WA's stolen wages shame

In Western Australia the government is facing a potential class action over its controversial stolen wages reparations scheme, which paid Aboriginal people a maximum of $2,000 each after decades of wages withheld by government, child labour, and in some cases slavery.

Now a Background Briefing investigation has uncovered secret financial modelling, commissioned by government, on just how much the state of Western Australia owes its Aboriginal workers.

At one workplace alone the documents put the amount of Aboriginal wages kept by government at $63 million.