AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

FREMANTLE PRISON
AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM
LINKS FOR YEAR 10
THE MODERN WORLD AND AUSTRALIA – RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

1AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

WARNING
Offensive Language
This document includes direct quotes from oral histories and interviews with Aboriginal prisoners at
Fremantle Prison which includes language that will be offensive to some readers as well as languagethat could be deemed racist in certain contexts. These quotes have been reproduced here with theiroffensive content unedited and intact so as to maintain an accurate representation of the prisoners’
voices.
ImagesThis document contains images of Aboriginal people who are deceased. There are also images ofAboriginal prisoners wearing neck chains.
Some of these images may be distressing to some people.
Subject Matter
The subject matter covered in this document includes deeply emotive subjects such as crime,
punishment, death, as well as racial discrimination against Aboriginal people. The document includes
information about Aboriginal people in prison and discussion of deaths in custody. This information,
while on the public record, may be distressing to the families of those people involved. Please use thisinformation sensitively and with respect for the Aboriginal families and others involved.

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CONTENTS
Fremantle Prison

4

Curriculum Links

5

Historical Inquiry

7

Planning a School Excursion

9

Suggested Pre‐Visit Activity

12

Suggested Post‐Visit Activity

16

Historical Overview

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FREMANTLE PRISON
In 2010 Fremantle Prison, along with 10 other historic convict sites around Australia, was placed on
the World Heritage Register for places of universal significance. Collectively known as the AustralianConvict Sites these places tell the story of the colonisation of Australia and the building of a nation.
Fremantle Prison is Western Australia’s most important historical site. As a World Heritage Site,
Fremantle Prison is recognised as having the same level of cultural significance as other iconic sites
such as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, or the Historic Centre of Rome.
For 136 years between 1855 and 1991 Fremantle Prison was continuously occupied by prisoners.
Convicts built the Prison between 1851 and 1859. Initially called the Convict Establishment, Fremantle
Prison held male prisoners of the British Government transported to Western Australia. After 1886
Fremantle Prison became the colony’s main place of incarceration for men, women and juveniles.
Fremantle Prison itself was finally decommissioned in November 1991 when its male prisoners weretransferred to the new maximum security prison at Casuarina.
Fremantle Prison was a brutal place of violent punishments such as floggings and hangings. Conditions
were primitive ‐ freezing in winter and scorching in summer, infested with cockroaches and rats, thesite was lonely and cruel. It housed thousands of prisoners, each with a fascinating story to tell. It was
the site of numerous daring escapes and prisoner riots.
Throughout its operational history, Fremantle Prison held thousands of Aboriginal men, women andchildren. Numerous Royal Commissions and inquiries investigated the conditions of incarceration ofAboriginal people at Fremantle Prison. The Prison is a key place of inquiry for students investigating
issues of social justice and Aboriginal people in Western Australia.

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CURRICULUM LINKSYEAR 10 – THE MODERN WORLD AND AUSTRALIAThe Year 10 curriculum provides a study of the history of the modern world and Australia from 1918 tothe present, with an emphasis on Australia in its global context. The twentieth century became acritical period in Australia’s social, cultural, economic and political development. Australia’s
development has been critically influenced by the race relations between indigenous Australians andwhite Australians, and this clash of cultures has influences all streams of Australian life.
Fremantle Prison was a major site of Aboriginal incarceration and offers a unique insight into race
relations in Western Australia.

DEPTH STUDIES
2 Rights and Freedoms
Background to the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for rights and freedoms
before 1965.
••

Students can investigate the experiences of Aboriginal prisoners at Fremantle Prison against
the backdrop of race relations in the wider community.
The history of incarceration of Aboriginal prisoners at Fremantle Prison and Rottnest Island
was closely linked to social policies to do with Aboriginal people including processes ofsegregation, assimilation, the development of missions and reserves for Aboriginal people.

The significance of the following for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples:
1962 right to vote federally; 1967 Referendum; Reconciliation; Mabo decision; Bringing Them Home
Report (the Stolen Generations); the Apology.
•

Events at Fremantle Prison were influenced by these significant national events, including the1973 Royal Commission into Various Allegations of Assaults on or Brutality to Prisoners inFremantle Prison and of Discrimination against Aboriginal or part‐Aboriginal Prisoners therein,
as well as the 1987 – 1991 Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody.

HISTORICAL CONCEPTS
Evidence and SignificanceFremantle Prison exhibits an extraordinary power of place. Because it remained operational as a
prison until 1991, the site is remarkably intact and authentic. Students visiting the Prison can see firsthand what life was like for modern prisoners as well as for convicts 150 years ago. Seeing the original
heritage fabric allows students to identify the heritage significance of the site.
Historical Inquiry
Our tour guides encourage students to ask questions while on tour. In this way are tours focus on an
exchange of information rather than a one‐way lecture on the Prison’s history.
Continuity and Change
On a tour of the Prison students can identify what aspects of the prison system changed over the years
and what stayed the same.

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Cause and Effect
Our display cells provide a visual example of how changes to cells over the Prison’s history were driven
by cause and effect.
Perspective
People in the past may have had different points of view about a particular event, depending on theirage, gender, social position, beliefs and values etc. In particular, while day to day life for Aboriginal
prisoners was much the same as it was for other prisoners, the overall ‘experience’ of being an
Aboriginal inside Fremantle Prison was very different than the experience of other prisoners. Our tour
guides tell stories about historical individuals and provide an insight into their differing perspectives.
Empathy
A visit to Fremantle prison offers a unique opportunity to develop an understanding of the past fromthe point of view of a particular individual or group, including an appreciation of the circumstances
they faced, and the motivations, values and attitudes behind their actions. Students on tour see thereal conditions of incarceration and punishment which helps them to empathise with prisoners’
experiences.
Contestability
Occurs when particular interpretations about the past are open to debate, for example, as a result of alack of evidence or different perspectives. Fremantle Prison offers a unique view of contestablehistory as a natural outcome of differing perspectives and power relationships within the Prison
between prisoners and prison officers. The true experience of Aboriginal people in Fremantle Prison isan area of major debate and was specifically addressed by the 1973 Royal Commission into Various
Allegations of Assaults on or Brutality to Prisoners in Fremantle Prison and of Discrimination against
Aboriginal or part‐Aboriginal Prisoners therein, and the 1987 – 1991 Royal Commission Into Aboriginal
Deaths In Custody.

THEMES
Treatment of Aboriginal prisoners
Aboriginal people had a different set of histories, laws, values, norms and behaviours to white
Australians. With the arrival of the first settlers their behaviour was measured against white law andthey were judged and punished accordingly.
1. Should British laws have been applicable to Aboriginal people?
2. Were Rottnest Island and Fremantle Prison, with their associated methods ofincarceration, punishment and reform, appropriate places to send Aboriginal prisoners?
Segregation versus assimilation
During the 1800s Aboriginal prisoners were segregated from the community on Rottnest Island. From1904 to1965 Aboriginal prisoners in Fremantle Prison were segregated from white prisoners and kept
in 2 Division. After 1965 they were assimilated into the rest of the Prison. This change was reflected bya broader change in policy towards Aboriginal people in the wider community.

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HISTORICAL INQUIRY
Fremantle Prison is a site of active historical inquiry. Historical research to inform the content of ourtours and exhibitions is ongoing. Curators research and manage the Prison’s collection which includes
convict artefacts, prison clothing, documents, photographs and artworks. Prison historians research
the intangible heritage of the site which includes stories of prison life, escapes, riots and punishments.
Heritage specialists manage and conserve the Prison’s buildings and structures, ensuring that they arepreserved for generations to come. Fremantle Prison has two visitor centres which provide visitors to
the site with an introduction to the history of Fremantle Prison and the themes of incarceration.

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Fremantle Prison has an ongoing program of developing exhibitions in house. Our exhibitions focus onparticular stories to do with the history of Fremantle Prison. For example our 2013 temporary
exhibition Wadjemup to Walyalup tells the history of Aboriginal incarceration in Western Australia.

