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Anonymoususer's avatar

Can you help me find information about the Master's and Servant's Acts in Australia's History?

Asked by Anonymoususer (455points) May 9th, 2012

I’ve read that in Australia the Master’s and Servant’s Acts of 1823 (and even 1902) could give runaway servants prison. Which year was this act abolished? And who were included in the law more than servants?

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2 Answers

YARNLADY's avatar

Wikipedia has an excellent article with several references listed at the bottom. You can find what you need there.

Bellatrix's avatar

There is a lot of research around this legislation – look at labour laws for instance. I looked at a few papers and while the papers seemed to say when versions of the legislation was repealed, the repealed versions were replaced up until the late 1880s. I ran out of time but I would suggest using Google Scholar and seeing what you can find. I found articles by Historian Ros Kidd who has done a lot of work around Indigenous labour practices. Indigenous people in Australia were definitely targeted by this legislation.

Good luck.

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