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Matron I was pregnant. Another belting, they blamed me for everything that had happened. Ididn’t care what happened to me anymore and kept to myself. All I wanted now was to have mybaby and get away as far as I could and try and find my family.My daughter was born [in 1962] at King Edward Memorial Hospital. I was so happy, I had abeautiful baby girl of my own who I could love and cherish and have with me always.But my dreams were soon crushed: the bastards took her from me and said she would befostered out until I was old enough to look after her. They said when I left Sister Kate’s I couldhave my baby back. I couldn’t believe what was happening. My baby was taken away from mejust as I was from my mother.My baby was taken away from me just as I was from my mother.Once again I approached the Matron asking for the Address of my family and address of thefoster family who had my daughter. She said that it was Government Policy not to giveinformation about family and she could not help me. I then asked again about my baby girl andwas told she did not know her whereabouts. In desperation I rang the King Edward MemorialHospital. They said there was no record of me ever giving birth or of my daughter Toni. Then Iwrote to the Native Welfare Department only to be told the same thing and that there were norecords of the D. family because all records were destroyed by fire.I now had no other options but to find a job and somewhere to live. After working for a while Ileft Western Australia and moved to Adelaide to try and get my life together and put the pastbehind me. I was very alone, shy and not many friends and would break down over the simplestthing. Every time I saw a baby I used to wonder, could that by my little girl. I loved her and sodesperately wanted her back. So in 1972 I returned to Western Australia and again searchedfor my family and child. I returned to see the Matron from Sister Kate’s. This time she told methat my daughter was dead and it would be in my best interest to go back to South Australiaand forget about my past and my family. I so wanted to find them, heartbroken I wandered thestreets hoping for the impossible. I soon realized that I could come face to face with a familymember and wouldn’t even know.Defeated I finally returned to Adelaide. In my heart I believed that one day everything would bealright and I would be reunited with my family. My baby was dead. (That’s what I was told). Ididn’t even get to hold her, kiss her and had no photographs, but her image would always bewith me, and I would always love her. They couldn’t take that away from me.Confidential submission 640, South Australia: WA woman removed in 1949. In January 1996,Millicent received an enquiry from the South Australian welfare authorities. A woman born in1962 was searching for her birth mother. This was Toni, Millicent’s daughter. The two havesince been reunited.
8 South AustraliaThe general opinion of station people is that it is a mistake to take these children out of the bush.They say that the aboriginal mothers are fond of their children and in their own way look afterthem and provide for them and that when they grow up they are more easily absorbed andemployed than those who have been taken out of their natural environment and removed totowns.The Mission Representatives say that if the girls are left in the bush they only became the prey ofwhite men and become mothers at a very early age. My experience has been that removing themto towns and to institutions does not overcome this trouble and only accentuates and increases it(Chief Protector of Aboriginals to Commissioner of Public Works, 27 August 1932, documentsprovided by United Aborigines Mission evidence 264).Early policies and practicesIn 1836, just two years after South Australia was founded as a ‘free colony’ unlikethe penal settlements of New South Wales or Van Dieman’s Land, the Governor issued aproclamation promising to protect Aborigines ‘who are to be considered as much underthe safeguard of the law as the Colonists themselves, and equally entitled to thePrivileges of British Subjects’. In the same proclamation the Governor also said hewould promote ‘their conversion to the Christian faith’ (quoted by Gale 1964 on page 64).A Protector was appointed soon after and land was reserved for Indigenous people.Under the Aboriginal Orphans Ordinance 1844 the Protector was appointed legalguardian of ‘every half-caste and other unprotected Aboriginal child whose parents aredead or unknown’. The same law allowed for the apprenticing of Indigenous children ‘ofa suitable age’ with parental consent. It was used to place a number of teenage boysattending the Aboriginal School in Adelaide as apprentices with the HarboursDepartment, the Colonial Engineers Department, a tannery and a bricklayer and asmessengers for the Governor. Aboriginal girls were placed in domestic service. However,in most cases the children left the apprenticeships to return to their families and the lawfell into disuse.In 1839 the ‘Native Location’ School for Aboriginal children was established,followed by several more such schools in the 1840s. All became boarding schools so asto maximise control over the children.The children’s attendance is procured in various ways – some will come into the School becausethey prefer a regular supply of food to an irregular one and especially in the winter season; othersare sent by the parents on condition that they receive a blanket for three months’ attendance andothers again are sent by the police if found begging about town. No healthy adult is entitled toreceive a blanket on the Queen’s Birthday unless he have a child in school (quoted by Mattingleyand Hampton 1992 on page 100).Despite the early attempts at protectionism, the pattern elsewhere of violence and
