Allawah Grove native settlement: Housing and assimilation

Abstract

It is well known that the rationale for state intervention in the lives of Indigenous Australians performed a volte face when 'assimilation' was adopted in 1937. By the 1960s, 'integration' had emerged as a preferred guiding principle, but the goal remained the same: to incorporate Aborigines within the broader community as self-directed social and economic equals. However, a fundamental lack of respect for Aboriginal culture, combined with the idea that 'part‑Aborigines' had no cultural heritage, ensured that Aboriginal identity, agency and autonomy were largely ignored. Since then, we have witnessed shifts to 'self-determination', 'reconciliation' and to 'closing the [health and well-being] gap', but there is still a long way to go before any of these principles are fully achieved.