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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
In Charles Rowley's history of Australian governments' policies towards indigenous Australians, the author is at a loss to say when ‘assimilation’ became the stated objective. One federal Minister for Territories, Charles Barnes, claimed in 1964 that ‘assimilation’ had been the policy of all Australian governments since 1951. However, to find the first common governmental declaration and definition of ‘assimilation’, we need go back no further than 1961:
The policy of assimilation means that all Aborigines and part-Aborigines will attain the same manner of living as other Australians and live as members of a single Australian community, enjoying the same rights and privileges, accepting the same responsibilities, observing the same customs and influenced by the same beliefs, hopes and loyalties as other Australians. Any special measures taken for Aborigines and part-Aborigines are regarded as temporary measures, not based on race, but intended to meet their need for special care and assistance to protect them from any ill effects of sudden change and to assist them to make the transition from one stage to another in such a way as will be favourable to their social, economic and political advancement.
Two points must be noted. First, the emphasis on being the ‘same’: in assimilation ideology, indigenous Australians were conceded no longterm difference from other Australians in way of life or legal status. Second, the allowance for temporary ‘special measures’: Aborigines and ‘part-Aborigines’ would be entitled to them on the basis of their need, not of their ‘race’.
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