Skip to content
Mogged
Indigenous affairsAgency

Welfare Branch

Welfare Branch, Northern Territory Administration

1954 – 1973

Previously Native Affairs Branch (1939–1954).

Branch of the Northern Territory Administration, headed by a Director of Welfare, that administered Aboriginal affairs and social welfare in the Territory during the assimilation era, including government settlements, wardship under the Welfare Ordinance and funding of missions.

Names over time

  1. Native Affairs Branch1939–1954
  2. Welfare Branch1954–1973

How it came into existence

Formed from the Native Affairs Branch in 1953–54 as Commonwealth Aboriginal policy moved from protection to assimilation; Harry Giese was appointed to the newly created post of Director of Welfare on 15 July 1954. The Welfare Ordinance 1953 (NT), in force from 1957, placed most Aboriginal people in the Territory under the Director's guardianship as 'wards'.

  • Renamed from Native Affairs Branch · 1954
    • Aboriginal affairs in the Northern Territory
    • Management of settlements and reserves

    The branch was renamed and its Director of Native Affairs became the Director of Welfare; sources give 1953 for the change and 15 July 1954 for the first Director of Welfare.

Legislation: Welfare Ordinance 1953 (NT); Social Welfare Ordinance 1964 (NT)

Changes during its life

  1. 1957The Welfare Ordinance 1953 (NT) came into force with the publication of the register of wards, replacing the Aboriginals Ordinance as the basis of the branch's work.
  2. 1964The Social Welfare Ordinance 1964 (NT) replaced the Welfare Ordinance and ended the system of wardship.
  3. 28 February 1968Administration of the Northern Territory returned from the Department of Territories to the Department of the Interior.
  4. 19 December 1972Administration of the Northern Territory passed to the new Department of the Northern Territory.

How it ended

Its Aboriginal affairs functions passed in 1973 to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, which had been created in December 1972.

  • Absorbed into Department of Aboriginal Affairs · 1973
    • Aboriginal welfare in the Northern Territory

    The branch sat in the Northern Territory Administration (Department of the Northern Territory from December 1972); exact date of transfer during 1973 not confirmed.

Main functions

  • Administration of Aboriginal welfare and wardship
  • Management of government settlements
  • Subsidies to missions
  • Training, employment and housing programs for Aboriginal people
  • Child and family welfare in the Northern Territory

Where it sits

Last in the portfolio of Department of the Northern Territory.

Lineage

Loading lineage…

Sources

Some dates or links for this organisation are uncertain. Corrections are welcome.