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SUGGESTED PRE‐VISIT ACTIVITY
Fremantle Prison is a site rich in contestable history. Because of the nature of prisoners / prison officer
relations, many events in the Prison’s history had two or more contested versions. The death ofAboriginal prisoner Robert Walker in 1984 is an example of a contested history.
After your students have engaged with the following information, ask them the following focus
questions:
1. Could Robert walker’s death have been avoided?
2. Was Robert Walker’s race a factor in his death? For example, would he have been treated thesame if he was white?
3. Why did all the investigations and inquiries produce such different findings?
4. Who do you think would have been the more reliable witnesses, the prisoners or prison
officers?
5. Which parts of the event and which findings from the various investigations do you consider
fact and which are open to debate?

THE DEATH OF ROBERT WALKER 1984
A significant event in the Prison’s modern history occurred on 28 August 1984 when an Aboriginal
prisoner, Robert Walker, died of asphyxiation while being transferred by prison warders from 1
Division to the Prison hospital.
Robert Walker was a 26 year old Aboriginal man, charged with rape and sentenced to six years at
Fremantle Prison. His cell was in 1 Division. Reportedly he was a well behaved prisoner until the nightof 27 August 1984 when he began yelling out and playing his guitar loudly through the night. When aguard checked his cell at 4am it was discovered he had cut his wrists with a razor blade.
Three prison staff attempted to transfer Walker to the hospital to treat his wounds. He became
agitated as he was removed from his cell. On the 2 division stairs he kicked the hospital officer who fell
down the stairs. The warders moved Walker through the 2 division doors into the Parade Ground.
Outside an altercation occurred which ended with Walker being pinned to the ground on the grassoutside 2 division. More officers arrived to help control the prisoner. It is alleged that at this time
Walker was subjected to a ‘beating’ by the guards. The actual severity of the prison officers’ actions
was a highly contestable part of the report with versions ranging from a violent beating with batons towhat was considered necessary force. The inquiry found that his death was asphyxiation caused byrough treatment and mismanagement of the situation by the supervising officer.
While Walker was pinned to the ground the medical officer ran to the hospital to retrieve a dose of
the sedative Largactil. Walker was injected with the sedative. Before it could take effect Walker
stopped struggling. He was carried to an observation cell in New Division where he later stopped
breathing and was pronounced dead.
This event is contentious for a number of reasons:•

It involved the death of an Aboriginal prisoner and as such was part of the 1991 Royal
Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody•

Witness statements regarding the particular events surrounding the death differed greatly
between Prison staff and prisoners•

Regardless of the various versions of the event, the death of Robert Walker was violent andprobably avoidable
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The particulars of Robert Walker’s death were misreported by the media at the time, his deathbeing attributed in different news stories to suicide, asphyxiation, death by misadventure, ‘amysterious illness’.

•

The Aboriginal community at the time were, and to an extent still are, tremendously upset by
the circumstances surrounding the incident, particularly because the coronial inquest was
partly held in the Anglican Chapel at Fremantle Prison, and that four of the five Prison staff
involved were not called to give evidence.

The 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ‐ Report of the Inquiry into the Death ofRobert Joseph Walker by Commissioner LF Wyvill made the following comments regarding theshortcomings of the various investigations that took place into Robert Walker’s death:
Post‐Mortem Examinations
Two post‐mortem examinations were conducted on Walker's body. Both failed to correctly identify
the cause of death.

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The first examination, which was conducted on the day of Walker's death by Dr Derek Alan Pocock, apathologist employed in the forensic section of the State Health Laboratory, was deficient.
Police Investigation
The police investigation into Walker's death was incomplete and marred by inefficiency.
Had there been a thorough police investigation of the incident on the lawn outside the Division, thepathologists would have had information that was essential for them to have if they were to be ofassistance to the Coroner in his task of ascertaining how Walker came to die of asphyxia.
The Coronial Inquiry
The Coroner's inquiry was frustrated to a considerable extent by the inadequacies of the police
inquiry, the fact that the pathologists were not given sufficient information about the nature andcircumstances in which force was applied to Walker, and the fact that the three prison officers who
were pressing down on Walker as he lay on the grass and their chief officer who was with them did
not given evidence at the inquest. In the result, while the Coroner had no difficulty in identifying thecause of death as asphyxia, he, like the pathologists, was left to speculate as to the mechanism bywhich asphyxia was caused.
Until this Commission investigated Walker's death, no inquirer considered the possibility that his
death was caused, not by the compression of his neck, but by the great weight the prison officers
brought to bear on him as he lay face down on the grass.
Because the pathologists thought at the time that the asphyxia was caused by the compression ofWalker's neck by a very small amount of force (as there was no evidence of a severe application offorce and no other explanation for the asphyxia was proffered) the Coroner, quite understandably,
concluded that there had been no brutal application of force.
Investigation by Prison Authorities
No investigation was conducted by the Prisons Department into Walker's death or the actions of its
officers who were in contact with Walker immediately before his death. The department left theentire investigation to the police and the Coroner.
Even when the Coroner announced his finding, which was that Walker had probably died because hisneck had been compressed at the time the injection was administered by Hanna, there was nointernal departmental inquiry into who had compressed Walker's neck and why. There was, however,a staff bulletin issued in the name of the Director of the department which applauded the officers
involved.
Summary
Walker's death was caused by asphyxia which was the result of the compression of his chest to theextent that he could not breathe. That was caused by the great weight the prison officers brought tohear on him as they pinned him to the ground.
Underlying the mechanical and pathological causes of his death are the poor training, lack ofleadership and misguided use of force by the prison officers.

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SUGGESTED PRE‐VISIT ACTIVITY
Alternatively the Robert walker discussion could be structured using the Q&A format discussed below.
Following the format of the ABCs Q&A program, students debate the issue of Robert Walker’s deathfrom the perspective of contemporary participants.

Roles for students could include:•••

1 * moderator
6 * panel members – (each panel member has 3 or 4 helpers during research phase)
Audience – develop questions

Students allocated roles as panel members could role play historical figures such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•

The commissioner investigating the death
A prisoner who witnessed the event from his cell window
A prison warder present during the event
A friend of Robert Walker in prison
A pathologist involved in the post‐mortem examination
The Coroner

Alternatively, panel members could be themselves, answering from their own beliefs and POV.
Students who are audience members are responsible for developing questions which can be directed
at one or all of the panel members. The moderator determines which questions are asked andcontrols discussion.
Sample questions:
1. Could Robert Walker’s death have been avoided?
2. Was Robert Walker’s race a factor in his death? For example, would he have been treated thesame if he was white?
3. Why did all the investigations and inquiries produce such different findings?

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SUGGESTED POST‐VISIT ACTIVITY
The following murals were painted by Aboriginal prisoners inside Fremantle Prison. Analyse each
image and try to identify what you think each artist’s intention was in the creation of their work.
1. What is the subject matter of each image?
2. What does the image say, if anything, about the artist’s experience of prison life?

