What happened during the Stolen Generation?
Thousands of children were forcibly removed by governments, churches and welfare bodies to be raised in institutions, fostered out or adopted by non-Indigenous families, nationally and internationally. They are known as the Stolen Generations.
What was the stolen generation period?
The Stolen Generations refers to a period in Australia’s history where Aboriginal children were removed from their families through government policies. This happened from the mid-1800s to the 1970s.
What was the stolen generation called?
Stolen Children
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments.
When did the stolen generation actually end?
The Inquiry’s final report, Bringing them home , tabled in May 1997, concluded that in the period from 1910 to 1970, when the practice was at its peak, between 10 and 30 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly removed from their families and communities.
How were the stolen generation abused?
Many children from the Stolen Generations suffered extreme physical, psychological and sexual abuse living under state care. Children were forced to reject their culture and adopt a new identity. So they often felt ashamed of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage.
Why was the Stolen Generation significant?
The Stolen Generations have had devastating impacts for the people who were forcibly removed as children, their parents and families, and their descendants. All these groups of people experience high rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and suicide, and poor health and socioeconomic outcomes.
What started the Stolen Generation?
People who were removed as children were often deprived of living in a healthy family situation and prevented from learning parenting skills. In some instances, this has resulted in generations of children being raised in state care. Some people and organisations call this a ‘new Stolen Generation’.
How did the government justify the Stolen Generation?
A further justification used by the government of the day was that it was believed that “Pure Blood” Aboriginal people would die out and that the “Mixed Blood” children would be able to assimilate into society much easier, this being based on the premise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were racially …
Who did Kevin Rudd Apologise on behalf of?
On 13 February 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and Indigenous assimilation.
When did the Stolen Generation start and end?
The phrase Stolen Generation refers to the countless number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families under government policy and direction. This was active policy during the period from the 1910s into the 1970s, and arguably still continues today under the banner of child protection.
Who are the Stolen Generations in Aboriginal history?
The Stolen Generations are the Noongar and other Aboriginal children who, over one and a half centuries, were taken away from their families and placed in institutions and missions.
Who are some famous people from the Stolen Generations?
Widespread awareness of the Stolen Generations, and the practices which created it, grew in the late 1980s through the efforts of Aboriginal and white activists, artists, and musicians (Archie Roach’s “Took the Children Away” and Midnight Oil’s “The Dead Heart” being examples of the latter).
Where was the first Stolen Generations compensation scheme?
The first Stolen Generations compensation scheme in Australia is set up in Tasmania by the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006 (Tas). Tasmanian Legislation, Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006 2007 The tenth anniversary of the Bringing them home report is recognised around Australia.