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(c) examine the principles relevant
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The Inquiry’s recommendations are
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child. We’d like to take this bab
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The benefits that influenced the pa
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Confidential submission 843, Queens
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Fair 23.4% 13.0%Poor 5.7% 2.4%Not s
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The Inquiry is aware that many othe
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Part 2Tracing the HistoryC h a p t
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appointed a Select Committee to inq
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The ‘protectionist’ legislation
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From this time on, States began ado
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For the Aboriginal child growing up
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3 New South Wales and the ACTAt Dar
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Indigenous children from their fami
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1933 and to those resisting removal
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towards their people since the time
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By the late 1930s it was clear the
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Mt Penang Training Centre [in the e
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had died.In Sydney my mother and Es
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She made us stay up late sewing, kn
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her family background made sure of
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Page 53 and 54: on the conditions under which Indig
Page 55 and 56: was rare for legal representation t
Page 57 and 58: whatever. Considering I come from a
Page 59 and 60: Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA
Page 61 and 62: unacceptable or unchristian-like be
Page 63 and 64: government policy until at least 19
Page 65 and 66: Forcible separation through the dor
Page 67 and 68: ecome very frightened of her. We cl
Page 69 and 70: leave or escape from such reserve o
Page 71 and 72: and financial responsibilities.In 1
Page 73 and 74: Night is drawing nearThis always up
Page 75 and 76: several days later that she was adm
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Page 79 and 80: 6 Tasmania… there does not appear
Page 81 and 82: Ten years later few of the Islander
Page 83 and 84: with that. It was just the way of l
Page 85 and 86: in Tasmania. The idea being to even
Page 87 and 88: and my brothers and sisters.Confide
Page 89 and 90: domestic and farm work. Under the I
Page 91 and 92: If the police sent me only the most
Page 93 and 94: [In 1926] came a visit from A.J. Ne
Page 95 and 96: ‘neglect’ was not a justificati
Page 97 and 98: accepted into the state schools. Fr
Page 99 and 100: I never received any money from my
Page 101: Several more years passed and I sti
Page 105 and 106: South lobbied for the power to remo
Page 107 and 108: In 1936 David Unaipon spoke on the
Page 109 and 110: Confidential submission 112, South
Page 111 and 112: tried to place all Indigenous child
Page 113 and 114: culture was gone, our family was go
Page 115 and 116: Goldsmith, argued for the establish
Page 117 and 118: At The Bungalow in the 1920s about
Page 119 and 120: future ‘absorption’. He wanted
Page 121 and 122: The stated intentions of the missio
Page 123 and 124: The assembled children were loaded
Page 125 and 126: emoval only on a children’s court
Page 127 and 128: Department of Aboriginal Affairs wh
Page 129 and 130: All the girls slept in one dormitor
Page 131 and 132: Part 3Consequences of RemovalChapte
Page 133 and 134: Totality of separationThe overwhelm
Page 135 and 136: When I first met my mother - when I
Page 137 and 138: Institutional conditionsThe living
Page 139 and 140: Confidential evidence, New South Wa
Page 141 and 142: Sexual assaults reported by Inquiry
Page 143 and 144: A good home with a kindly mistress
Page 145 and 146: They had to - if they didn’t do i
Page 147 and 148: and babies, infants and young child
Page 149 and 150: Confidential submission 109, Queens
Page 151 and 152: We were constantly told that we did
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of religion to us. We used to have
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poverty. These in turn cause their
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He says looking within himself that
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Most families provide growing child
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(Wolkind and Rutter 1984 page 47).
