Stolen Generation

The Stolen Generation refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families and communities by the State and Territory governments of Australia. While Indigenous children were taken away from the very beginning of colonisation, the Stolen Generation more usually refers to children removed under deliberate government policies from the beginning of the 20th century until the 1970s.

In response to lobbying by Indigenous community groups, in 1995 the Federal government commissioned the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) to compile a report on what is now known as the Stolen Generation. It was the first time the Australian government had formally investigated the devastating and ongoing psychological, social, cultural and economic effects of the forcible removal of Indigenous children.

The HREOC inquiry took evidence and recorded testimonies from 535 Indigenous people throughout Australia, which resulted in the report Bringing Them Home: The National Enquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families.

While there was some difficulty in discovering the exact number of children forcibly removed from their families and communities because of incomplete or missing records, the report estimated with confidence that between one in three and one in ten Indigenous children were forcibly removed from 1910 to 1970. In some places and some periods this number was much higher.

Through legislation, the various state and territory governments legally enforced the removal of Indigenous children. While the procedures for removing children from their families varied in each state, the experiences of children were often similar. Bringing Them Home revealed how children were discouraged from family contact and in many cases forced to disown their heritage, culture, language, and even other Indigenous people.

Children were put in institutions where the conditions were often terrible – food and clothing was often in short supply, and many went without. In these institutions punishments were cruel and included physical assaults. Adopted children and children placed in foster homes also had similar traumatic experiences. The inquiry established that 23.4% of those that were interviewed, from adoptive or foster homes, were assaulted during their time there.

Sexual assault was also prevalent in both institutions and foster and adoptive homes. Of the hundreds of witnesses that were interviewed during the inquiry 1 in 10 of those witnesses who had been institutionalised made allegations of sexual abuse and 1 in 5 of those in foster or adoptive homes made allegations.

The effects of the forcible removal of children were devastating and are still being felt today. Despite the belief by the authorities at the time that they were doing "good deeds", evidence shows that psychological affects of removal from family and community have caused irreparable harm. Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys have found that children forcibly removed from their families are more likely to have poor health, have lower levels of education and are more likely to be arrested and/or imprisoned .

Another serious effect of the forcible removal of children has been the trauma associated with losing a parent in the childhood years. The inquiry found that separation of children from their parents lead to a whole range of problems including depression, lack of self-esteem, delinquency and alcohol and drug abuse. As well as the effects for the children forcibly removed the whole family and community was damaged and continue to feel the effects. Good parenting skills were not learnt in institutions or foster homes and this has affected the way that children that were taken from their families relate and interact with their own children.

The loss of heritage and culture has been a continuing effect of the forcible removal of children. Children removed from their families often lost contact with their language and traditions and this has lead to loss of identity and belonging.

Bringing them Home opened the way for a continuing recognition of the Stolen Generation by including recommendations for a journey of healing. These recommendations included the continuing recording of testimonies of those affected by the forcible removal of children from their families. The reunion of families and communities that were separated by the forcible removal of children and the establishment of regional centres where language and culture could be preserved. It was also recommended that all Australians should be educated about the Stolen Generation.
The Stolen Generation is now recognised and acknowledged by many Australians, including community groups and churches, as a shameful and painful part of Australia's history. By the end of 1997 all six Australian State and Territory governments and the ACT, had passed motions of apology. There is also recognition that the traumatic effects of the forcible removal of children continue to be deeply felt by Indigenous communities today.
Despite this, the Commonwealth government has continued to ignore some of the key recommendations of the inquiry. It has refused to make a formal apology to the Stolen Generation and commemorate this shameful time through a national Sorry Day. It has also refused to make any compensation for those affected. In April 2000 the Federal Government distanced itself even further from reconciliation when John Herron, the then Minister for Aboriginal affairs claimed that there was no stolen ‘generation’ of Aboriginal children, meaning there was no ‘generation’ of people as such who were removed. The government stated that with no more than 10 per cent of Aboriginal children removed; this didn't constitute a stolen generation.
In response to national debates concerning the existence of the Stolen Generation, in April 2000, the Victorian Parliament passed a further Bi-partisan motion that acknowledged that there was a Stolen Generation of Indigenous Australians forcibly removed from their families. This motion re-affirmed that the Victorian government believed there was a generation, or a group of people to whom the term ‘generation’ is an appropriate description, who were removed.