Aboriginal Reserves in New South Wales, together with Stations, and Aboriginal Missions in New South Wales were areas of land where many Aboriginal people were forced to live in accordance with laws and policies. The British government, which controlled the Australian colonies, and later the state governments had various policies of segregation and assimilation. The Aboriginal reserves were established by government authorities as portions of land set aside for the sole use of Aboriginal people, a practice that continued after Federation in 1901. Of the 85 Aboriginal reserves created from 1885 to 1895, 47 were initiated by Aboriginal families. The reserves were operated under the direction of various government authorities including the Aborigines Protection Board, the Aborigines Welfare Board and the Aborigines Welfare Directorate. Aboriginal reserves, like the missions and other institutions, had the effect of isolating, confining and controlling Aboriginal people. People who were relocated to these reserves lost the human rights of freedom of movement and work, control over their personal property and the custody of their children. In New South Wales, some reserves were created in response to complaints by white residents who objected to Aboriginal people living in towns or in fringe camps on the edges of towns. Aboriginal Reserves were gazetted in the Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. There were two types of reserves, managed reserves which are frequently called stations were normally staffed by a manager or matron and residents were provided with rations and housing. Unmanaged reserves provided only rations and were under the control of the local police. Following World War I, a number of reserves were revoked, which may be linked to the allocation of land to returned servicemen. Between 1954–1964 more than 25 reserves were revoked and this may be due to policies of assimilation and the relocation of people to town reserves. Reserves were sometimes added to, enlarging the area or revoked in portions over time. The system of reserves and stations was ended by the Aborigines Act 1969. The Aboriginal Lands Trust was established by the Aborigines Act 1973. The Trust assumed the corporate ownership of all Aboriginal reserves throughout New South Wales on behalf of, and for the benefit of Aboriginal people. Freehold title to the remaining reserves was transferred to the Trust, to maintain, develop or dispose of these reserves in the manner which would best serve the needs of the Aboriginal community. The Trust was also responsible for houses located on the reserves. The Aboriginal Lands Trust was abolished by the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983. The property was transferred to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and from there to Aboriginal Land Councils. In 1997 a system of Indigenous Protected Areas was introduced in Australia. The remaining Aboriginal Reserves in New South Wales are not automatically part of this system.
Early history
In the 1870s and 1880s, land reserves were gazetted for specific individuals from Aboriginal clans including:
