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11 The EffectsWhy me; why was I taken? It’s like a hole in your heart that can never heal.Confidential evidence 162, Victoria.Actually what you see in a lot of us is the shell, and I believe as an Aboriginal personthat everything is inside of me to heal me if I know how to use it, if I know how tomaintain it, if I know how to bring out and use it. But sometimes the past is just toohard to look at.Confidential evidence 284, South Australia.Evidence to the Inquiry presented many common features of the removal andseparation practices. Children could be taken at any age. Many were taken withindays of their birth (especially for adoption) and many others in early infancy. In othercases, the limited resources available dictated that the authorities wait until childrenwere closer to school age and less demanding of staff time and skill. Most childrenwere institutionalised more typically with other Indigenous children and withprimarily non-Indigenous staff. Where fostering or adoption took place, the familywas non-Indigenous in the great majority of cases.Because the objective was to absorb the children into white society,Aboriginality was not positively affirmed. Many children experienced contempt anddenigration of their Aboriginality and that of their parents or denial of theirAboriginality. In line with the common objective, many children were told either thattheir families had rejected them or that their families were dead. Most often familymembers were unable to keep in touch with the child. This cut the child off from hisor her roots and meant the child was at the mercy of institution staff or foster parents.Many were exploited and abused. Few who gave evidence to the Inquiry had beenhappy and secure. Those few had become closely attached to institution staff or foundloving and supportive adoptive families.In this Part we detail the evidence and the research findings relating to the effectsof these experiences. The Inquiry was told that the effects damage the children whowere forcibly removed, their parents and siblings and their communities. Subsequentgenerations continue to suffer the effects of parents and grandparents having beenforcibly removed, institutionalised, denied contact with their Aboriginality and insome cases traumatised and abused.It is difficult to capture the complexity of the effects for each individual. Eachindividual will react differently, even to similar traumas. For the majority of witnessesto the Inquiry, the effects have been multiple and profoundly disabling. An evaluationof the following material should take into account the ongoing impacts and theircompounding effects causing a cycle of damage from which it is difficult to escapeunaided. Psychological and emotional damage renders many people less able to learnsocial skills and survival skills. Their ability to operate successfully in the world isimpaired causing low educational achievement, unemployment and consequent
poverty. These in turn cause their own emotional distress leading some to perpetrate violence,self-harm, substance abuse or anti-social behaviour.I’ve often thought, as old as I am, that it would have been lovely to have known a fatherand a mother, to know parents even for a little while, just to have had the opportunityof having a mother tuck you into bed and give you a good-night kiss – but it was neverto be.Confidential evidence 65, Tasmania: child fostered at 2 months in 1936.It never goes away. Just ‘cause we’re not walking around on crutches or with bandages orplasters on our legs and arms, doesn’t mean we’re not hurting. Just ‘cause you can’t see itdoesn’t mean … I suspect I’ll carry these sorts of wounds ‘til the day I die. I’d just like it to benot quite as intense, that’s all.Confidential evidence 580, Queensland.
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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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and publicity that occurs with prop
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on the conditions under which Indig
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was rare for legal representation t
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whatever. Considering I come from a
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Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA
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unacceptable or unchristian-like be
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government policy until at least 19
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Forcible separation through the dor
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ecome very frightened of her. We cl
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leave or escape from such reserve o
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and financial responsibilities.In 1
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Night is drawing nearThis always up
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several days later that she was adm
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than an Aboriginal Penal Colony. Ou
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6 Tasmania… there does not appear
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Ten years later few of the Islander
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with that. It was just the way of l
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in Tasmania. The idea being to even
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and my brothers and sisters.Confide
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domestic and farm work. Under the I
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If the police sent me only the most
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[In 1926] came a visit from A.J. Ne
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‘neglect’ was not a justificati
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accepted into the state schools. Fr
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I never received any money from my
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Several more years passed and I sti
Page 103 and 104: 8 South AustraliaThe general opinio
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
Page 153: of religion to us. We used to have
Page 157 and 158: He says looking within himself that
Page 159 and 160: Most families provide growing child
Page 161 and 162: (Wolkind and Rutter 1984 page 47).
Page 163 and 164: The effects of institutionalisation
Page 165 and 166: Confidential submission 126, Victor
Page 167 and 168: Helen Siggers, a former nursing sis
Page 169 and 170: sense of being different from other
Page 171 and 172: The Sydney Aboriginal Mental Health
Page 173 and 174: The following table summarises the
Page 175 and 176: The effects of separation from the
Page 177 and 178: The policies of separation were oft
Page 179 and 180: It is possible for Aboriginal peopl
Page 181 and 182: aged between 6 months and 7 years.]
Page 183 and 184: Eventually I got married when I was
Page 185 and 186: The effects on family and community
Page 187 and 188: profound disadvantages (‘other li
Page 189 and 190: That’s also impacted on my own li
Page 191 and 192: Association in the Northern Territo
Page 193 and 194: I look at my son today who had to b
Page 195 and 196: Now I understand why Mum is the way
Page 197 and 198: emoved. More than one-third of thos
Page 199 and 200: Mother Jenny:Jenny grew up in a cha
Page 201 and 202: He was about 6 month becaus he was
Page 203 and 204: 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
Page 285 and 286:
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
Page 347 and 348:
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
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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
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Reliance on a view of culture as fi
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Non-Indigenous care for Indigenous
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were placed with non-Aboriginal fos
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The protocol also provides for CSV
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identified an urgent need for statu
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Inadequate consultation with AICCAs
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The assessment of prospective foste
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seen as pathological or dysfunction
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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
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23 Family LawFamily law plays a rol
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• whether stability is to be pref
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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
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However, NSW had the highest number
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Dec 95 254 481.1 491 25.0Mar 96 276
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custody,• the Children’s Court
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In addition Indigenous people gener
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wilderness trek with several weeks
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submission pages D-26 to D-28).West
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Responses to law and order problems
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Arrests for public order offences s
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legislation. The available evidence
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also to provide greater control ove
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had high proportions of Indigenous
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alternative facilities. At times, n
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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
Page 474 and 475:
people or to reduce the levels of p
Page 476 and 477:
Education (interim submission page
Page 478 and 479:
dispossession and marginalisation -
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• the implicit or explicit interp
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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
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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
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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
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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
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currently sets out four principles
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