Informal powers and the removal of Aboriginal children: Consequences for health and social order

Current high levels of morbidity and mortality, and high rates of incarceration among Australian Aboriginal populations are related historically to the attempted separation of Aboriginal people from family and community. The paper discusses these events through an analysis of legal and extra-legal forms of power in the late 19th century in Victoria, and through an analysis of the workings of the informal powers of administrators and mission superintendents, within a broader framework of liberal political reason.