The name given to Australian colonial and state government laws (1894–1906) designed to settle individuals or groups of unemployed persons on small farm blocks. Based on New Zealand's example (1892), the laws provided for the re-purchase of land by the government, either by arrangement or compulsorily at a fair price, and its sale in small blocks to settlers on easy terms. The principles of closer settlement and goverment assistance for land settlement were also applied to soldier settlement schemes after both world wars.