Moseley Royal Commission (WA)

The Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Investigate, Report, and Advise Upon Matters in Relation to the Condition and Treatment of Aborigines is commonly known as the Moseley Royal Commission after its Chair, Dr H.D. Mosely. In 1934, the Native Union and allies presented a range of issues, including forced removal of children, to the British Commonwealth League Conference in London. This triggered criticism in Britain about WA’s treatment of Aboriginal people, which played a role in instigating the Mosely report. While Moseley noted the cruelty of forcible removal, he ultimately rejected calls for change. (See Anna Haebich, “Forgetting Indigenous Histories: Cases from the Histories of Australia’s Stolen Generations”, Journal of Social History, 2011, Vol.44, No.4, p. 1038.)