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Reference.org
Immigration Restriction Act 1901
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<p>The <i>Immigration Restriction Act 1901</i> (Cth) was an <a href="/facts/Act_of_Parliament/aaxV1HXy">Act</a> of the <a href="/facts/Parliament_of_Australia/LmueJbhg">Parliament of Australia</a> which limited <a href="/facts/Immigration_to_Australia/8msJ84VH">immigration to Australia</a> and formed the basis of the <a href="/facts/White_Australia_policy/1Lt32UYc">White Australia policy</a> which sought to exclude all non-Europeans from <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a>. The law granted immigration officers a wide degree of discretion to prevent individuals from entering Australia. The Act prohibited various classes of people from immigrating and provided for <a href="/facts/Illegal_immigrant/bSFppH6r">illegal immigrants</a> to be <a href="/facts/Deportation/lfWFhQTW">deported</a>. </p><p>Because of opposition from the British government, more explicit racial policies were avoided in the legislation, with the control mechanism for people deemed undesirable being a <a href="/facts/Dictation_(exercise)/IEDTLrHE">dictation</a> test, which required a person seeking entry to Australia to write out a passage of fifty words dictated to them in any European language, not necessarily English, at the discretion of an immigration officer. The test was a pretend or fake one as it not designed to allow immigration officers to evaluate applicants on the basis of language skills, rather the decision that a person was a “prohibited immigrant” was already taken when the “test” was to be administered and the language chosen was always one known beforehand that the person would fail. This pretend was well recognised at the time as Senator Harney of Western Australia expressed it: </p><p>“The Government had placed itself on the horns of a dilemma, as, if the Bill were honestly administered, it would be inept, and, if not honestly administered, it would involve Parliament and its officers in a piece of gross chicanery.” <i>The West Australian</i>, 14 November 1901, p.3. </p><p>While the initial bill was based on similar <a href="/facts/Legislation/yUjkPsgX">legislation</a> in the Colony of Natal which later became part of South Africa, unlike that and similar education tests elsewhere, passing was not possible. </p><p>The Act was replaced by the <i><a href="/facts/Migration_Act_1958/gFMtmXkJ">Migration Act 1958</a></i>. </p>