Power and Dysfunction: The New South Wales Board for the Protection of Aborigines 1883-1940

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In 1883, the New South Wales Board for the Protection of Aborigines was established to assist an Aboriginal population devastated by dispossession. Initially cautious and reactionary, the Board's approach shifted by the turn of the century as it became focused on a legislative agenda aimed at controlling, segregating, and expelling Aboriginal people. Over time, it gained extraordinary powers to regulate Aboriginal movement, remove children from their communities for domestic service, collect and withhold wages, expel individuals from reserves, authorize medical inspections, and prevent any Aboriginal person from leaving the state. This exploration reveals the key figures driving these policies and how the Board accumulated such power. Paradoxically, despite its influence, the Board's structural dysfunction, flawed policies, and indifference led to its failure in managing essential aspects of Aboriginal policy. By the 1930s, as Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups sought its abolition, the Board had become moribund, paranoid, and secretive, resisting all critics. Disbanded in 1940, its 57-year legacy profoundly impacted every Aboriginal community in New South Wales, leaving lasting consequences that resonate to this day.