Stolen wages repayment scheme 2005-2011
The Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) allowed the Government to collect wages and other funds belonging to Aboriginal people. It was very difficult for Aboriginal people to access these funds and much of it was never repaid. From 2005 to 2011, the NSW Government operated the Aboriginal Trust Fund Repayment Scheme in an attempt to repay some of these funds.
Between 1900 and 1969, the Aborigines Protection Board (later the Aborigines Welfare Board) collected wages and other funds belonging to Aboriginal people and placed them in trust accounts controlled by the Board. It was very difficult for Aboriginal people to access these funds (see SUB0464 for more about the stolen wages system). When the Board was dissolved in 1969, the trust accounts were closed and remaining funds were transferred to the NSW Department of Youth and Community Services ().
In 2004, it was estimated that the total debt incurred from stolen wages under the Aborigines Protection Board and Welfare Board in NSW was up to $70 million (, , ). Given most Aboriginal people worked for no wages, or were generally not provided with statements of account, the 'amount recorded [in official records] is likely to be a gross underestimation' () (see also SUB0467 about remuneration and SUB0464 about stolen wages system).
Establishment of the scheme
In February 2004, a story in the National Indigenous Times revealed the existence of a draft Cabinet Minute from the NSW Department of Community Services from April 2001, which reportedly urged the NSW Government to adopt a scheme for repaying wages and other money of Aboriginal people that were paid into the Aboriginal Trust Funds ().
Aboriginal people and interest groups lobbied the NSW Government to implement a repayment scheme (, ).
The NSW Government issued a formal apology in March 2004 for the failure to repay wages and other funds that were paid into the Aboriginal Trust Funds by the Aborigines Protection Board and Aborigines Welfare Board between 1900 and 1969 and never repaid ().
In May 2004, the NSW Government established the Aboriginal Trust Fund Repayment Scheme Panel to consult with the NSW Aboriginal community and report back to the NSW Government on the design of a scheme to repay stolen money. The Panel provided its Report in October 2004 ().
The Report recommended the Government establish an evidence-based, five-year scheme to 'repay wages or other money paid into the Aboriginal Trust Funds and never repaid during the period 1900 to 1968' (). It recommended that the scheme should have four stages:
- Registration
- Search of Records
- Determination; and
- Counselling
It made a range of other recommendations, including how to deal with claimants who are descendants of people who were owed money and the evidence requirements ().
The Aboriginal Trust Fund Repayment (ATFR) Scheme was established in February 2005 and was run according to Guidelines issued by the NSW Government in February 2006 ().
Operation of the ATFR scheme
Applications for repayment were processed by the Aboriginal Trust Fund Repayment Scheme Unit within government which, following consultation with the claimant, made a recommendation about payment to the Aboriginal Trust Fund Advisory Panel ().
The Panel was made of three people appointed by the Minister, who reviewed the recommendation of the Unit and made a recommendation about payment to the Minister. The Minister ultimately determined whether a payment should be made ().
Mr Aden Ridgeway, Mrs Robynne Quiggin and Mr Sam Jeffries were appointed to the Panel in May 2005 ().
The payments were made ex gratia (a term for special payments made by the government where there is no admission of legal liability). To receive payment, claimants did not have to give up any other rights they may have to legal action for non- or under-payment, unlike the repayment scheme in Queensland ().
When assessing applications, the decision maker had to consider a number of factors, including:
a. the length of time that had elapsed and the difficulty claimants may have had in substantiating their application as a result;
b. any deficiencies in the official written record relating to the application;
c. the importance of oral evidence in the absence of written records and in the cultural traditions of Aboriginal people; and
d. the purpose of the ATFR Scheme, which was to restore money which was held in trust for Aboriginal people and not repaid ().
Initially, where a claim was successful, the claimant was to be paid an amount that the Panel was satisfied there was strong evidence had been paid into the Trust Funds (excluding any amounts subsequently paid out). The Guidelines included a conversion rate to cover both interest and inflation, with the result that $100 owed in 1969 would be $3,521 in 2005 ().
Criticisms of the ATFR Scheme
While the scheme was seen as being fairer than a scheme that had been established in Queensland (, , , ), it was still criticised for:
- The evidence it required, especially given records had been lost and destroyed (see SUB0464) for more about record keeping
(, , ). - Delays with accessing records ()
- Lack of knowledge of the existence of the scheme, or difficulties accessing the scheme (, , )
- The question of who was a ‘descendent’ under a scheme applying western concepts of descent ().
As one example, Valerie Linow worked on seven different stations in the Riverina region from the age of 15. She was initially offered a payment of $1,300 under the ATFR Scheme based on NSW records. However, that offer was later increased to $20,000, once a witness came forward to testify she had not received any of her owed payments ().
After five years of the Scheme, the NSW Government had only paid out 104 claims, being 'little more than $1 million … out of a $70 million capped fund' ().
Changes to the ATFR Scheme
In March 2009, changes were announced to make it easier for the Panel to recommend repayment of more money to more claimants (). This included allowing the Panel to give greater weight to oral evidence and changing the payment structure, so that all successful claimants would receive a one-off lump sum repayment of $11,000 ().
This benefited some claimants, who would otherwise have received considerably lower repayments or no repayments due to difficulties proving the amount owed. However, it was to the detriment of other claimants who could establish they were owed amounts in excess of $11,000 ().
The scheme ended in 2010, having repaid $12.9 million (). There have been calls for it to be reopened for further repayment of Aboriginal Trust Funds and/or to provide other reparations. In particular, the Unfinished Business Report recommended that the ATFR Scheme be reinstated for an open ended amount of time ().
In 2016, the NSW Government rejected the recommendation to reopen the ATFR Scheme, stating that 80% of claims had been rejected and a 're-opened scheme would incur significant administrative cost for relatively little benefit and raise community expectations that cannot be met' ().