Indigenous Australians, State Archives

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:43): Supplementary: will the government allow access to the state archives needed to address the stolen wages issue for redress and justice?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:43): I thank the honourable member for her question. The state archives question is a very good one and one that I have sought a quite a bit of information about. It often comes up in terms of reconnecting with families, members of stolen generations, probably more so than in terms of stolen wages.

It is something where I am interested in making sure that there is as much access as possible. The cultural complexities of the information that is held and making sure the access is not done in a way that communities wouldn't want it to be done is something that I didn't properly understand the complexities of, but it is an issue I'm aware of and certainly have asked to make it as easy as possible, bearing in mind the permission that is needed from communities and community leaders.