ABSTRACT
At the end of the 19th century there was an increasing belief that anthropology could help in the welfare and amelioration of colonised peoples. It was a period when anthropology was wide ranging in its interests - encompassing prehistoric archaeology, material culture and physical anthropology. In Australia the pre-eminent anthropologist at the time was the Melbourne-based Baldwin Spencer, Professor of Biology at the University of Melbourne. Spencer was at the forefront of presenting anthropology as a reformist discipline capable of assisting governments in the more efficient governance of its indigenous populations. Walter Edmund Roth was another figure in this tradition. In the latter years of the 19th century the treatment and conditions of Aboriginal people had been a source of concern for humanitarians not only in Western Australia but also on the east coast as well as in Britain. In September 1902 there was a call for a Royal Commission to inquire into all aspects of Aboriginal administration.
