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The ways in which early Swan River colonists used British law to deny the rights of Noongar people will be examined in a free public lecture at The University of Western Australia.

Assistant Professor Ann Hunter, Law Coordinator at UWA's School of Indigenous Studies, will discuss how British and colonial governments gradually dispossessed Aboriginal people in the Swan River colony's formative years.

"In the 1830s, the British government instructed that Aboriginal people should have equality under British law similar to the colonists but this is not what happened," Assistant Professor Hunter said.

She will examine how legalistic style devices such as outlawry and punitive expeditions were employed to avoid confronting the question of Aboriginal rights.

The colony was established in 1829 after Captain James Stirling explored the area two years earlier and recommended it be settled for farming.  By 1832 there were about 1500 settlers in the new colony.

Assistant Professor Hunter's lecture, "Colonial Law in Aboriginal/European Relations in Early 19th Century Western Australia", is at 6pm on Monday 21 May in UWA's Webb Lecture Theatre.

Media references

Assistant Professor Ann Hunter (UWA School of Indigenous Studies)  (+61 8)  6488 2973
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783