In Charles Rowley's history of Australian governments' policies towards indigenous Australians, the author is at a loss to say when ‘assimilation’ became the stated objective. One federal Minister for Territories, Charles Barnes, claimed in 1964 that ‘assimilation’ had been the policy of all Australian governments since 1951. However, to find the first common governmental declaration and definition of ‘assimilation’, we need go back no further than 1961:

Two points must be noted. First, the emphasis on being the ‘same’: in assimilation ideology, indigenous Australians were conceded no longterm difference from other Australians in way of life or legal status. Second, the allowance for temporary ‘special measures’: Aborigines and ‘part-Aborigines’ would be entitled to them on the basis of their need, not of their ‘race’.