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The effects of institutionalisation
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Confidential submission 126, Victor
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Helen Siggers, a former nursing sis
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sense of being different from other
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The Sydney Aboriginal Mental Health
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The following table summarises the
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The effects of separation from the
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The policies of separation were oft
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It is possible for Aboriginal peopl
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aged between 6 months and 7 years.]
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Eventually I got married when I was
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The effects on family and community
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profound disadvantages (‘other li
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That’s also impacted on my own li
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Association in the Northern Territo
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I look at my son today who had to b
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Now I understand why Mum is the way
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emoved. More than one-third of thos
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Mother Jenny:Jenny grew up in a cha
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He was about 6 month becaus he was
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articulated needs to trace their fa
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Quoted by Link-Up (NSW) submission
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Bonds broken foreverEven for those
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I was in one of the cottages [in a
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the last she saw of him. She said t
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We kept in contact with one another
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Part 4ReparationKooris Come in All
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Two broad periodsBroadly speaking t
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the kingdom. The law defended indiv
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Jaggs 1986 page 7). However, no Sta
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The manner in which children were t
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page 211; see also Ex parte Earl of
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Source: Appendices to this report.F
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understanding. Indigenous children
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Nations Resolution of 1946, followe
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Article 2 states that,Everyone is e
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The Convention confirmed that genoc
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the extent to which that intention
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y Australia in July 1949, came into
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14 Making ReparationThe Government
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A human rights frameworkPrinciples
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(submission 754 page 50).The Broome
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(c) An official declaration or a ju
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There would be few Aboriginal peopl
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On behalf of our constituent nation
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It must be acknowledged that, no ma
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and effects of forcible removals.Ju
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[Thus] it will be the relevant indi
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The significance of Indigenous lang
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This recommendation extends only to
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general damages for the pain and su
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the United Nations Special Rapporte
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In relation to the compensation iss
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medical, psychological and social a
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It should be appreciated that the a
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Part 5Services for Those AffectedEm
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Inquiry to examine all services app
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governments should confine their ro
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the history of forcible removal and
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16 Access to Personal and Family Re
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Little effort has been made to iden
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What was very disturbing … was th
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through all of their files to disco
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Confidentiality provisions within t
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a former ward who was harmed or abu
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derogatory and racist language, so
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family history. Other agencies, how
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Non-discriminationThe arrangements
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Adequate resourcesThe deployment of
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implications’ of this task ‘sho
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That a consistent approach be adopt
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and access procedures so that they
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Murri academic Henrietta Fourmile m
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Recommendation 29b: That the Counci
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Royal Commission Recommendation 52
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can be kept to a minimum because of
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The SA Aboriginal Child Care Agency
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• consultation regarding record a
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operation.The funding constraints l
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States when James was six. The adop