Detail of mosaic, 4 Division yard, 1991

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NOTES ON 4 DIVISION YARD MURAL
Towards the end of 1990, prisoners involved in art classes were given the freedom to paint murals on
the walls of the exercise yards.
Fremantle Prison had a large contingent of Aboriginal prisoners. This over‐representation left behind asignificant number of Aboriginal artworks as well as artworks that mix aboriginal and European
imagery. 1 One of the best examples of mixed imagery is the 4 Division yard mural – a spectacularcomposite work signed by three prisoners, Peter Cameron, Erik Merritt, and Shane Finn.
This mural was intended to commemorate Aboriginal culture in Fremantle Prison. The mural maps ajourney across Aboriginal Australia from the east coast to the west, with animals and spirits of the air,earth and water suspended across the aqueous surface. At the bottom the Wagyl travels the length ofthe continent beneath the earth burying its head somewhere near Esperance. 2
The mural consists of Aboriginal graphical imagery from at least three different areas including thesouth‐west and the east Kimberley. This type of inter group composite work is relatively unique whichmakes it a very important part of the Prison’s art collection.
It is ironic that a mural that heavily depicts the influence of water on the formation of the landscape isslowly being destroyed by water seeping through from the east bank behind.
Wondjina
Dreamtime stories tell of the great spirits and totems during creation, which in animal and humanform moulded the barren and featureless earth. The Wandjina in the top left of the mural represent
the creator spirit (in the form of a cloud or rain spirit) for the Aboriginal people of the east Kimberleyregion. During the Dream time the Wandjina created the landscape and its inhabitants.
Wondjina faces are mouthless and feature enormous black eyes flanking a beak‐like nose; they are all‐seeing and all‐knowing and have no need for speech. Wandjinas are usually portrayed with a halo‐likering around their head, depicting lightning, clouds or rain.
The Kimberley groups believed that the Wandjinas were responsible for bringing the annual rains andstorms to the region. The images were refreshed annually to maintain the power of the Wandjinas andensure the return of the rains and renewal of fertility to the area. The image of the Wandjina isreminiscent of the enormous storm‐cloud formations which bring rain to the Kimberley each Wet
season.

Rainbow Serpent
The Rainbow Serpent is a common motif in the art and mythology of Aboriginal Australia. The
Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it
pushed upward.
The Wagyl is the local manifestation of the Rainbow Serpent for the Noongar people of South West
Australia. According to Noongar culture, the Wagyl was a snakelike dreamtime creature responsible
for the creation of the Swan and Canning Rivers and other waterways and landforms around present
day Perth and the south‐west.

1
2

Kerr 1991
Josephine Wilson, Behind Closed Doors, Fremantle Arts Review, 1992?

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Mosaic, 2 Division yard, 1991

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NOTES ON 2 DIVISION YARD MURAL
This mural is an example of a style of landscape art influenced by the Carrolup School art program.
The government settlement known as Carrolup initially operated from 1915 to 1922. When it closed in
1922 its residents were transferred to the Moore River Native Settlement. Carrolup reopened from1940 to 1952 as a farm training school for Aboriginal boys. From 1952 to December 1988 it became
known as Marribank.
During the period from 1940 to 1952, an extraordinary flowering of creativity arose at Carrolup. The
headmaster, Noel White, took his students on walks through the bush, and encouraged them to draw
what they saw. Done in their school exercise books, they drew beautiful landscapes in pastels, andlater on they used watercolours and oils.
Most of the artists were boys between the ages of 7 and 13. Florence Rutter, an Englishwoman,became fascinated with the unusual style of art. She went to Carrolup, took their artworks andexhibited them to raise money for the children. As well as arranging exhibitions of the Carrolup workin England and on the Continent, Rutter wrote a book with Mary Durack‐Miller called Child Artists of
the Australian Bush.3
The children got enormous adulation and press coverage at the time. People were surprised as it was
believed by many that Aboriginals of mixed descent could not hold strong aesthetic values.
The success and international attention was not welcomed by the Department of Native Welfare. The
boys were supposed to be training as labourers. White recorded in his diary occasions when he wasmade to release the boys from school to do trivial and meaningless tasks, such as digging holes andfilling them up again.
In 1951, government policy switched to favour assimilation, and Carrolup was closed. Boys older than
14 were given a new set of clothes and shoes and left to their own devices. Many of these boys ended
up at Fremantle Prison bringing the Carrolup style of art with them.
Many of the murals and works of art in the Fremantle Prison Collection demonstrate this style ofpainting, depicting bush scenes and landscapes, often in silhouette with the sun setting behind. The
Carrolup influenced paintings in Fremantle Prison are not direct observations from Nature, but insteadreflect memories and experiences from the outside. These paintings have a dream‐like imaginative
quality, evoking the artist’s love or longing for their country.

3

Courier Mail, Carrolup exhibition shows children's view of the world, 9 May 200919

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HISTORICAL OVERVIEWThis section contains language that may be offensive to some readers and that will be perceived as
racist in some contexts. This section also contains images of Aboriginal people who are deceased. It
also contains images of Aboriginal prisoners wearing neck chains. These images may be distressing
to some people.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF FREMANTLE PRISON SITE
Prior to European settlement the area now known as Fremantle was relatively well‐populated. A
number of freshwater swamps existed in the area along with a freshwater spring at the eastern baseof the rocky knoll at Arthur Head. According to early colonial records there was no permanent camp at
Arthur Head, but that Aboriginal people visited the area regularly, particularly in summer. 4
A number of nearby sites have been identified as sites of some significance to Aboriginal people, suchas Cantonment Hill, Anglesea Point, Swan River, and Fremantle Manjaree (south bank of Swan Rivermouth). Fremantle Prison itself is not identified in the Register of Aboriginal Sites of the Culture andHeritage Division of the department of Indigenous Affairs as an Aboriginal Site.
Fremantle Prison is informally regarded as a place of social significance for Aboriginal people due tothe number of Aboriginal people who spent time here during the twentieth century. It is recognised as
an Aboriginal Deaths in Custody place and as a place of suffering for Aboriginal people. 5

Bush scene by Revel Cooper – inmate at Fremantle Prison, c1970s
Fremantle Prison Collection
4

Report on Fremantle Prison: Significance to Aboriginal People, The Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University of technology, 1994, p.
10
5Section 18 Notice for the Proposed Works Programme at Fremantle Prison, City of Fremantle WA from the Minister for Works, June 200720

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EARLY INCARCERATION
British settlers landed on Noongar land in 1829 and established the Swan River Colony. For the firsttwo years there was little competition for resources. Relations between settlers and Noongar weregenerally cordial. However, as the settlers fenced off land and denied Noongar people access to theirhunting land and sacred sites, relations deteriorated.
Noongar people began raiding settlers’ farms for food. The settlers regarded this as stealing anddefended their property, killing a number of Aboriginal people. Once an Aboriginal person was killed
their law called for a ‘payback’ killing. Noongar payback could be carried out on any member of the
opposing ‘tribe’. This was incomprehensible and terrifying to the settlers.
Conflict and reprisal killings escalated. The conflict culminated in October 1834 when a troop ofsoldiers led by Governor Stirling killed between 20 and 300 Pindjarep men, women and children on thebanks of the Murray River. 6 Noongar resistance quickly petered out after the Pinjarra Massacre.
During the 1830s Aboriginal prisoners were held at the Perth Gaol, a six cell lockup opposite
Government House, and the Fremantle Round House. These prisoners spent the days ‘chain‐labouring’on road gangs and public works. 7 Prisoners were publically flogged for small offences.
A small number of Aboriginal prisoners were exiled to Carnac Island, 10 kilometres offshore from
Fremantle. Yagan, who with his father Midgegooroo, led the first significant resistance of the Whadjuk
Noongar people to European settlement, was captured with two companions in 1832 and sentenced
to death. Settler Robert Lyon argued that Yagan was defending his land from invasion and as suchshould be treated as a prisoner of war. The argument was successful and the three men weretransferred to the Round House in Fremantle and then exiled to Carnac Island. The captives escaped
the island a month later.
The chuckling style in which Yagan gives us to understand the manner in which they effected
their escape from Carnac, is highly amusing; but a short time ago, he walked up to the doorof the Jail at Fremantle, and after exchanging civilities with his late Keeper marched off
pointing significantly at the Jail, and then Carnac. 8
Midgegooroo was captured in 1833 and publically executed at the Perth Gaol by firing squad. Yagan
was later killed by two teenagers on the Upper Swan, his head removed as a trophy.

