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Trustees on Trial: recovering the stolen wages

13 September 2006 - Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission President John von Doussa QC will launch Dr Rosalind Kidd’s new book ‘Trustees on Trial: recovering the stolen wages’ in Brisbane on 14 September.

Trustees on Trial uses official records to reveal the government’s control over Aboriginal wages, savings, endowments and pensions in Queensland from the 1890s to 1980s. It also analyses the fiduciary obligations of Government to Indigenous people which have been developed in Canada and the United State.

Dr Kidd has been working on the subject of stolen wages for more than 15 years. She is an adjunct Research Fellow at Griffith University and a passionate advocate for justice for Aboriginal people.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission made a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee Inquiry into Stolen Wages in August this year. See the submission at: www.humanrights.gov.au/legal/submissions/stolen_wages_2006.html

Mr von Doussa said: "Many issues involving the underpayment, withholding and misappropriation of wages earned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain unresolved".

"The failure to fairly compensate Indigenous people who were discriminated against in employment on the basis of their race remains a significant human rights issue in Australia and a matter of great concern to the Commission."

Source: HREOC

Further information: stolen wages issues page - includes news index and external links