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Untold stories of Aboriginal exemption
La Trobe academics Dr Lucinda Aberdeen and Associate Professor Jennifer Jones are the editors of a new book titled Black, White and Exempt: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives under exemption which presents the untold story of Aboriginal exemption, a policy imposed by state governments on Aboriginal people during the twentieth century.
Exemption certificates promised Aboriginal people access to the benefits of Australian citizenship that Aboriginal status denied them; including access to education, health services, housing and employment. In exchange, exempted individuals were required to relinquish their language, identity and ties to kin.