ROTTNEST ISLAND (WADJEMUP)
Rottnest Island was first used as a prison in 1838 when a soldier Corporal Welsh transferred ten
Aboriginal prisoners to the island to set up a colony. In 1841 an act was passed in the Legislative
Assembly to ‘constitute the Island of Rottnest a Legal Prison’ 9 for Aboriginal prisoners.
Apart from a hiatus between 1849 and 1855 Rottnest Island operated as a prison for Aboriginal people
for the next 60 years. After 1888 a small number of Aboriginal prisoners on remand or on short stays
were incarcerated at Fremantle Prison. However, most medium to long term prisoners were sent to
Rottnest Island.

6
7
8
9

Accounts of this event vary widely depending on the historical source.
Report on Fremantle Prison: Significance to Aboriginal People, The Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University of technology, 1994
The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 2 March 1833, page 34
Ibid, p. 202

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Aboriginal Prisoners, Rottnest Island, 1893
State Library of Western Australia

Large numbers of Aboriginal prisoners died from flu epidemics and measles on Rottnest. In 1883, 60
out of 170 prisoners died from influenza, more than one third of the population. In 1884 the Forest
Report, commissioned to inquire into the treatment of Aboriginal prisoners in the colony, concluded
that overall the treatment of prisoners on Rottnest Island was ‘kind and humane’. 10 At this time themajority of prisoners on the island had measles.
Following the 1899, Royal Commission the island was finally closed as a prison for Aboriginal people in1903. Despite its official closure, in May 1903, 21 prisoners still remained on the island.
The following year a portion of Rottnest Island came under management of Fremantle Prison’sComptroller‐General. On 4 January the island was officially declared a penal station.
In January 1904 twelve white prisoners from Fremantle Prison arrived on the island. By June 1904
white prisoners numbered 26 and Aboriginal prisoners numbered 12. On 25 June 1904 the Western
Mail reported on the development of the new prison:

10

Ibid, p. 137.

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During the time of their black occupants, the cells had rarely, if ever, been subjected toanything like a systematic cleaning process, and when the time came for them to be given
over to the white prisoners, the finer nature of the latter caused them to shudder at thethought of sleeping in such foul apartments. Convicts though they might be, their manners
and customs were very different from those of the aboriginals … Meanwhile the few black
convicts remaining on the island who are discontented with too much civilization are allowed
to sleep in apartments which have not been so extensively improved. 11
Prisoners were periodically sent to Rottnest Island from Fremantle Prison to work in the salt works andon tourism developments. Over the following years up to 40 prisoners worked on Rottnest at any one
time, about 10% of these being Aboriginal. On 27 August 1915 the daily occurrence book recorded 19
Aboriginal prisoners and 44 European prisoners on the island.
During the war the Aboriginal prisoners were assigned the tasks of cutting firewood, washing clothes,
emptying latrines, cleaning staff quarters and minding animals. The white prisoners worked as cooks,
kitchen hands, clerks, stablemen, blacksmiths, general handymen and carters. By 1918 Aboriginal andEuropean prisoners shared the duties. In 1919 the Aboriginal prisoners were transferred to a newly
constructed set of buildings beside the salt works, otherwise known as the Salt House Prison.
Finally in 1931 the prison on Rottnest Island was closed and prisoner labour on the island
discontinued. During its history as an Aboriginal prison, it is estimated that between 3700 and 6000
Aboriginal men and boys were held on the island. Of these 373 died while on the island, mostly of
influenza and measles.

REGIONAL IMPRISONMENT AND NECK CHAINSI was shown a place of detention commonly called "the boob," and I disliked its appearance
very much. A small detached "room" made of posts driven into the ground, floor of whitesand, scarcely a gleam of light, and little ventilation, and I was told that inmates have been
incarcerated in this place for as long as 14 days. It is barbarous treatment, and the placeshould be pulled down.12
With the expansion of the Swan River Colony new prisons were established on the frontiers. The vast
majority of Aboriginal men and boys imprisoned in the north of the state. Regional prisons contained‘native cells’ and segregated Aboriginal from other prisoners. 13 These prisons were linked with theprison on Rottnest Island. Aboriginal prisoners were transferred on the long journey to Wadjemup inneck and/or leg chains. On their release from Wadjemup they had to find their own way home, often
through hostile tribal lands.
As the colony spread into the north‐west in the 1870s, resistance by Aboriginal people was fierce.
Prison populations were large. The prison at Roebourne was the second largest in the colony.
Neck chains were the standard method of restraining Aboriginal prisoners from the beginning ofEuropean settlement up until the 1940s. Neck chains were used to restrain Aboriginal prisoners on
work parties and while being transported between prison sites, for example between the Roundhouse
and Rottnest Island. In sites such as Roebourne it was reported that Aboriginal prisoners sometimes
wore neck chains all day and night, for up to two or three years at a time. 14 Aboriginal people,
11

Western Mail, Saturday 25 June 1904, p. 32

12Roth, Report of the Royal Commission on the Condition of the Natives, 1904

13

Blaze Kwaymullina and Alexander Hay, Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia (Ed. Jenny Gregory and Jan Gothard), University of
WA Press, 2009, p. 35
14

Thomas, J.E. and Stewart, A. Imprisonment in Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press 1978, p. 141

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

including women, transported to regional centres to act as witnesses in criminal proceedings werealso forced to wear neck chains.
Apart from an instruction from the Comptroller‐General of Prisons that neck chains could be used on
Aboriginal prisoners, there was no legal authority of legislation to support this practice. Neck chainsand leg irons continued to be used in the Kimberley region into the 1940s, long after they had beenabolished for non‐indigenous prisoners. There is no record of neck chains in use at Fremantle Prison.

Aboriginal prisoners outside Roebourne Gaol, 1896
Battye Library, 303666PD

LEGISLATION AFFECTING IMPRISONMENT OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
After the official closure of the Aboriginal Prison on Rottnest Island in 1903, Aboriginal prisoners
requiring ‘maximum security’ 15 were sent to Fremantle Prison. In 1905 the Aborigines Act widened thedefinition of Aboriginality which had the effect of increasing the chance of Aboriginal people being
charged with certain offences. The act also allowed for the summary trial of Aboriginal people, that is,trial before a magistrate without a jury present. As a result of the 1905 Aborigines Act the proportionof Aboriginal prisoners in Fremantle Prison to non‐Aboriginal prisoners increased.
Aboriginal prisoners were also spending more time in prison than non‐Aboriginal prisoners for similar
crimes. In 1906, roughly 33% of prisoners were of Aboriginal descent. However, Aboriginals only

15

Report on Fremantle Prison: Significance to Aboriginal People, The Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University of technology, 1994

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

accounted for 10% of all convictions. This means that Aboriginal people were spending on average
longer sentences than non‐Aboriginal prisoners.
A number of legislative acts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries impacted the crimes
by which Aboriginal people could be charged and the length of sentencing they received, as opposed
to non‐Aboriginal people.
•

1841 – An Act to Constitute the Island of Rottnest a Legal Prison (repealed 1903)•

1849 – Aboriginal Native Offenders Act allowed whipping and imprisonment for summary
offences•

1874 – The Aboriginal Native Offenders Act allowed for two Justices of the Peace(JPs) to
impose a maximum of six months imprisonment for summary offences•

1875 – Capital Punishment (Amendment Act) condemned Aboriginal people liable to public
execution•

1880 – The Wines, Beer and Spirit Sale Act prohibited the sale, supply to or possession of
alcohol by Aboriginal people except as wages by a publican•

1883 – Aboriginal Offenders Act included mixed descent in definition of ‘Aborigine’•

1892 – Aborigines Offenders Act (Amendment Act) allowed whipping of Aboriginal prisoners
instead of or in addition to prison•

1893 – Aboriginal Offenders Act (Amendment Act) increased the maximum sentencing
allowed by JPs•

1905 – Aborigines Act – this comprehensive act widened the definition of ‘aboriginality’,allowed for summary trials, created the position of Chief Protector, established reserves,
disallowed the movements of Aboriginal people from designated missions or reserves, andgoverned sexual liaisons•

1911 – Licensing Act prohibited the supply of alcohol to full or mixed descent Aboriginal
people. This was repealed in 1970•

1936 ‐ Native Administration Act changed the title of Chief Protector to Commissioner of
Native Affairs. The expansive definition given to `native' extended the reach of theCommissioner's powers. Commissioner of Native Affairs made the legal guardian of alllegitimate and illegitimate `native' children to the age of 21 `notwithstanding that the childhas a parent or other relative living'•1941 ‐ Native Administration Act (Amendment Act) restricted the right of Aboriginal people
to move from north to south of the State across the 20th parallel of south latitude•1944 ‐ The Natives (Citizenship Rights) Act gave limited rights to Aboriginal people who could
prove, among other things that they had adopted a 'civilised life' and did not associate with
Aborigines.

