The Native Police

When it came to pursuing lawbreakers in the bush, European settlers used Native Police – often with bloody consequences.

Throughout the early 1800s police often used Aborigines to help them track criminals and fugitives who fled to the bush.

The first formal Victorian experiment with Native Police commenced in 1837, and included respected members of the Aboriginal communities surrounding Port Phillip, but cultural differences made this a short-lived affair.

It wasn't until 1842 that the Port Phillip Native Police Corps was established under the command of Sir Henry Dana. Dana angered some officials with his somewhat unorthodox approach to the Native Police, allowing members to take leave in order to attend important ceremonies and cultural events.

His force was made up of teams of Aboriginal men, many of whom had been in prison. They were given horses, alcohol, women, uniforms and guns, and were also promised a salary, although they often did not receive it.

The two main purposes of the Native Police were to help ‘civilise' the Indigenous community, and to support the police in tracking people in the bushland. But in practice the Native Police became known for their brutality and also for being involved in massacres of Aboriginal men, women and children. In doing so they were often following the lead of white police and settlers, who believed the best way to secure their land was simply to exterminate any Aborigines in the area.

So long as such persons as Messrs. Dana and Walsh are in command of the Native Police nothing can stop the extermination... nothing gives them so much pleasure as shooting and tomahawking the defenceless savages.

– Gippsland Expedition member, 1846

The Native Police played a controversial part in policing the colony and protecting the settlers. In the eyes of the colonial establishment, the experiment was generally considered to be a success: 'Crime' rates were reduced and reports, which frequently involved euphemisms like 'dispersed' instead of 'killed' when describing approaches to Aborigines, indicated there were very few ‘casualties'.

By the 1850s, changes to the role of the Native Police - coupled with Henry Dana's death in 1852 - ultimately led to its disbandment