September 18, 2019
A legal firm which launched a class action over “stolen wages” will be holding an information session in Cherbourg next week.
Cairns legal firm Bottoms English Lawyers (BELAW) earlier this year announced an agreement in principle to settle the action involving “stolen wages” withheld from Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers.
The BELAW team will be at The Ration Shed Museum precinct from 10:00am to 3:00pm on Wednesday, September 25.
They will provide information about:
- The proposed settlement of the class action;
- The right to object to the proposed settlement, or part of it;
- The requirement to register by November 8 if you want to be a part of the proposed settlement; and
- The right to opt out if you don’t want to be a part of the settlement.
For more information – and to check eligibility before joining the settlement – contact BELAW on (07) 4041-1641 or visit their website
The Cherbourg session is one of several information days being held by the firm throughout Queensland.
The class action is based on the fact that Queensland “Protection Acts” in force between 1939 and 1972 required the wages of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers be paid to the Protector or Superintendent of a Reserve.
The class action stated these monies were paid to the Protector or Superintendent on “trust”, or subject to a fiduciary duty to act with care and control of the money received.
It claimed the State breached its duties as trustee, or its duties as fiduciary, by failing to repay that money to the workers.
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Would like to find out information about my listed (stolen wages) payments while working for Cherbourg Council in early 1982. I was 15 years of age then. I was being paid around $15.00 dollars to $25.00 dollars per week for working on the Cherbourg farm. Is there any possibility of finding out any information please? Thank you.
Darryn – We suggest you contact the solicitors that were handling the Stolen Wages case, BELAW, on (07) 4041-1641 to see if you are eligible for any payments.