ABORIGINAL RESERVES AND ASSIMILATIONIn the early 1900s the government established Aboriginal reserves or ‘native camps’ on the outskirtsof many towns throughout the state. Curfews were established whereby Aboriginal people had toleave the towns and return to their reserves by 6pm or face arrest.
As an example, the Moore River Native Settlement was set up in 1918, initially as a self‐supporting
farming community for Aboriginal people. In the 1920s its purpose changed as Aboriginal people,
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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

including children, were forcibly interned at Moore River as the camp attempted to fulfill the broader
functions of orphanage, crèche, relief depot and home for old persons, unmarried mothers, and theunwell.
By 1933 the Aboriginal population at the Moore River Native Settlement had risen to over 500, leading
to the deterioration in the conditions experienced by the inmates. Between 1918 and 1952, 346
deaths were recorded at Moore River institution, 42% of which were children age 1–5. 16
In 1944 the Native Citizen Rights Act was passed. This legislation enabled Aboriginal people to become
citizens of Australia, however in order to do so they must have ‘dissolved tribal and native
associations’ for a period of two years and have shown they had ‘adopted the manners and habits of acivilised life’.
This paradoxical interplay between policies of assimilation and segregation throughout the first half ofthe twentieth century resulted in the dislocation of Aboriginal people from their ancestral lands, theircommunities and their own families. These social forces saw the rates of Aboriginal committals toFremantle Prison rise dramatically.

Aboriginal children and staff at the Moore River Native Settlement c1930, State Library of Western Australia

Prior to 1952, committal rates for Aboriginal men and women were relatively low as compared tomodern rates. For example, in 1906, 10% of prisoners committed to prison in WA were of Aboriginaldescent. After 1952 the committal rates of Aboriginal people at Fremantle Prison increased
dramatically. From the early 1950s to the modern day, Aboriginal men have accounted for between 30
to 40% of the prison population.
16

Sort of a Place Like Home: Remembering the Moore River Native Settlement. Maushart, Susan 2003, Fremantle Arts Centre Press.

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

The repealing of these legislative acts specific to Aboriginal people, the closure of the missions andreserves, and the integration of Aboriginal people into mainstream society throughout the second halfof the twentieth century did not see a corresponding fall in the number of committals. Instead the
proportion of Aboriginal prisoners to non‐Aboriginal prisoners continued to hover between 30% and
40% of the prison population. The proportion of Aboriginal women compared to non‐Aboriginal
women prisoners increased dramatically.
Assimilation brought dramatic and often sudden social change for Aboriginal people. The
closure of departmental institutions such as native settlements and reserves was followed byresettlement of families and the associated social and personal stress. In the north this was
exacerbated by government programs to develop vast areas of land and the reduction of
employment opportunities there following the introduction of equal pay in the pastoral
industry. 17
Similarly, while the gradual repeal of prohibition laws for alcohol possession and consumption for
Aboriginal people during the 1960s and 1970s came to symbolise their new right to equality, alcohol
related offences subsequently became the main reason for incarcerating Aboriginal people.
Incarceration rates for Aboriginal people today have not changed. In 2010 a review of prisons saw
Aboriginal people making up 39% of Western Australia’s adult prison population. Aboriginal children injuvenile detention made up 65% of the juvenile custodial population. Peter Collins, the Director of
Legal Services with the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA stated that:… the Aboriginal rate of imprisonment is 26 times the rate for non‐Aboriginal imprisonment,
and tonight, that means one in every 12.5 Aboriginal men in this state will spend the night in
Prison. 18

FREMANTLE PRISON
It is not known when the first Aboriginal prisoner spent time at Fremantle Prison or how many wereincarcerated there between 1855 and 1903. It is reasonable to assume that Aboriginal men were
present at Fremantle Prison in small numbers throughout most of its early history. During the period
between 1858 and 1876 when the colonial and convict systems were temporarily merged and colonial
prisoners sent to Fremantle Prison, it can be assumed that a number of these men were of Aboriginaldescent. In 1895 the Superintendent of Fremantle Prison forwarded an estimate of accommodationfor 40 Aboriginal prisoners to the Sheriff.

17

Report on Fremantle Prison: Significance to Aboriginal People, The Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University of technology, 1994,
p.23
18
Indigenous Incarceration in WA, Law report – ABC Radio National, broadcast 10 August 2010, 8:35am.

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

Early 1900s mugshots of Aboriginal prisoner from Fremantle Prison, State Records Office of WA

A description of the exercise yards at Fremantle Prison in the 5 October 1889 edition of the Western
Mail states that; ‘the fourth in order is, the debtors’ yard, and in this yard aboriginal prisoners are also
exercised.’ 19 The yard identified here is what is now known at 2 Division yard.
The following table shows the returns of prisoners in Fremantle Prison from 31 December 1893,
identifying three male Aboriginal prisoners in the Prison.
RETURN OF PRISONERS IN CONFINEMENT ‐ FREMANTLE PRISON 31 DECEMBER 1893 20
PRISONERSNUMBER

Undergoing Penal Servitude

35

Undergoing Hard Labour

85

Paupers (ex‐convicts) under medical treatment at hospital

5

Ticket‐of‐Leave Holders out of Employment

3

Juvenile Male Prisoners

2

Debtors1

Aboriginal Male Prisoners

3

Female Prisoners Undergoing Hard Labour

12

TOTAL

146

On the 31st December 1905, out of 682 prisoners spending the night in the State’s prison system, 217
or 32% were Aboriginal. 21 The total commitments in 1905 of all kinds were 3738 22 . Of these 371 or
19

The Western Mail, 5 October 1889, p. 5.
The West Australian, 26 September 1906, p. 36.
21
Ibid, page 5
20

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

10% were Western Australian Aboriginal people, and 13 were Aboriginal people from interstate. Eightof these Aboriginal prisoners were classed as juveniles.

Screen capture – End of the Road, 1980s
Fremantle Prison

ABORIGINAL PRISONERS AND THE DEATH PENALTY
Of the 154 people legally executed in Western Australia, 61 were Aboriginal, 23 were Asians and 70
were of European descent. 5 Aboriginal men were executed on Rottnest Island. No Aboriginal
prisoners were executed at Fremantle Prison.
In 1888 the Gallows were constructed at Fremantle Prison and from this time the majority of state
executions were carried out on this site. However, between 1886 and 1900, 12 Aboriginal men were
executed, all in the regions including one at Rottnest Island. During this same period, 11 non‐Aboriginal prisoners were hanged at Fremantle Prison.
22
The term commitment refers to the number of offences for which prisoners were committed to Fremantle Prison rather than the number ofprisoners. For example, a single prisoner may have been sentenced for more than one crime leading to their incarceration.

