About the reparations scheme

From the late 19th century, and for the greater part of the 20th century, the Queensland Government exercised control over all aspects of the lives of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people who were subject to the ‘Protection Acts’, including control over their wages and savings.

Since 1999, the Queensland Government has undertaken a number of compensation and reparation processes for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people who suffered direct disadvantage as a result of these racially discriminatory government practices, such as ‘stolen wages’.

The Queensland Government has listened to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders who feel that the approach to date has not adequately addressed these wages and savings issues.

Following a commitment made during the 2015 state election, the Queensland Government is providing an additional $21 million funding, over 3 years, to further address the longstanding historical issue of controlled wages and savings from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders.

This process includes the establishment of a special Taskforce of community representatives to advise government on who should be eligible for a reparations payment and how the assessment process should work.

Applications for the scheme are open until 16 December 2016 and the scheme will run until 2018.