From the late nineteenth-century to the late 1960 s – even the dates are somewhat uncertain so little do we know – Australian governments, as a practice and as a policy, removed part-Aboriginal children from their mothers, parents, families and communities, often by force. Some of these children were taken at birth, some at two years of age, some in their childhood years. The babies and children were sent either to special purpose institutions, or in later years especially, to foster homes. In some cases mothers or families knew where their children had been taken and were able to maintain some continuing connection with them. In other cases they had no idea of the whereabouts of the babies or children who had been taken from them. In some cases within the institutions and the foster homes the children were treated well, although even here, it would appear, frequently with condescension.
In other cases physical mistreatment, sexual exploitation and more extreme forms of humiliation were common. The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families was established in May 1995 in response to efforts made by key Indigenous agencies and communities. They were concerned that the general public’s ignorance of the history of forcible removal was hindering the recognition of the needs of its victims and their families and the provision of services. Public evidence was taken from Indigenous organisations and individuals, state and territory government representatives, church representatives, other non-government agencies, former mission and government employees and individual members of the community. Confidential evidence was taken in private from Indigenous people affected by forcible and from adoptive and foster parents. Many people and organisations made written submissions to the Inquiry, including many who also gave oral evidence.
The Essay on Foster children and family resilience
Foster children refer to minors or young people who have been removed from their custodial adults or birth parents by governmental authority. These children are placed under the care of another family either through voluntary placement by a parent of the child or by the relevant governmental authority if the birth parent has failed to provide for the child. Family resilience on the other hand, is ...
There were 777 submissions received which included: . 535 Indigenous individual and group submissions; . 49 church submissions; . 7 government submissions; and.
500 confidential submissions.