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Mullabudden and Nooluillinah were the last Aboriginal prisoners executed in Western Australia,
hanged in Derby in 1900 for the murder of John Dobit. 23
Non‐Aboriginal men convicted for crimes in the regions, for example, Long Jimmy in Roebourne in
1889, and Harry Press in Halls Creek in 1889, were sentenced in the regions then sent to Fremantle
Prison for execution. Aboriginal people who offended were covered by the Aboriginal Native
Offenders Act 1849, separate to the acts which covered crimes committed by non‐Aboriginal people.
Although public execution was abolished in 1869, the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1871,(amended in 1875), exempted Aboriginal people, allowing for them to be executed publically. 24

SEGREGATION AT FREMANTLE PRISON – 2 DIVISION TO 1965
Dividing the Main Cell Block into four divisions in the early 1900s allowed the Prison administration toclassify prisoners according to the length of their sentences and place them accordingly in thedivisions. As a general rule, the longer a prisoner’s sentence the further north they were placed in theMain Cell Block, ie. towards 4 Division. Prisoners sentenced to less than a year were placed in 2
Division. Because the vast majority of Aboriginal men were sentenced to less than a year for crimes
such as possessing alcohol or being drunk and disorderly, they were placed in 2 Division.
Over time 2 Division became known as the Nyungar Division 25 . And throughout the fifties and up to1965 it was inhabited almost exclusively by Aboriginal prisoners. John McGivern who wasSuperintendent in 1950s, stated that while there was no official prison policy of segregation, mostAboriginal men were held in 2 Division. The segregation of Aboriginal prisoners was not an official
policy of the government or of the Prison Department but an unofficial administrative practice at
Fremantle Prison.
Until about eight years ago there had been a system in Fremantle Prison of almost complete
segregation of aboriginal prisoners from white prisoners. The aborigines lived in their own
Division, had their own yard, and were completely segregated from the non‐aboriginal
prisoners in all respects except their work. Even at work they tended to be given the more
unpleasant and the more menial tasks. There was quite a large party engaged in generalcleaning up around the prison precincts, and this party was composed exclusively of
Aborigines. It was known as the ‘native party’. In 1965 that system was abolished. From thattime on no distinction whatever has been made between aborigine and non‐aborigine
prisoners. 26
Not all Aboriginal prisoners were unhappy about being segregated in 2 Division:
Narrator:
I think my best medicine when I got there was to know there was an Aboriginalyard and Aboriginal people, because it was a strange thing and a truthful thing, that the
Aboriginals as you know, make up the biggest populations of prisons, therefore they’re thebiggest strength. I mean they can dictate terms to other prisoners because if you fight one
Aboriginal, you fight the whole lot, and they know that. So we had some sort of authority,and I had some sort of security … 27
And;

23

Legal Executions In Western Australia, Brian Purdue, Foundation Press, 1993
Letter from Fitzgerald, R Director of Strategic Services, Department of Corrective Services WA, to Turner, D. 13 April, 1989.
25
Fremantle prison: The Experiences of an Aboriginal Prisoner, Oral History, Battye Library, 1991
26
Report of the Royal Commission into Fremantle Prison 1973, State of Western Australia, Royal Commissions Act, 1968, Robert Jones,
Commissioner, 1973
27
Fremantle Prison: The Experiences of an Aboriginal Prisoner, Oral History, Battye Library, 1991, p. 22.
24

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

Narrator:
As I say, when I was there, there was an Aboriginal yard and that was safety
for us. Might be called ‘boongs’ and ‘niggers’ and that, but we were safe.
Interviewer: About that Aboriginal yard. Was there any traditional culture in there? Can
you give us a sense of the Aboriginality of the place? What was so special about it in an
Aboriginal sense?
Narrator:
First it was safety. First was identity. First was relationship, identity. There wassafety and then, the one that could tell the biggest load of bullshit. I mean it was. We used totell some yarns … And we always had a sort of performer. That was Willis at the time, half
negro and half Aboriginal, and he use to have a beautiful voice … and I think mostly thestories, we’d all sit back and we’d listen to him talking about jennuks and nyameris. It’s funny
but even in prison they still kept the culture of storytelling alive. 28
Discrimination against Aboriginal prisoners worked on more subtle levels, for example, they did not
get the good jobs. They did not get work in the kitchens handling food. During the 1960s a group of
Aboriginal prisoners made a formal request to the Superintendent that they be allowed to work in the
kitchens. Their request was denied.

ABORIGINAL PRISONERS IN FREMANTLE WOMEN’S PRISON
From the opening of the Women’s Prison in 1888 until 1915 there were very few commitments of
Aboriginal women to Fremantle Prison – rates were significantly less than for non‐Aboriginal
women. 29 In 1895 the total number of commitments of Aboriginal women was 9 as compared to 114
for non‐Aboriginal women. Twenty years later in 1915 the total number of commitments of Aboriginal
women was 5 as compared to 376 for non‐Aboriginal women.
Forty years later, with the passing of the Native Welfare Act 1954, closure of native settlements andthe policy of assimilation, commitment numbers for Aboriginal women increased dramatically. By
1968 Aboriginal women comprised 81% of female prisoners in the State compared to 21.6% in 1951
and 8% in 1895. In 1954 there were 20 Aboriginal women and 5 non‐Aboriginal women prisoners at
Fremantle. By 1963 there were 63 Aboriginal women prisoners in Fremantle.
Most Aboriginal women were aged between 20 and 40 and were repeat offenders, sentenced to shortterms of imprisonment for minor crimes such as alcohol related offences and disorderly conduct. Alex
Stewart argues that the large numbers of Aboriginal women offenders after 1954 was linked with the‘propensity of many of the Aboriginal population for alcohol. This linked to high visibility to the police,
makes them especially vulnerable to arrest.’ 30 In her oral history Pauline Iles states:
I haven’t mentioned the question of alcohol but I mean, that clearly was the biggest
headache for the Aboriginal people. 31
Alternatively the 1994 Report on Fremantle Prison: Significance to Aboriginal People argues that theincrease in rates of incarceration was more due to the social challenges around the policies ofassimilation during the 1950s and 1960s.
Margaret Walker, Fremantle Women’s Prison Assistant Matron from 1967 to 1970, describes what it
was like for Aboriginal women sent to Fremantle Prison from the regions:28

Ibid, p. 41.
Report on Fremantle Prison: Significance to Aboriginal People, The Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University of technology, 1994,
p21
30
Imprisonment in Western Australia, Stewart, Alex and Thomas JE. University of Western Australia Press, 1978, p. 147.
31
Pauline Iles, Oral History, Battye Library, 1996, p. 15.
29

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

Interviewer: … were most of the Aboriginal prisoners from around the city, Margaret, or
had they been brought down?
Walker:No, we used to get them from everywhere – Kimberley, Goldfields and thedesert. What they do, they wander into the towns and then they get into trouble and thenthey send them down to us, which was very sad because they’d never had clothes on theirback a lot of them. They’d never had shoes on their feet. They’d send them down toFremantle; they put shoes on their feet, clothes on their back, they don’t know what to do.
They can’t walk in their shoes. It was very sad. There were two or three that nobody knew thelanguage they talked, not of all the inmates in the Fremantle Prison or all the Aborigines
around. They tried very hard to get somebody who could speak the language. This poor old
biddy, she wouldn’t sit at the table … she wouldn’t eat and she’d sit in the corner. You
couldn’t get her to do anything because she just didn’t know what you were talking about.
She was so frightened. She’d sit on the floor. She’d tip her dinner off her plate on to a piece ofnewspaper and eat it with her hands. It took her nearly three months to get her to sit at thetable and eat with a spoon. What’s the point of sending a person like that? Why don’t they
just send her back to where she came from?32

32

Margaret Walker, Fremantle Women’s Prison Assistant Matron, Oral History, Battye Library, 1995, p. 18

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 1033

33

The West Australian 5 May 1950, p. 3.

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

RACE RELATIONS“… trouble was brewing between the white and coloured inmates.” 34
When asked about race relations inside Fremantle Prison, a former Aboriginal inmate who had spenttime in Fremantle Prison during the 1960s and 1970s stated:
I think the Aboriginal people really controlled prisons because they weren’t to be discarded.
They were always in with power, as you know. There’s 42 per cent. Even the big heavies withguns and everything else, knives, they still got respect for the Aboriginal, because once you
fight one, you fight the lot of us, so it was always like that; and there’s always the hate
between white and black. So it mostly pays for them to get on with each other and they do.
Interviewer:

What about divisions between different groups of Aboriginal people?

