Inquiries into the Administration of Aboriginal Affairs, 1980-89
- Component identifier:
- Series 12
- Content Summary:
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On 14 July 1987 the Prime Minister announced that the existing Aboriginal Affairs portfolio bodies would be replaced by a new statutory commission, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Commission (ATSIC).
The Senate Select Committee on the Administration of Aboriginal Affairs was established on 1 June 1988 to examine and report upon the Government's proposals for the re-organisation of the administration of Aboriginal Affairs. Part of the Committee's brief was to report on the Government's treatment of the Aboriginal Development Commission and the ten Commissioners. The report was tabled on 28 February 1989.
On 3 November 1988 the Senate referred matters to the Committee of Privileges regarding resolutions passed at Aboriginal Development Commission meetings and inferences of interference with witnesses at Senate Select Committee hearings.
In 1988-89 several other inquiries were conducted into the administration of Aboriginal affairs as a result of allegations made to the Senate Estimates Committee in October 1988. In November 1988 the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Gerry Hand, asked the Auditor-General Jack Taylor to undertake an audit of the Aboriginal Development Commission and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. The Public Service Commissioner was instructed to investigate personnel management in the DAA and the Department of Finance investigated staff classification issues and financial management. Mr Andrew Menzies, former Deputy Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department, also began investigations into matters not dealt with by the other inquiries.
The series contains material relating to these inquiries and includes transcripts of evidence, inquiry reports, correspondence, press releases, press cuttings, and legal papers.
- Immediate source of acquisition:
- The papers were donated to the Library by Charles Perkins in five instalments between 1989 and 1995.
Contents
Access and use
- Parent Restrictions:
- Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn532231).
- Parent Terms of Access:
- Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
- Location of this collection:
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Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: