WA Journey Ways - A Daring Escape

Before, and for some time after the 1967 referendum Aboriginal people were subjected to law and social policy that controlled every aspect of their lives. They were excluded from all the supports (hospitals and public housing) and payments (wages, pensions, dole, child benefit) given to non-Aboriginal people. They were subjected to curfews and condemned to absolute poverty. Many lived in ancient camping grounds or reserved lands until they were cleared out. Frequently police and Welfare Officers would raid the camps to steal children who would be taken to settlements. 

Cook, D., 'That Was My Home: Voices from the Noongar Camps in Fremantle and the Western Suburbs’,  UWA Press, 2019.

Some material condensed from Denise Cook’s PhD (Murdoch University, 2018) now available in a book ‘That Was My Home: Voices from the Noongar Camps in Fremantle and the Western Suburbs’, Denise Cook, UWA Press, 2019. Other material as referenced. Permissions provided for TLCMap. Do not re-use without permission.

This layer contains historical information about Aboriginal people that may be distressing.