Compensation for stolen Aboriginal wages

Salaries were withheld from Aboriginal
West Australians from the beginning
of the 20th century until the 1970s.

The State Government has begun distributing millions of dollars to Indigenous West Australians who had their wages withheld from the 1900s until the 1970s.

Earlier this year the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Peter Collier, created a scheme which allowed eligible people to apply for a $2,000 ex gratia payment.

The scheme was open for nine months.

More than 2,000 people applied for the payment and almost 700 have been paid a total of $1.3 million so far.

The Department of Indigenous Affairs says the money will keep flowing until the end of January, with the total amount paid likely to exceed $4 million.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-21/aboriginal-stolen-wage-claims/4440566/?site=indigenous&topic=latest