Moseley Royal Commission

The Moseley Royal Commission, officially titled the Royal Commission Appointed to Investigate, Report and Advise Upon Matters in Relation to the Condition and Treatment of Aborigines was a Royal Commission established by the Government of Western Australia in 1934 to hear evidence regarding the treatment of Aboriginal people.[1]

The commission was named for the author of its final report, magistrate Henry Moseley.[2]

A. O. Neville

The Royal Commission was set up to examine proposals to extend the powers of A. O. Neville, the "Chief Protector of Aborigines", and the social policy of removal of children from their parents. Agitation by critics, and the resulting media coverage in London,[3] and locally,[4] had drawn attention to the Native Administration Act 1905–1936 (WA) Amendment (1911), and to actions by Neville.

A series of submissions detailed accusations of child slavery, abuse and mistreatment, and evidence was given by mothers of children who had been removed from them. The commission produced a report citing problems with the current policy, but concluded that the recommendations of Neville be followed.[5]

See also

• Stolen Generations

Notes

1. "With the Aborigines Commission in the North". Western Mail. Perth. 12 July 1934. p. 2 Supplement: Regular supplement – 'Pictorial section'. Retrieved 19 January 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
2. Bolton, G. C., "Moseley, Henry Doyle (1884–1956)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 10 June 2023
3. "Commissioner's Report". The West Australian. Perth. 27 June 1935. p. 19. Retrieved 19 January 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Welfare of Aborigines". The West Australian. Perth. 17 October 1934. p. 11. Retrieved 19 January 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
5. Western Australia. Royal Commission Appointed to Investigate, Report and Advise Upon Matters in Relation to the Condition and Treatment of Aborigines; Moseley, Henry Doyle (1935), Report of the Royal Commissioner appointed to investigate, report, and advise upon matters in relation to the condition and treatment of Aborigines, Fred. Wm. Simpson, Government Printer, retrieved 19 January 2013

References

• David, Markovich (September 2003). "Genocide, a Crime of Which No Anglo-Saxon Nation Could be Guilty*". Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law. 10 (3). Retrieved 7 May 2007. Criticism came from other quarters as well. Rischbieth, a witness to the Moseley Royal Commission and speaking on behalf of the Australian Federation of Women Voters, criticised the assistance provided to Aborigines.[301] In rejecting the government's "neglect" justification for child removals, she asserted that "government administrators … were forcibly removing children because it was cheaper than providing the same system of support which operated for neglected white children"

Further reading

• Zalums, E (Elmar) and Stafford. H. (1980) A bibliography of Western Australian Royal Commissions, select committees of parliament and boards of inquiry, 1870-1979 Blackwood, S. Aust. E. Zalums & H. Stafford ISBN 0-9594506-0-2
• Moseley, Henry Doyle 1935, Report of the Royal Commissioner appointed to investigate, report, and advise upon matters in relation to the condition and treatment of Aborigines