Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of Victoria in this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same as follows (that is to say): -

It shall be lawful for the Governor from time to time to make regulations and orders for any of the purposes hereinafter mentioned...
i) For prescribing the place where any aboriginal or any tribe of aborigines shall reside.
ii)For prescribing the terms on which contracts for and on behalf of aboriginals may be made with Europeans, and upon which certificates may be granted to aboriginals who may be able and willing to earn a living by their own exertions.
iii) For apportioning amongst aboriginals the earnings of aboriginals under any contract, or where aboriginals are located on a reserve, the net produce of the labor of such aboriginals.
iv) For the distribution and expenditure of moneys granted by Parliament for the benefit of aborigines
v) For the care custody and education of the children of aborigines.

Why do you think we should remember this Act?

Remembering this legislation is important because Victorians often wrongly assume that Indigenous issues are only relevant to Northern Territorians and Western Australians. I can't believe that Victoria set the precedent for Stolen Generations!

Because it's part of our history! It's important to celebrate our triumphs, but remembering where we've failed is just as crucial. It helps us to make good decisions in the present.

In the spirit of historian Henry Reynolds, looking at our history is not about feeling bad about ourselves (although we may well be horrified about the injustices of the past and their ongoing implications), but seeking to understand why. How was it possible that this Act got up? Who was involved? (Who wasn't involved, or who didn't get listened to?) What were they thinking? What was happening at the time? And as we get closer to the detail and it starts to look more like the messy contemporary debates that are more familiar to us, how do we look with a long eye to our history and seek to do justice in the present?