Boundary Street. Less than two kilometres of asphalt and paint, it hosts business, street-lights, a school, and hundreds of drivers and walkers every day. As mundane as dirt, a simple street laid upon simple hills. 

But its history is anything but simple. Boundary Street was in fact just that - a street made as a boundary: specifically, the boundary of the outer and inner city of Brisbane within the 1840s when Spring Hill was first built. Boundary Street was made as simply a street, however in the 1800s it served as a segregating line between the indigenous peoples of Australia from the other citizens of Brisbane. After 4 p.m. on Sundays all indigenous peoples would have to be off the street and out of the inner city or they would be removed, often by police officers using force, such as whipping or beating, acts that today would result in up to 25 years in prison for the violence alone.  

However, treatment came worse after the 1897 Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act under the guise of opium protection removed civil rights from Aboriginals further, in both workplaces and public places, such as Boundary Street. The Act includes such charming rulings as:  

“Any member of the Police Force, and any person acting under the direction and in the presence of a justice of the peace, may detain any person,” (Act 24) 

This was supposed to be used for those suspected of carting opium however it instead ensured that any member of the public could publicly prosecute Aboriginals, and “half castes”, those with one aboriginal parents.  

Within another clause it read: 

“It shall be lawful for the Minister to cause every aboriginal within any District, not being an aboriginal excepted from the provisions of' this section, to be removed to, and kept within the limits of, any reserve situated within such District, in such manner, and subject to such conditions, as may be prescribed.” 

This allowed forcible removal of Aboriginal people to ‘alternative spaces’, which ultimately served as camps. 

The act continued to affect aboriginals until the freedom rides of the 1960s, where aboriginals finally gained rights to their selves and where they wanted to be.  

Now that public awareness has risen and idiocy has declined, many efforts have taken place to rename Boundary Street to something else. These efforts cited the importance of moving past the previous actions that occurred. However, such efforts have proven futile due to the opposing argument that renaming the street would be erasing the history, that so many strived to protect and honour through articles, protests and, in the case of one school, a mural. 

This school was IES college. At 495 Boundary Street, there is a mural by Matt Adnate, an Australian big wall artist. This mural recognises the unsavoury aspects of boundary street’s past.  

When asked about the past of Boundary Street students had responded in shock and disgust that such an event occurred.   

“We should know as a student body,” said one. 

“People should be nice to one another, doesn’t matter the skin,” said another. 

“I think the school has done much to reconcile the history. Ultimately it is just land, with incredible historical significance, but it’s what we do with it now that we have it,” a final student responded when asked. 

What we do with it now that we have it.  

Which is possibly the most important take away from the past on Boundary Street, now that we have understanding, tolerance and the ability to do better, we do so. The site is host to a school and the education of many diverse peoples who acknowledge the land on which they learn. 

So, as we look back on the history of the land on which students, and civilians gather, it should be remembered, just as asphalt was laid there, so too should the history of the land. Let it be seen and let it be known that though the land began in segregation it has crossed the boundary into education. 

For a more in-depth look into Aboriginal segregation in Brisbane look at “Brisbane: The Aboriginal presence 1824-1860, edited by Rod Fischer”