Narrator:
Ah that’s the disappointing thing about it. The disappointing thing about it isprobably the Nyungars fighting the Wonggais and the Yamidji fighting Wonggais andNyungars, and you know, the most despicable thing, I think, is these people who have got
vendettas against each other to the point of shooting each other, are first cousins, they’refirst cousins. They’re so close in relationship and they’ve got this vendetta that’s been goingon for about 67 years, and it still does, and they’re not very kind to each other either. That’s
incredible.
Now if you see a white man step in and a black man being injured, well they seem to just join
forces to get rid of that element then back to the same old vendetta. 35
In general, fights in the division yards seemed to occur equally between Aboriginal and Aboriginal;
Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal; and non‐Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal. However, the early 1970s saw
a spike in incidents between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal prisoners, as well as complaints of violenceby prison officers against Aboriginal prisoners. So much so that in 1973 a Royal Commission was called
to investigate claims by Aboriginal prisoners of systemic discrimination and violence against Aboriginal
prisoners by prison officers and white prisoners.
The Report of the Royal Commission upon Various Allegations of Assaults on or Brutality to Prisoners inFremantle Prison and of Discrimination against Aboriginal or part‐Aboriginal Prisoners therein, 1973,
had four terms of reference, to inquire into and report upon:
1. Allegations of assaults on or brutality to prisoners in Fremantle Prison by prison staff,
2. Allegations of other assaults on prisoners within 12 months of the date of the enquiry,
3. Allegations of discrimination against Aboriginal prisoners or part‐Aboriginal prisoners inFremantle Prison, and,4. Any remedial or punitive action recommended.
Commissioner Robert Jones was tasked with investigating the rise in inter‐racial tension evident inFremantle Prison at this time and a number of specific complaints by Aboriginal prisoners of
discrimination against them by prison officers.

THE UMBULGARRIE INCIDENT 1972
The first term of reference of the above Royal Commission dealt solely with a specific complaint froman Aboriginal prisoner named Henry Umbulgarrie who was allegedly assaulted by a number of white
34

Report of the Royal Commission upon Various Allegations of Assaults on or Brutality to Prisoners in Fremantle Prison and ofDiscrimination against Aboriginal or part-Aboriginal Prisoners therein, 1973, State of Western Australia Royal Commissions Act, 1968, p.
22.
35
Fremantle Prison: The Experiences of an Aboriginal Prisoner, Oral History, Battye Library, 1991, pp. 60-61.

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

prisoners at the instigation of one or more prison officers. This incident provided an insight into whatlife was like ‘in the yard’ for prisoners and also how Aboriginal prisoners engaged with the prison
system.
In his evidence to the Royal Commission, Umbulgarrie stated that on the afternoon of Saturday 29
April 1972, in the 2 Division exercise yard, a white inmate ‘called out’ Umbulgarrie from the tennis
court, lured him to a concealed spot at the back of the yard, and there assaulted him. A larger group ofwhite prisoners joined in the assault on Umbulgarrie, and then went on to assault two other
Aboriginal prisoners. It was alleged that officers on duty who were observing the fight deliberately
refused to stop it or offer assistance to the men being assaulted.
Commissioner Robert Jones in his report to the Royal Commission stated that
Henry Umbulgarrie is a full blood aborigine from the Kimberley district, of a very primitive
type. … Much the same could be said of the other complainant Roy Linton, also a full blood
Kimberley aborigine, although not quite so primitive a type as Umbulgarrie. I had the strong
impression from both of these witnesses that at no time could one be sure that anything theysaid was related to fact. They seemed to be quite incapable of dealing with a question‐and‐answer interrogation. They appeared to be willing to say anything at all simply to get out of asituation (i.e. the interrogation situation) which was intolerable to them. I do not think they
were being deliberately untruthful or trying to mislead; it seemed rather that they were
simply not capable of thinking or communicating along lines intelligible to the ordinary
educated man. As a result, it was impossible to place any reliance on what they said at all.36
Jones found that while Umbulgarrie was assaulted by Rowe, he believed that Umbulgarrie had started
the fight, and that only two other white prisoners had joined the fight. The commission also found thatthe prison officers did not refuse to help Umbulgarrie, rather they did not see the incident take place.
Umbulgarrie also alleged that prison officers had admitted white prisoners from the kitchen into theyard for the purpose of assaulting Umbulgarrie. The commission found this was not the case.
Of the seven or eight other allegations of abuse or discrimination by white prisoners or prison officers
against Aboriginal prisoners that were investigated by the commission, all were found as per the
Umbulgarrie incident, ie. against the Aboriginal complainants.

36

Report of the Royal Commission upon Various Allegations of Assaults on or Brutality to Prisoners in Fremantle Prison and ofDiscrimination against Aboriginal or part-Aboriginal Prisoners therein, 1973, State of Western Australia Royal Commissions Act, 1968, p.
16.

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

Screen capture – End of the Road, 1980s
Fremantle Prison

FINDINGS OF THE 1973 ROYAL COMMISSION
It was not just the evidence of Aboriginal prisoners that was rejected by the commission. The third
term of reference of the Royal Commission referred to a number of complaints from white prisonersof alleged discrimination against Aboriginal prisoners, stating that prison officers had encouraged
them to ‘work‐over’ Aboriginal prisoners. For example, in one incident a white prisoner Nightingale
alleged that the prison officer in charge of the Print Shop where Nightingale worked, suggested toNightingale that if he ‘worked‐over’ a particular Aboriginal prisoner in the toilets, he and the otherofficers would look the other way. Nightingale alleged that the prison officers did not like to have‘blackfellows’ in their shop. Nightingale in his evidence stated that he had no problem with Aboriginal
prisoners and that he refused to do what the prison officer asked. (Nightingale shared a cell with an
Aboriginal prisoner and was very ‘happy with the arrangement’.)37
37

Ibid, p. 159.

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

As he did with a number of similar complaints by white prisoners, the commissioner found noevidence to substantiate Nightingale’s claims.
In terms of generalised alleged discrimination against Aboriginal prisoners by the prison system,
despite the number of incidents examined in evidence, the Royal Commission found no evidence tosupport the case. The report stated that while inter‐racial flare‐ups did occur from time to time, they
were simply a reflection of the racial problems that existed in the broader Western Australiancommunity at the time.
There is no blinking the fact that we have in Western Australia … a king‐sized problem in thisrespect. Until the community solves that problem it is useless to expect that it will not bereflected in an institution such as Fremantle Prison. But as far as conscious, deliberate
discrimination against aborigines in the prison is concerned, either by officers or inmates, I
find that it occurs so infrequently as to be a matter for congratulation of the prison
authorities and the policy they have pursued. 38
The Royal Commission concluded by recommending that the post 1965 policy of integrating Aboriginaland non‐Aboriginal prisoners throughout the divisions, yards and work areas should be continued. It
also stated that race relations between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal people inside were in generalmuch more positive than they were in the wider community outside prison.

THE DEATH OF ROBERT WALKER 1984
A significant event in the Prison’s modern history occurred on 28 August 1984 when an Aboriginal
prisoner, Robert Walker, died of asphyxiation while being transferred by prison warders from 1
Division to the Prison hospital.
Robert Walker was a 26 year old Aboriginal man, charged with rape and sentenced to six years at
Fremantle Prison. His cell was in 1 Division. Reportedly he was a well behaved prisoner until the nightof 27 August 1984 when he began yelling out and playing his guitar loudly through the night. When aguard checked his cell at 4am it was discovered he had cut his wrists with a razor blade.
Three prison staff attempted to transfer Walker to the hospital to treat his wounds. He became
agitated as he was removed from his cell. On the 2 division stairs he kicked the hospital officer who fell
down the stairs. The warders moved Walker through the 2 division doors into the Parade Ground.
Outside an altercation occurred which ended with Walker being pinned to the ground on the grassoutside 2 division. More officers arrived to help control the prisoner. It is alleged that at this time
Walker was subjected to a ‘beating’ by the guards. The actual severity of the prison officers’ actions
was a highly contestable part of the report with versions ranging from a violent beating with batons towhat was considered necessary force. The inquiry found that his death was asphyxiation caused byrough treatment and mismanagement of the situation by the supervising officer.
While Walker was pinned to the ground the medical officer ran to the hospital to retrieve a dose of
the sedative Largactil. Walker was injected with the sedative. Before it could take effect Walker
stopped struggling. He was carried to an observation cell in New Division where he later stopped
breathing and was pronounced dead.
This event is contentious for a number of reasons:38•

It involved the death of an Aboriginal prisoner and as such was part of the 1991 Royal
Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody•

Witness statements regarding the particular events surrounding the death differed greatly

Ibid, pp. 160-161.

