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Name
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Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement
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Type of carceral site
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Reserve, Station, or Mission
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Dates of use
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1914 – 1969
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Quote
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You got to be under the Act to know the Act.
Play, Documentary Theatre.
Bacon, Sean, et al. Beautiful One Day. Belvoir Street Theatre, 2012, p. 6.
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... bell for the start of roll call at 8am bell for the end of roll call bell for the start of tea break bell for the end of tea break bell for the start of lunch break bell for the end of lunch break bell for the end of work bell for the start of curfew at 9pm, generator is turned off at 10pm, bell for the start of roll call all over again at 8am.
Play, Documentary Theatre.
Bacon, Sean, et al. Beautiful One Day. Belvoir Street Theatre, 2012, p. 7.
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From 1918 until the late 1960s, hundreds of Queensland Aborigines were sent to the Palm Island Mission, which served as a regular reserve as well as an open-air jail.
Narrative Non-fiction/True Crime.
Hooper, Chloe. The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island. 2008. Penguin, 2010, p. 11.
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You don't understand,' Miss Weber said. 'They go there. It's little better than a prison. You know that. What's the latest word from Europe? Concentration camp. They know no one. They're separated from their own tribe. These are Kuku-Yalanji. Except for Jericho whom they took in when he ran away. They won't be able to speak the language oft the others. They certainly won't be able to understand whitemen talk. When they don't understand they do things wrongly. They're punished and still they don't understand'.
Novel, Fiction.
Astley, Thea. The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow. 1996. Text Publishing, 2018, pp. 254-255.
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What were you punished for? Just about anything, I remember…
Testimony/Oral History.
McHugh, Siobhan. "Palm Island: A Punishment Place." Siobhan McHugh collection of Australian social history [sound recording], Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1980s.
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Palm Islanders were banned from entering tree lined Mango Avenue where white staff members were housed.
Historical Geographical Database
"Plan of Palm Island Compound, 1931" from the Collection of Queensland State Archives. Queensland Historical Atlas, https://www.qhatlas.com.au/category/keywords/palm-island. Accessed 20 May 2026.
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Authority
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The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Acts 1897-1934
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Contact
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Dashiell
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identifier
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SITE-PLM
