"Unfinished Business": Accounting and the 'enslavement' of Aboriginal children

Abstract

Several inquiries initiated by various Australian governments have documented the importance of policies and programs for the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families into forced indenture under government-negotiated contracts. The most recent of these studies completed in 2006 by the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs reveals the connectedness between these policies and accounting technologies. This study examines the roles played by accounting in the constitution and implementation of such programs. The analysis highlights not only how accounting facilitated the problematisation of Aboriginal children as a site for government, but also how accounting technologies enabled the constitution and translation of the indenture programs into practice. This study provides an historical context in which to comprehend both contemporary Indigenous experiences and the role of accounting in the subordination of Indigenous peoples. The analysis reveals how the reliance on accounting techniques, and the prioritisation of accountability relations with the State in the name of good governance helped mask the extent of the inequities and the racial (and economic) discrimination against the Aboriginal population.