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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY CURRICULUM @ FREMANTLE PRISONLINKS FOR YEAR 10

between Prison staff and prisoners•

Regardless of the various versions of the event, the death of Robert Walker was violent andprobably avoidable•

The particulars of Robert Walker’s death were misreported by the media at the time, his deathbeing attributed in different news stories to suicide, asphyxiation, death by misadventure, ‘amysterious illness’.

•

The Aboriginal community at the time were, and to an extent still are, tremendously upset by
the circumstances surrounding the incident, particularly because the coronial inquest was
partly held in the Anglican Chapel at Fremantle Prison, and that four of the five Prison staff
involved were not called to give evidence.

ROYAL COMMISSION INTO ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY 1987 TO 1991
On 10 August 1987 Prime Minister Hawke announced the formation of a Royal Commission toinvestigate the causes of deaths of Aboriginal people while held in State and Territory gaols. The Royal
Commission was established in response to a growing public concern that deaths in custody ofAboriginal people were too common and poorly explained. The Commission examined all deaths incustody in each State and Territory which occurred between 1 January 1980 and 31 May 1989, and theactions taken in respect of each death. The Commission's terms of reference enabled it to takeaccount of social, cultural and legal factors which may have had a bearing on the deaths underinvestigation.
Thirty three Aboriginal deaths in custody were investigated in Western Australia which accounted fora third of the total number of Aboriginal deaths in custody investigated throughout Australia.
Nineteen people died of natural or medical causes. Nine people died as a result of a self‐inflictedinjury, seven by hanging, one by strangulation and one by cutting his throat. Four people died as aresult of violent circumstances. Most Aboriginal deaths in custody occurred in regional prisons andpolice lockups. One Aboriginal prisoner died at Fremantle Prison during the period covered by theterms of reference of the Royal Commission.
The Commission made 339 recommendations, a very small minority of which are listed below:
•
•
•
•
•
•

That steps be taken to reduce the rate of Aboriginal juveniles involved in welfare and thecriminal justice system
That governments which have not already done so should legislate to enforce the principlethat imprisonment should be utilised only as a sanction of last resort
That, in jurisdictions where drunkenness has not been decriminalised, governments should
legislate to abolish the offence of public drunkenness
That Corrective Services effect the placement and transfer of Aboriginal prisoners according to
the principle that, where possible, an Aboriginal prisoner should be placed in an institution as
close as possible to the place of residence of his or her family
That the use of offensive language in circumstances of interventions initiated by police should
not normally be occasion for arrest or charge, andThat all political leaders and their parties recognise that reconciliation between the Aboriginaland non‐Aboriginal communities in Australia must be achieved if community division, discord
and injustice to Aboriginal people are to be avoided.

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LIFE IN PRISON: 1980s TO CLOSURE
Aboriginal prisoners faced a set of problems and challenges not necessarily faced by white prisoners,
eg. poor literacy levels, language difficulties, behavioural expectations, high committal rates and longsentences. For many Aboriginal people with alcohol related problems, Fremantle Prison was a
revolving door where people came to dry out.
… part of my problem, without any hesitation, was alcohol. I used to drink a lot. I used to liketo fight. … I really did. It’s crazy, but I was young and stupid and drunk. Well, mostly those are
the things I came in for. Drunk, unlawful conduct, oh you know idle and disorderly … As I say I
stole a car, when I first went to Prison, but I wasn’t really a thief, just an alcoholic. 39

Screen Capture, Fremantle Prison June 1991, New Division yard

Because many Aboriginal prisoners were illiterate, they could not communicate via mail with family
members. Aboriginal prisoners whose families resided in the regions very often had no visits fromwives or family. A common theme for Aboriginal people in prison is the sense of isolation andloneliness.

39

Fremantle Prison: The Experiences of an Aboriginal Prisoner, Oral History, Battye Library, 1991, pp. 36-37.

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In a 1980s documentary End of the Road, made by the Department for Aboriginal Affairs to discourage
young Aboriginal offenders from entering the prison system, a Fremantle Prison Aboriginal prisoner
talks about his experiences inside:
My name is Michael. I’ve been in for a year and a half, and um, this is no place to be. I’m only
nineteen, just turned twenty actually. In a year and a half I’ve been here I’ve seen a lot of bad
things happening, and a lot of bad things have happened to me. And when things happen
and happen to yourself, it’s hard to relate to it. You’ve got no family to talk to about it, andyou don’t know who to talk to about it, ‘cause you think they’ll laugh. And you think they will
think you are weak bastard or whatever.
It’s really different to what you think it is here … when I got here, I knew I was in a place
where I would never want to return. You’re locked up sixteen hours, you lay back and mainly
you’re by yourself and you have no TV, no radio, and you’re thinking, what’s going on? What
are they doing, what am I doing, what’s going to happen? And then you think, ahh I’m going
to be like this the rest of my life.
And like I said there’s been bad things, stabbings, other blokes rooting each other, andjunkies. You don’t know what’s going to happen to you. You can be stabbed, some bloke
might walk up, you don’t mind me, I’m f***ing you, you don’t know what’s going to happen.
That’s what I thought was going to happen to me. Young, looking like a bit of fresh meat, andI thought ‘shit! No c***s going to come over and stand over me.’But it didn’t happen like that. I was lucky. I was met with a handshake, I thought this is going
to be good, and then it got bad. Real bad. There is a lot of hatred in here, between eachother. But then there’s been a lot of good friendships made in here. But you don’t wantfriends that going to keep coming back to gaol, that’s going to drag you back to gaol. It
sounds alright, but its not, and if you come here you’re a fool. A bigger fool than what you
are now. That’s all I’ve got to say.40
In his oral history an Aboriginal ex‐prisoner talks about the isolation of prison:
They didn’t have to be cruel by beating us or anything else, it’s just the isolation. I think thatwas the pain. The pain was the isolation and what you had. … I can see prison as more of amental strain than anything else. More mentally. It sort of broke people. … You know you see
some of those tough fellows, they’d be in control, very much in control, and then someunguarded moment bang! They’d twist. They fall in half, they’re committing suicide. They’re
cutting up their wrists, really gorging into their arms … They can go right through it and then“Oh, can’t take it no more! Can’t take it no more!” 41
This prisoner goes on to describe his defence against the hardships of prison life:… I developed a defence. I was always smiling. I could dream. … I could stand there and you’dbe talking to me and I’d be … where would I go? I’d go where I wanted to go in my mind, andI was there and this bloke called Ian, he says, “Look, you’re a bastard!” I said, “What for? I’m
not doing nothing to you.” “You’re smiling. Do you realise you’re smiling, and we’re doing
time. What do you do, Billy? What do you do? Are you mad or what?” Of sometimes I think …
no, I dream off. I dream about standing up there like playing a guitar or some beautiful
woman. I’d see all that. I touched them. 42

40

End of the Road, c1980s documentary. Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

41

Fremantle Prison: The Experiences of an Aboriginal Prisoner, Oral History, Battye Library, 1991, pp. 46-47.
42
Ibid, p. 46.

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