For decades governments throughout Australia literally stole or misappropriated the money of Aboriginal people who were under their care and protection. The sums run to hundreds of millions of dollars.

The monies stolen include wages earned for forced or indentured labour, or other monies due to Indigenous people such as child endowment payments.

This was possible because governments directly controlled Aboriginal wages and entitlements.

Because Indigenous affairs has historically been the responsibility of state governments (except in the Northern Territory where the Commonwealth took over responsibility from 1911 until 1978), different laws and administrative arrangemnents pertained to Aboriginal people depending where they lived.

This has meant that the exact nature and extent of monies stolen or misappropriated varied depending on the state or territory involved. However, such practices occurred throughout Australia.

Currently there are active campaigns on the stolen wages issue in Queensland and NSW, and work is also underway to research and address the issues in other states and teritories.