They had to follow the rules of the reserve and tolerate searchers of their homes and themselves. Their children could be taken away at any time and "apprenticed" out as cheap labour for Europeans. "The old ways of the Aborigines were attacked by regimented efforts to make them European" . Their identities were threatened by giving them European names and clothes, and by removing them from their traditional lands and placing them on centralised reserves among Aboriginal people from many different tribes. .
The policy of segregation had an enormous impact on the lives of aborigines. Despite being discriminated against, the aboriginal people were being deprived the right to practice and maintain traditional aspects of their culture, thus their children were being taught to reject their aboriginality. "In turn the rapid decline in population meant that many elders were dead and thus many rituals and traditions were lost" . The loss of elders and the prohibition of practicing rituals impacted on aboriginal family life, as a result of being unable to show their children traditional dances, native language and stories of the dreamtime, cultural knowledge was not sufficiently carried on or passed down to the next generation therefore hindering Aboriginal traditional life and depriving Aboriginal children of their indigenous identity. .
The reserves also held repercussions for the structure and roles within the aboriginal family. "The role and status of men more than women was effected, thus many Aboriginal men, especially unemployed, slipped into aimlessness" . Traditionally the male role within the family was that of hunter and gatherer. It was the husband, or father's role to find and provide food for his family. As a result of Aboriginals being considered "inferior" to whites, thus acquiring a lower rate of pay, many families became dependent on food handouts provided by the missionaries and reserves, thus the fathers role of gathering for his family was subsequently lost, in turn isolating and alienating him from his family.