Acts relating to Northern Territory Aboriginals

1. An Act (or Ordinance) is passed by government which

• delegates authority to someone (such as a Protector) or some organisation (such as a Department); and
• sets out who it affects (e.g. ‘an Aboriginal native of Australia; or a half-caste who lives with such Aboriginal native or lives …’); and
• outlines the basic intent of the Act and what types of decisions should be made (e.g. decide how much an apprentice should be paid). 

2. Regulations are then made which set out the decisions of the delegated authority (e.g. Aboriginal stockmen should be paid 5 shillings)

3. The Regulations are printed in a Government Gazette (that is, they are ‘Gazetted’)

A ward is effectively a child of a guardian (responsible ‘parent’). Under the Aboriginal Ordinances this would be ‘the State” or ‘the Protector’. The guardian then makes decisions a parent would ordinarily make relating to the ward’s welfare, managing the ward’s money and so on.

Initially, Protectors had to prove in each case that someone should be made a ward, but as there were so many cases, some Ordinances made all Aboriginals wards (under certain conditions). A ward would then have to apply for exemption from wardship.

…all of which reminds me of the contract scene from ‘A Night at the Opera’ …

Referred to by some as the “stud book”, a Register of Wards was kept by the Administrator of the Northern Territory. The idea was that any Aboriginal not listed must have applied for an exemption from being a ward.

This gazetted list was full of duplications, omissions and inaccuracies, reflecting the confusion caused when a person might have several different names, be identified by the wrong person, or move freely from one place to another.