Being identified as either "black" or "white" in Australia during the 19th and early 20th centuries was critical in one's employment and social prospects. Various state-based Aboriginal Protection Boards were established which had virtually complete control over the lives of Indigenous Australians – <answer>where they lived, their employment, marriage, education and included the power to separate children from their parents.</answer> Aborigines were not allowed to vote and were often confined to reserves and forced into low paid or effectively slave labour. The social position of mixed-race or "half-caste" individuals varied over time. A 1913 report by Sir Baldwin Spencer states that:
What did the Aboriginal Protection Boards control?
where they lived, their employment, marriage, education and included the power to separate children from their parents.