An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th century to the 1960s to keep Aboriginal people separate from the white Australian population. The governments passed laws related to such reserves that gave them much power over all aspects of Aboriginal people’s lives.
Protectors of Aborigines and (later) Aboriginal Protection Boards were appointed to look after the interests of the Aboriginal people.