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| Rules for applying the dictation test |
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| Rules for applying the dictation test continued |
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| Dictation test examples |
Commonwealth Government of Australia. (1932). Dictation Test, 2011, from http://vrroom.naa.gov.au/records/?ID=24632
Commonwealth Government of Australia. (1927). Directions for applying the Dictation Test, 1927, 2011, from http://vrroom.naa.gov.au/records/?ID=25257
Commonwealth Government of Australia. (1927). Directions for applying the Dictation Test, 1927, 2011, from http://vrroom.naa.gov.au/records/?ID=25257
These tests provided central political tools in the quest to control Australia’s immigrant population from Federation in 1901.
The dictation test was a key element to the Act and correlated directly with race, as it was “randomly” administered to non-whites and Asians as a reason to reject entry or to deport those least desired.
The design of the test was fool-proof by administering the test in an alien tongue that the applicant’s background suggested they would not know, supporting grounds of deportation or entry rejection (Robertson, Hohmann & Stewart, 2005).
While the dictation test was under-pinned with notions of racism, the purpose of the test was to “serve as an absolute bar to such person’s entry into Australia, or as a means of depriving him of the right to remain… if he has already landed” (Commonwealth of Australia, 1932, p.1). Therefore to placate Australia’s ally’s such as the Japanese, the tests were advertised as being for educational purposes, yet slyly allowed racism.
This artefact supports the construction of ‘Invisible Australians’ by ostracising the lives of coloured Australians with established lives post-migration, by subjecting them to demoralising and dehumanising proof of worthiness.
As Horkheimer and Adorno (1972, p.126) suggest, the “whole world is made to pass through the filter of the culture industry”, the resemblance is evident with migrants passing through the filter of Australia’s dictation test.
Exposition of the dictation test artefacts to students would significantly highlight the negative impacts politics can have and endure not only on that generation, but many to follow. As citizens of Australia and the globe, students now have the right to question such policies, whereas their forefathers did not. This societal change can introduce students to the wider social impacts of cultures and the way they can be ostracised.
