THE Federal Court has published its verdict in a class action against the Western Australian government for non-payment and underpayment of wages to Indigenous people who worked on cattle stations.

In what has become known as “stolen wages” class action, the court found between 8000 and 9500 Indigenous stock workers were underpaid over a period between 11 December 1936 and 9 June 1972.

The WA Government agreed to pay $180m to settle the action.

The action was led by acclaimed artist Gooniyandi elder Mervyn Street, with the proceeding alleging that he worked on pastoral stations in the Kimberley from when he was around 10 years old, starting on Louisa Downs which is his traditional country, and was not paid wages until he was in his 30s.

With the case totalling $180m, Mr Street was awarded $45,000, with the rest of the class entitled to $16,500 each. Shine Lawyers were awarded $27.5m in court costs.

In the published findings, Justice Bernard Murphy said the Indigenous people of the time were treated in a “grossly discriminatory fashion” and compared non-Indigenous people.

“There is no dispute that over that 36-year period thousands of Aboriginal men, women and children in Western Australia lived under strict legislative controls and many worked for little or no pay,” Justice Murphy said.

“For example, many Aboriginal men and boys worked on pastoral stations as ringers, or stockmen, sometimes from dawn till dusk seven days a week, and many Aboriginal women and girls worked as household domestics and nannies.

“They were fed or given rations but provided little or no wages for the work they performed. During that period, many Aboriginal children who had been taken away from their parents and placed in institutions run by the State or by a church, were required to work before and after school and on weekends, and in some cases full-time, in laundries, farms and other places attached to the institutions.”

Premier issues apology

WA premier Roger Cook issued an apology attached to the findings. He said the stolen wages were a blight on successive government.

“Aboriginal men, women and children worked hard and made enormous contributions to the economic development of this state. However, they received only a fraction of their worth,” Mr Cook said.

“The fact that this mistreatment existed for Aboriginal workers for decades is a blight on the legacy of successive governments. The fact that our laws facilitated these outcomes brings great shame. For that, we are sorry.”

Mr Cook said Indigenous people of the time worked under oppressive conditions.

“In many cases, there was a threat of violence. The impacts of these laws were felt across the state in a range of different work settings,” he said.

“The issues in this matter were complex. I acknowledge that each individual Aboriginal person’s work history will have been unique. However, as a community, many of these experiences were common.”