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Queensland Government Reparations Offer: Wages and Savings

20 November 2002 - Media Release Dept of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy - In the spirit of reconciliation, the Queensland Government has made an offer to people whose lives were affected by past Government policies which resulted in controls being exercised over the wages and savings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Offer is:

1. Monetary Compensation for Individuals
   The total amount offered is $55.4m which is available for monetary compensation to individuals who had their wages and savings controlled under the "Protection Acts."
2. Apology
   A written apology from the Government to all living persons who had their wages and savings controlled and who are eligible to make a claim for compensation.
3. Parliamentary Acknowledgment
   The Premier will make a Statement in the House on behalf of the Government. This Statement will publicly recognise past injustices on the basis of race on the Parliamentary record. The Premier will host a major function to commemorate the occasion at Parliament House.
4. Government Protocol to Acknowledge Traditional Owners
   A protocol for commencement of official Government business will be adopted requiring acknowledgment of traditional owners.
5. Aborigines Welfare Fund
   The distribution of the Aborigines Welfare Fund (currently $8.6M) to be progressed as a separate issue.

Questions & Answers

1. Why is the Government making this offer?
   
   This reparations offer is being made by the Queensland Government in the spirit of reconciliation. It recognises the historical injustices suffered by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders through the controls imposed by the successive governments over their wages and savings during the period from the 1890s to the early 1970s.
   
   The Queensland Government, over the past three years, has been committed to negotiating an outcome to this matter, recognising that legal actions are likely to be extremely complex and expensive and take time to be resolved.
   
   Because a lot of the people affected by the past control of their wages and savings are elderly, the Government is offering a simple and speedy way to resolve these issues. Under this offer, priority will be given to paying elderly people and those who are seriously ill.
   
   
2. What is the offer?
   
   The Queensland Government has made a total offer of up to $55.4 million for individual reparations payments.
   
   The offer is:
   
   $4,000 to each person alive on 9 May 2002, who was subject to government controls over their wages and savings, who was born on or before 31 December 1951;
   $2,000 to each persona alive on 9 May 2002, who was subject to Government controls over their wages and savings, who was born between 1 January 1952 and 31 December 1956.
   
   People born before 31 December 1951 were subject to the 1897 and/or the 1939 Acts. Their work and savings were subject to intense controls under these Acts.
   
   Those people born between January 1952 and December 1956 were more likely to have worked and had their savings controlled under the 1965 Act. This Act removed some of the controls, such as compulsory contributions to the Aborigines Welfare Fund, included in the earlier legislation.
   
   
3. Who is eligible?
   
   The offer is made to people:
   
   for whom there is a record of the Government controlling the wages from their labour or holding their savings accounts; and
   who were alive on 9 May 2002; and
   who were born on or before 31 December 1951 (to be eligible for a $4,000 payment); or
   who were born between 1 January 1952 and 31 December 1956 (to be eligible for a $2,000 payment).
   
   
4. How can I make a claim?
   
   The Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy (DATSIP) will make reparations payments.
   
   Official claim forms will be available from DATSIP Regional Offices from 1 February 2003. To make a claim, you must fill out a claim form.
   
   
5. How will DATSIP assess my claim?
   
   The claim form will ask for details of your work history and family background. You probably won't need any documents yourself because DATSIP holds many records related to the work and savings of Indigenous Queenslanders. These details will help DATSIP to find the necessary records.
   
   If no records are found, DATSIP will contact you to get more details of your work or community history. If this happens, you will be asked if you have any documents that might assist you in making a claim. Any type of documentation may be sufficient, if it shows that you worked under the Protection Acts or had a savings account held by the Government.
   
   
6. If my claim is successful when will I be paid?
   
   The Government wants these payments to be made as quickly as possible. DATSIP will be working hard to make sure this happens. Payments will be made over a three year period from 2003 to 2005. Elderly people will be paid first. If you are seriously ill, DATSIP will need a doctor's certificate so that you can be paid quickly. If you are elderly or seriously ill, then you will be paid as quickly as possible from March 2003.
   
   
7. What about family members who have passed away?
   
   To be eligible, your family member must have been alive on 9 May 2002 for you to make a claim. The 9th of May was when this offer was first made.
   
   
8. If I accept this payment, what am I agreeing to?
   
   If you want to be paid the reparation payment, you will need to sign an agreement that means you won't take legal action against the Government relating to the controls over wages and savings.
   
   You will be provided with independent legal advice before you sign this agreement. The Government will pay for this advice.
   
   Everyone has a right to take legal action, but it does mean that you can't also claim the payment.
   
   
9. What about the Aborigines Welfare Fund?
   
   The Aborigines Welfare Fund was frozen in 1993. The fund is earning interest and its balance is now $8.6 Million. This money is not being used for the individual reparation payments but will be used to support projects. Consultation has identified the following proposals:
   
   
   an educational scholarship program
   history kits for school
   an oral histories collection
   an Aboriginal bank
   monuments and other projects which acknowledge the contributions made to Queensland by indigenous workers
   tombstones and graves
   
   There are changes required to the current legislation to enable the Aborigines Welfare Fund to be closed and for the money to be used. These changes will happen in 2003.
   
   
10. What if all of the $55.4M is not needed for individual Reparations Payments?
    
    If there is any money left of the $55.4 million, then it will be used to increase the amount of money available for projects from the Aborigines Welfare Fund and will also be available for projects for Torres Strait Islander peoples.
    
    
11. What if I want more information?
    
    More information will be available in early 2003.

Media release by: Dept of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy

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

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