Court approves plan to distribute $180m to thousands of Aboriginal workers whose wages were ‘stolen’

A Federal judge said a plan to pay $10,000 to Territorians whose wages were ‘stolen’ for decades may be seen as an ‘insult to what they and their Elders endured’, while lambasting a legal firm’s bid for another multi-million dollar payment.

Territorians who were paid a pittance for their backbreaking and gruelling labour will only be able to access a maximum of $18,000 as compensation for decades of ‘stolen’ wages.

On Thursday the Federal Court of Australia finalised how a $180m settlement between the Commonwealth Government and thousands of Aboriginal workers could be distributed in a “fair and reasonable” manner, while knocking back a legal firm’s bid for a multimillion extra fee.

Lead applicant Minnie McDonald filed the claim in the Federal Court in 2021 on behalf of herself and thousands of other Indigenous workers who were paid little or no wages between 1933 and 1971 while subject to wage control legislation.

Ms McDonald was only 14 years old when she was put to work six days a week as a domestic labourer on a Central Australian cattle station, alongside her father, mother, brothers and later her husband.

“Never seen the money though,” she told the court.

Stolen wages class action lead applicant Minnie McDonald and Shine Lawyers associate Harry Tilse. Picture: Supplied

Other Territorians shared stories with the court of working 12 hours in the blistering heat on cattle stations, long days cooking and cleaning — only to find nothing in their bank accounts and surviving only on rations of flour, sugar and tea.

Ms McDonald alleged the conditions and wages Aboriginal Territorians were exposed to amounted to slavery, with the Commonwealth breaching the duty of care and unlawfully racially discriminating against the workers.

The Commonwealth has not admitted it is legally liable under any of the claims made, but in September it agreed to pay $180m to all group members who register by August 31 2025.

It is expected that all of the applicants will receive a minimum of $10,000 under the settlement terms, with the nominated maximum per person amount just $18,000.

Chief Justice Debra Mortimer.

On Thursday Chief Justice Debra Mortimer acknowledged that the final individual compensation amount did “not seem very large”.

“In my opinion it is likely that there will be a number of eligible claimants, and their families, who might perceive the settlement to be inadequate, and might see it as an insult to what they and their Elders endured during the claim period,” Justice Mortimer said.

“The Court understands the strong sense of injustice and unfairness that is felt in Northern Territory communities about the way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were treated when they worked during this period, often in terrible conditions and while suffering a number of other deprivations and restrictions.”

However she said the courts role was to focus on how the overall settlement could be fairly distributed, noting that a trial was “very uncertain and risky” and could have taken many years to finalise.

Food was given out to those who attended the latest NT Stolen Wages class action high court hearing at the Alice Springs Convention Centre, November 5, 2024. Picture: Gera Kazakov

There is currently no fixed date for when group members will receive their $10,000 payments, but Justice Mortimer ordered that the payment rollout should prioritise the 966 applicants who were alive during the stolen wages policy.

“Already many of the workers on the stations, missions or other institutions and settlements have passed away and therefore will not personally see any accounting for the way they were treated,” she said.

“Those who are alive are elderly, and many are in poor health.”

Justice Mortimer also ruled that those who gave evidence in the case should receive additional payments of $5,000 or $10,000, in recognition of the time they took to tell their stories to the court.

The surviving relatives of workers whose wages were ‘stolen’ will also be able to access the payments, with descendants to split this $10,000 between siblings.

Despite the claimants only receiving a maximum $18,000, their representatives Shine Lawyers tried to push for a further $8m in administration fees — on top of the $22m in legal costs.

Justice Mortimer lambasted the legal firm’s bid for the additional money, saying it had an “unnecessarily expensive and resource intensive” plan to run outreach and registration programs to 114 communities.

Justice Mortimer lambasted the Shine Lawyers’ bid for the additional money. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

She said the plan failed to engage with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations which “is likely to cost less money and will also be better for group members as they will be able to talk with people and organisations they are used to,”

Justice Mortimer said while Shine had a “genuineness of their desire” to help their clients, “the pursuit of the business model has, in my respectful opinion, at times overshadowed these good intentions”.

She said many in the Aboriginal community would be “frustrated, and likely mystified about how city based non-Indigenous participants in this proceeding come out with so much money compared to their family and friends.”

“I doubt they would see much social justice in this outcome.”

Justice Mortimer ruled that any administration costs should be assessed after the registration window closed in August, and ordered Shine to partner with local Aboriginal run organisations.

Originally published as Court approves plan to distribute $180m to thousands of Aboriginal workers whose wages were ‘stolen’