| Border: | parliamentary |
| Minister: | not_prime |
| Post: | Minister for Aboriginal Affairs |
| Insignia: | Coat of arms of Western Australia.svg |
| Department: | Department of Aboriginal Affairs |
| Incumbent: | Tony Buti |
| Style: | The Honourable |
| Nominator: | Premier of Western Australia |
| Appointer: | Governor of Western Australia |
| Inaugural: | Ross McDonald (as Minister for Native Affairs) |
| Formation: | 1 April 1947 |
| Website: | Minister Ben Wyatt MP |
The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs is a position in the Cabinet of Western Australia, first created in 1947 during the McLarty–Watts Ministry.
The current Minister for Aboriginal Affairs is Tony Buti of the Labor Party. The minister is responsible for the state government's Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA), which exists "to facilitate the development of policy and programs which deliver sustainable economic, environmental and social benefits to Aboriginal communities".[1]
Twenty one people have been appointed as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in Western Australia, with Edgar Lewis's 8 years and 325 days during the Brand–Nalder Ministry the longest period in the position. The position and corresponding department have existed under several different names, including Native Affairs (4 years), Native Welfare (19 years), Aboriginal Affairs (23 years), and Indigenous Affairs (12 years).[2] The current name was adopted after requests from representatives of Western Australia's Aboriginal communities.[1]
In the table below, members of the Legislative Council are designated "MLC". All others were members of the Legislative Assembly at the time of their service. In Western Australia, serving ministers are entitled to be styled "The Honourable", and may retain the style after three years' service in the ministry.[3]
| width=5 | Order | width=250 | Minister | width=75 colspan="2" | Party | width=75 | Premier | width=275 | Title | width=150 | Term start | width=150 | Term end | width=130 | Term in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ross McDonald | Liberal | McLarty | Minister for Native Affairs | |||||||||||
| Minister for Native Welfare | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Hubert Parker MLC | Minister for Native Affairs | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Victor Doney | Country | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Bill Hegney | Labor | Hawke | Minister for Native Welfare | |||||||||||
| 5 | John Brady | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Charles Perkins | Country | Brand | ||||||||||||
| 7 | George Cornell | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | Edgar Lewis | ||||||||||||||
| No minister – portfolio transferred to Minister for Community Welfare (1971–1983). | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Keith Wilson | Labor | Burke | Minister with special responsibility for Aboriginal Affairs | |||||||||||
| Minister for Aboriginal Affairs | |||||||||||||||
| 10 | Ernie Bridge | ||||||||||||||
| Dowding | |||||||||||||||
| 11 | Carmen Lawrence | ||||||||||||||
| Lawrence | |||||||||||||||
| 12 | Judyth Watson | ||||||||||||||
| 13 | Kevin Minson | Liberal | Court | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Kevin Prince | ||||||||||||||
| 15 | Kim Hames | see below | |||||||||||||
| 16 | Alan Carpenter | Labor | Gallop | align=center rowspan="7" | Minister for Indigenous Affairs | ||||||||||
| 17 | John Kobelke | ||||||||||||||
| Carpenter | |||||||||||||||
| 18 | Sheila McHale | ||||||||||||||
| 19 | Michelle Roberts | ||||||||||||||
| (15) | Kim Hames | Liberal | Barnett | 6 years, 120 days | |||||||||||
| 20 | Peter Collier MLC | ||||||||||||||
| Minister for Aboriginal Affairs | |||||||||||||||
| 21 | Ben Wyatt | Labor | McGowan | ||||||||||||
| 22 | Stephen Dawson | ||||||||||||||
| 23 | Tony Buti | 8 June 2023 | |||||||||||||
| Cook | 8 June 2023 | incumbent |