Records that we provide access to

Aboriginal History WA (AHWA) manages access to restricted State Government records created by agencies that were responsible for the management of Aboriginal affairs from the late 1880’s through to 1972.

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State Government records

In Western Australia, successive State Government departments greatly restricted the lives of Aboriginal people from the late 1880s until complete citizenship rights were granted across the whole state in 1972. These restrictions were legislated under various acts, most notably the Aborigines Act of 1905 which appointed a ‘Chief Protector’ to ‘promote the welfare’ of Aboriginal people. The Act gave unprecedented power over many aspects of life for Aboriginal people, including employment, bank accounts, marriages, health services, and the authority to remove children from their families onto missions, reserves or into ‘service’ (work). This led to the large-scale forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families, who are now recognised as the Stolen Generations.

AHWA manages access to the official records created by these former State Government departments. The records span from 1886 to 1972 and can be categorised into 3 main record types listed below.

Personal files

Personal files were introduced in large numbers in the early 1920s. They contain highly sensitive and personal information on births, family history and relatives, health and medical information, social security, bank account balances, deaths, and altercations with the law. Personal files continued to be made until the Native Welfare Act 1963 was repealed and the department was disbanded in 1972.

Personal history cards

Personal cards were created around 1918 as a set of summary cards to the personal files listed above. The cards continued to be made up until about 1952.

Administrative files

General administrative files cover most of the other functions of the various government departments including staff, wages, the administration of missions and reserves, location files, policy and legislation, and general correspondence.

State Government departments responsible for Aboriginal affairs between 1886 and 1972

Department	Years
Aborigines Protection Board	1886 to 1897
Aborigines Department	1897 to 1909
Aborigines and Fisheries Department	1909 to 1920
Department of the North West (Aboriginal affairs above the 26th parallel)	1920 to 1926
Department of Aborigines and Fisheries (Aboriginal Affairs below the 26th parallel)	1920 to 1926
Aborigines Department	1926 to 1936
Department of Native Affairs	1936 to 1954
Department of Native Welfare	1954 to 1972

Privately owned collections

Norman Tindale Collection

Norman Tindale was an anthropologist (someone who studies human societies and cultures) based at the South Australian Museum. With help from colleagues, he collected vast amounts of information about Aboriginal communities throughout Australia.

Tindale and his colleagues made 4 major expeditions to WA between 1935 and 1966, during which time they recorded thousands of ‘family trees’ (or genealogies), took hundreds of portrait photographs and compiled sociological data cards from 52 different locations. Child crayon drawings were collected from the Mount Margaret Mission school, the Moore River Native Settlement school and Gnowangerup mission school.

The original collection is held at the South Australian Museum, with the AHWA holding copies for family history applicants to access.

Search the Name Index to the Norman Tindale Collection.

Elkin genealogies

The Elkin genealogies were created by anthropologist A.P. (Adolphus Peter) Elkin during fieldwork in the Kimberley region in 1928. In 2009 the owners of the genealogies, the University of Sydney, provided copies to AHWA to provide to family history applicants.

Submit a request

Family history

If you are seeking copies of your own personal or family history records, please see the family history page.

Native Title

If you are a Native Title consultant, representative body, or a prescribed body corporate, please submit a Native Title Access Request Form.

General research

If you are a member of the public or an organisation that does not fit into the above 2 categories, please submit a General research application form.

Policy

Policy for Access to Restricted Records Managed by Aboriginal History WA. Please note this policy is currently under review. If you have any questions please contact us.

Native Title Access Policy

Contact us

Telephone 1800 161 301

Email ahrs@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

Address Cultural Hub on Level 3, State Library of WA, 25 Francis Street, Perth

Post PO Box 8349, Perth Business Centre WA 6849

X @The_AHWA

Page reviewed 13 December 2024