PILCH Matters February 2010
Since 2006 when the National Senate Inquiry was established, PILCH has been closely monitoring the Victorian Government's action on the issue of stolen wages in Victoria.
The product of the Inquiry was the Commonwealth Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee's report ‘Unfinished business: Indigenous stolen wages' which recommended that archival research and consultation with Indigenous people should be undertaken to further ascertain the history and impact of stolen wages policies in Victoria. The Report noted that from the late 19th centuries onwards (in some cases into the 1980's) government controls permitted the non payment of wages to some Indigenous workers, as well as the underpayment of wages, and the diversion of wages into trust and savings accounts.
The Senate Committee Report also stated that: "Many of those affected are now elderly and in poor health. It is therefore imperative that governments take immediate action to address these injustices. It would be an abrogation of moral responsibility to delay any further."
Despite this clear directive and completion of its archival research in mid 2008, the Victorian Department of Aboriginal Affairs has only recently released the results of its Indigenous Stolen Wages Preliminary Investigation, and those results appear to represent a far from satisfactory approach to this issue.
The Government took a staged approach to its investigation. Stage 1 examined whether it was legally possible for the government to have withheld wages or entitlements of Indigenous Victorians, concluding that there were in fact a number of ways in which working lives, wages and entitlements could legally be controlled by colonial/state government authorities. Stage 2 assessed whether wages were systematically withheld by the State government, but has concluded that there is no evidence of systemic withholding of earnings and wages of Indigenous people in Victoria.
It appears that the outcome of Stage 2 may primarily result from the lack of accurate, comprehensive record-keeping practices of the Board for Protection of Aborigines. Nevertheless, this outcome looks likely to be used by the Government as a basis to annul Stage 3 which was planned to focus on the collection of oral evidence from Koori elders and descendants of those on Aboriginal reserves.
Concerns about the Government's approach to its investigation (in particular, the lack of direct engagement and consultation with affected communities) prompted the Wampan Wages Victorian Stolen Wages Working Group work with Dr Andrew Gunstone of the Centre of Australian Indigenous Studies at Monash University who secured funding from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Straite Islanders to undertake an independent research project into the incidents of stolen wages in Victoria. Dr Gunstone and project research assistant Sadie Heckenberg have written a book based on this research entitled: ‘The Government Owes a Lot of Money to Our People: A History of Indigenous Stolen Wages in Victoria'.
In contrast to the Government's investigation, Gunstone and Heckenberg prioritised consultation with Indigenous communities and individuals. The research exposed many inadequacies in the documentation and found instances of stolen wages in a number of places, especially near Lake Tyers. The oral histories collected and archival research conducted by Gunstone and Heckenberg indicate that Indigenous people were paid a fraction of ordinary wages and many were not able to access pensions and allowances. Gunstone and Heckenberg conducted considerable archival research which illustrated a practice of underpayment of wages and lack of social security benefits.
The sharp contrast between the conclusions of the Government's Preliminary Investigation and Dr Gunstone's research highlights the overriding weight that written verification is often afforded over Indigenous oral history. It also indicates that a wider investigation and consultation program is warranted but is unlikely to be funded adequately, or at all, by the State Government without significant public pressure being brought to bear.
PILCH is assisting the Victorian Working Group on this important issue. PILCH has already secured legal support from a member firm to provide an analysis of the Preliminary Investigation reports, and if necessary, will attempt to secure ongoing legal advice and assistance from member firms and potentially assistance with media training and administrative assistance to the Working Group to ensure that Indigenous Victorians are given a fair opportunity to establish any genuine claim for unpaid wages or other entitlements.