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Confidential evidence 553, Northern
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expectations of two different cultu
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In other cases psychiatrists do not
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The need for trauma and grief couns
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worker is based at the State’s ps
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The Yorgum Aboriginal Family Counse
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When we began [in 1991], we were se
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Most States and the Northern Territ
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Territory Health Service [must] rec
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services, Aboriginal and Islander C
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It is a model that takes into accou
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There are very strong and cogent ar
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The effects of forcible removal are
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needed services. The point was clea
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Carol[Carol’s grandmother was rem
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me how to be a good mother. A year
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statements expressing understanding
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Policy deficienciesThe general expe
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Likewise there can be cases where r
Page 361 and 362:
We have proposed that the churches
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A further problem is that we alread
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issues with relevant communities’
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Part 6Contemporary SeparationsThere
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disappointment in the family is you
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when I got my holidays from work. S
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missing information in both of thes
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part of welfare practice. The forma
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integrated into the Aboriginal Chil
Page 379:
Reliance on a view of culture as fi
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Non-Indigenous care for Indigenous
Page 384 and 385:
were placed with non-Aboriginal fos
Page 386 and 387:
The protocol also provides for CSV
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identified an urgent need for statu
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Inadequate consultation with AICCAs
Page 392 and 393:
The assessment of prospective foste
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seen as pathological or dysfunction
Page 396 and 397:
It is not surprising, given the exp
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Department of Social Security inacc
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acknowledged and addressed.Conclusi
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have the scar today.I did not know
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22 AdoptionThere can be little argu
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of care (Ban 1993 page 5).• The c
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and counselling is to ‘explore al
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Aboriginal child. The Aboriginal ag
Page 412 and 413:
In possession of this evidence, the
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Confidential submission 9, Queensla
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The criteria are alien to aborigina
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never got kicked out because she ne
Page 420 and 421:
23 Family LawFamily law plays a rol
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• whether stability is to be pref
Page 424 and 425:
family member. Thus there is still
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judges (Nicholson 1995 page 13, Coo
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without any legislative base. Howev
Page 430 and 431:
The Australian Institute of Crimino
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While there are many occasions wher
Page 434 and 435:
However, NSW had the highest number
Page 436 and 437:
Dec 95 254 481.1 491 25.0Mar 96 276
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custody,• the Children’s Court
Page 440 and 441:
In addition Indigenous people gener
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wilderness trek with several weeks
Page 444 and 445:
submission pages D-26 to D-28).West
Page 446 and 447:
Responses to law and order problems
Page 448 and 449:
Arrests for public order offences s
Page 450 and 451:
legislation. The available evidence
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also to provide greater control ove
Page 454 and 455:
had high proportions of Indigenous
Page 456 and 457:
alternative facilities. At times, n
Page 458 and 459:
communities and show no understandi
Page 460 and 461:
conferences lack specific time fram
Page 462 and 463:
Similarly, when questioned about th
Page 464 and 465:
Repeat offendersRecent changes to s
Page 466 and 467:
justice system’ (1995 page 69).Pu
Page 468 and 469:
[Significantly] contributes to on-g
Page 470 and 471:
The Inquiry was repeatedly told tha
Page 472 and 473:
oys will have no family visits for
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people or to reduce the levels of p
Page 476 and 477:
Education (interim submission page
Page 478 and 479:
dispossession and marginalisation -
Page 480 and 481:
• the implicit or explicit interp
Page 482 and 483:
their initiatives include programs
Page 484 and 485:
private dwellings, of which three-q
Page 486 and 487:
During the early part of the twenti
Page 488 and 489:
always associated with the alienati
Page 490 and 491:
Because of their high unemployment
Page 492 and 493:
26 A New FrameworkAn entrenched pat
Page 494 and 495:
ecognised international right of al
Page 496 and 497:
ange of possible outcomes other tha
Page 498 and 499:
Aboriginal local governing bodies r
Page 500 and 501:
submission 309, Anglican Church Soc
Page 502 and 503:
matter holding instead that ‘we m
Page 504 and 505:
‘internally legitimised tribal au
Page 506 and 507:
and/or the establishment of regiona
Page 508 and 509:
In 1992 the Council of Australian G
Page 510 and 511:
3. That negotiated agreements will
Page 512 and 513:
Recommendation 44: That the Council
Page 514 and 515:
It is not surprising, given the exp
Page 516 and 517:
inevitably face and be able to addr
Page 518 and 519:
ureaucratic procedures (Homes for B
Page 520 and 521:
designed for Indigenous children mu
Page 522 and 523:
Rule 8. RecordingEvery interview mu
Page 524:
currently sets out four principles
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