From 1908 to 1919, the Western Australian government created lock hospitals on Bernier and Dorre Islands, in order to forcibly incarcerate Aboriginal people suspected of having a venereal disease.

[2]: 102, 128 During the 2019 centenary commemoration, Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan described the Bernier and Dorre lock hospital era as "a really horrific piece of Western Australian history".

[3] The facilities at the lock hospitals were inadequate, inmates had no contact with their families back home, and they underwent experimental medical treatments.

[2]: 32  It is conservatively estimated that 200 people died on the two islands, with their remains left in unmarked areas.

Stingemore notes that "Even the insane in Australia seem to have received better provisions than the Aboriginal people incarcerated under the Lock Hospital Scheme."