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FINANCIAL DATA: (all amounts today's value)

Pastoral workers

• 1940: 1,982 workers received 40% of pastoral rate; each worker underpaid $2214 pa relative to regulation or $5109 relative to award.
• 1949: 4500 workers at 31% of rate: underpaid $3931 (regulation); $7750 (award) pa.
• 1960: 4600 workers at 65% of rate: underpaid $4136 (award) pa.
• 1967: 5000 workers at 70% of rate: underpaid $4265 (award) pa.
• PLUS pocket money: of the wages paid, up to 80% was retained by employers & much, possibly most, not paid to workers (see legal evidence below).
• PLUS levy - Aboriginal Provident Fund: 2.5% from married wage; 5% from single wages those not living on reserves.

Reserves workers

Have calculated that 50% of inmates worked pre 1968; post 1968 from files.

• 1940: 3121 workers each underpaid $9,950 (to state minimum wage) pa
• 1949: 3454 workers: each underpaid $10,875 (to minimum) pa
• 1960: 4310 workers: each underpaid $8,998 (to minimum) pa
• 1970: 2500 workers: each underpaid $8,110 (to minimum) pa
• 1975: 2500 workers: each underpaid $13,978 (to award) pa
• 1980: 1463 workers: each underpaid $11,490 (to award) pa
• 1985: 901 workers: each underpaid $5,923 (to award) pa
• PLUS levy - settlement maintenance: by regulation 5% from married wage; 10% from single wage of those working off reserves.
  • Separate data available
    only until 1938: shows levy often averages over 13% & Palm Island levy at times over 25% of wage.

Bulk savings trust account - Queensland Aboriginals Account

From 1933 government froze most of savings in investments to earn extra interest.

• 1940 $9.6mil invested ­ interest bonus to government $119,652 pa
• 1950 $7.3mil invested ­ interest $127,366 pa to Welfare Fund
• 1960 $10.4mil invested ­ interest $286,673 pa to Welfare Fund
• 1970 $7.3mil invested ­ interest $143,544 pa to Welfare Fund
• 1975 $2.7mil invested ­ interest $97,419 pa to Welfare Fund

Trust funds generally

• Aboriginal Provident Fund & Aboriginal Protection of Property Account
  Listed separately only until 1938; after 1943 part of Welfare Fund:
  • Misused by government & not recouped to 1938 (from data to hand)identifiable amount: $10.33mil
• Aboriginal Welfare Fund
  From data to hand (incomplete); between 1943-1990:
  • Spendings of doubtful legitimacy or not recouped $93mil

LEGAL EVIDENCE

Duty of financial trustee

• Must keep proper books of account;
• must not profit from the trust or have conflict of interest. Active breaches of trust consist of intentional negligent or dishonest acts.
• Passive breaches of trust consist of failure to act.

Fiduciary duty

• Occurs when one person is in a position of trust to act for or on behalf of another.
• A fiduciary must act in beneficiaries’ interest; must not profit from relationship; must not act for own benefit; must have no conflict of interest or intent to gain.

Evidence of breach

Wages:

• Government sold Aboriginal labour cheaply, failed to secure even discounted amount.
• Government always knew & was frequently warned pocket money riddled with fraud but refused to pay for regular audit inspections.
• Government established gross underpayment on reserves despite warnings insufficient for family maintenance.
• Government deliberately flouted law to underpay reserve workers after 1975.

Savings:

• Government always knew & was frequently warned of police fraud.
• Government often warned thumb print system corrupted.
• Government warned 1960s & 1970s system still open to fraud.
• Despite this knowledge government refused
  to allow workers to check transactions.
• Over time the government has seized bank interest, imposed a levy on savings, frozen vast amounts of desperately needed cash in investments & retained surplus interest.

Trust funds:

• Prior to establishment of Welfare Fund in 1943, government often warned re using trust monies for government expenses.
• Often only a fraction of Provident Fund legitimately allocated (ie for rations & relief).
• Often only a fraction of Property Account distributed to next of kin.

Aboriginal Welfare Fund (AWF):

• Removals costs often charged to AWF & only partly repaid, if at all
• 1940s: director says cattle wages wrongly charged to AWF; also white salaries
• 1960s: director says settlement wages wrongly charged to AWF
• 1960s: director says dept liabilities wrongly charged to AWF
• 1970s/80s settlement wages increasingly charged to AWF
• 1970s/80s: auditors complain no effective accounting of cattle ventures
• 1975/90: massive trade losses in cattle ventures
• 1970s commonwealth housing funds wrongly streamed through AWF
• 1970s/80s: auditors complain ineffective rent collecting causes massive arrears
• 1980s: auditors complain no proper housing register so can’t identify spending
• 1980s: rents wrongly charged against AWF as "administrative costs" instead of accruing to housing pool

Further information:

• Stolen wages, missing Trust funds : The fight for justice in Queensland
• Media reports:
  • Aboriginal community rejects wages compo offer / Aborigines may walk away from compensation offer
  • Aborigines 'insulted' by lost wages compensation plan
    
    
    
• ANTaR Qld

Further information: stolen wages issues page - includes news index and external links

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