The Western Australia government has reached a settlement of $180.4 million with First Nations employees and families impacted by stolen wages. In Australia, “stolen wages” is a phrase used to identify the practice of governments having withheld wages from Aboriginal people under racial segregation policies. For most of the last century, up until the 1970s, many First Nations people had their employment overseen – and wages withheld – by state and territory governments. When these employees attempted to collect their earnings, many were denied access or given very little.This was due to an overarching movement in policy called the protection era, that saw the creation of “protection” or “welfare” boards through race-based government legislation. These boards oversaw policies of segregation, including the forced removal of First Nations people onto “missions” (also known as reserves, districts, or settlements). People living on these missions were under constant surveillance to restrict and police individual freedoms and rights, such as collecting a wage. Throughout so-called Australia, these employees and their families have fought for rightful compensation for decades. This $180.4 million settlement between the Western Australian state government and the families has been heralded by Vicky Antzoulatos, Shine Lawyers’ Joint Head of Class Actions, as “a victory for the many thousands of First Nations people” affected by Stolen Wages. Antzoulatos, who represented the claimants, said, “workers and their descendants suffered intergenerational disadvantage because of the legislation in place in the State of Western Australia over many decades which directly affected the lives and livelihoods of Aboriginal people.” While the result was welcomed, several Indigenous leaders have pointed to just how long this recognition took. Miriwoong Elder David Newry told the ABC, "I'm happy in one way… But in the other way I'm sad to know my people, my parents, deserved this [news] more and they're gone now.”Western Australia Premier, Roger Cook, has described the historic settlement as, “an important development in recognising the past injustices inflicted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”.Premier Cook also said he hoped “this agreement can contribute to healing for those impacted" by this suite of discriminatory policy.However, settlements like this are just the beginning. There is work to be done in not just securing compensation for victims, their families and descendants but in facilitating the broader impacts of these cases of recognition - such as truth-telling about our past and its continuing effect on First Nations people. “Hopefully, greater understanding of the experiences of Aboriginal people in Western Australia during this sad earlier time in history is also a lasting legacy of this class action,” Antzoulatos said. “It's all to do with the effort our people have put in, through hardship,” said Uncle David Newry. “Our people were basically treated like slaves."
Advertisement
Advertisement