "expend" wages or invest them in trust funds that were never paid out. The South Australian Aborigines Act 1911 empowered police to inspect workers' conditions without ensuring basic working conditions or enforcing payment. These legislative loopholes enabled the exploitation and enslavement of Indigenous people to persist.
The global movement towards abolishing slavery and the efforts of anti-slavery campaigners also influenced the trajectory of Indigenous slavery in Australia. Anti-slavery campaigners described the conditions of Aboriginal labour in northern Australia as slavery as early as the 1860s. In 1891, the British journal 'Anti-Slavery Reporter' published a "Slave Map of Modern Australia". NT Protector Cecil Cook noted that Australia was in breach of its obligations under the League of Nations Slavery Convention in the 1930s. The country also ratified the Slavery Convention in 1926 and again in 1953 when it was amended.
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Frequently asked questions
Slavery has been illegal in the British Empire since the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade of 1807, and Australia has been a part of the British Empire since its colonization in 1788. However, slavery-like practices emerged in Australia in the 19th century and in some places endured until the 1950s.
Yes, Indigenous Australians were enslaved across the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland. In 1891, the British journal Anti-Slavery Reporter published a "Slave Map of Modern Australia".
Indigenous slavery was never explicitly legal in Australia, but various laws enacted in the 19th and 20th centuries facilitated the enslavement of Indigenous Australians. Under pressure from the British anti-slavery movement, the newly formed Australian government banned slavery in 1901. However, legislation governing and regulating the forced employment of Indigenous Australians continued until the 1970s in some states.
The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 and successive legislation allowed the Protector of Aborigines to keep wages in funds that were never paid out. The Aboriginals Ordinance 1918 (Cth) allowed the forced recruitment of Indigenous workers in the Northern Territory and legalised the non-payment of wages. The South Australian Aborigines Act 1911 empowered police to "inspect workers and their conditions" but not to uphold basic working conditions or enforce payment.
