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To the best of our knowledge, at no time have the Church’s child welfare services andorganisations been given any legislative power or authority to forcibly or physically removeany children from their families. This is so in the case of any Aboriginal or Torres StraitIslander children. We do accept that there were cases where the actions of Church childwelfare services and organisations were instrumental in keeping children separate from theirfamilies and in this respect the Church holds some responsibility in playing a role for thestate to keep these children separate from their families (Joint Statement to the Inquiry onbehalf of the Bishops’ Committee for Social Welfare, the National Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander Catholic Council and the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission).The Aboriginal Legal Service of WA advised the Inquiry that 85% of the peopleit interviewed who had been forcibly removed as children had spent at least part oftheir childhood in the care of a mission. Nationally the proportion is probablysomewhat lower.The experiences of children cared for in church homes and missions variedconsiderably.As individuals, there are memories which we can recall with some fondness. The friendshipsthat bonded us as orphanage kids, the weekends at Riddell Beach and other happy occasions.But as individuals also, each of us could pick out at least half a dozen grievances with Nunsas our caretakers – the discipline, the notes made on our records in relation to ourintelligence, the removal of personal possessions, the removal of birth names, the denial ofaccess to family members, the chores, being locked up… (former resident quoted by HolyChild Orphanage, Broome, submission 520 on page 1).At the age of 16, when most of us left the care of the Church, we were young girls; wewere very vulnerable. We didn’t have much skills in terms of preparation for life or lifeexperiences. So consequently most of us had kids, went from one relationship toanother, from one broken marriage to another. Most of us have ended up being drunksand alcoholics at early ages. But there’s been nothing there to help us through, tounshackle that shame and blame. And what the Church has done, it just continuouslyreinforced to us all the negative things about us. And it makes us feel guilty. And it’sdone nothing to remove any of that guilt. And what I’m saying is that the apology isn’tenough. There’s got to be some sort of public statement to say to us, ‘You are not toblame for it. And we were wrong’.Confidential evidence 548, Northern Territory: WA woman removed to a Catholic orphanageat 4 years in the 1950s.I found the Methodist Mission [Croker Island] very helpful and myself, from myexperience, I really can’t condemn the United Church, or Methodist Mission. Becausethey’ve been excellent to us. There were one hundred children and they showed a littlebit of affection to each of us, y’know. They didn’t show any favouritism.Confidential evidence 544, Northern Territory: woman removed to The Bungalow at 5 yearsin the 1930s; after seven years transferred to Croker Island Mission.Contemporary attitudesMany church organisations provided information, submissions and evidence tothe Inquiry. Generally the churches expressed interest in assisting and supporting allAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and doing what they can to remedy thehurt and damage suffered by those affected by forcible removal in particular. Many
statements expressing understanding of that hurt and damage, acceptance of a share ofresponsibility and regret were made publicly to the Inquiry (Chapter 14). TheAustralian Catholic Social Welfare Commission expressed a view we believe to bewidely shared.… the Church has a moral responsibility to work towards healing the pain that separation hascaused Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (submission 479 page 36).The Rev. Aubrey Quick, a former Methodist minister, also made this point.… the fact that things happened with even the best of motives does not absolve us from ourpresent responsibility to make what amends we can (submission 234 page 1).General proposalsThe churches can provide practical assistance to those suffering the effects offorcible removals. The National Standing Committee of the Uniting Church inAustralia recently passed a number of resolutions including,that Standing Committee support and encourage the Northern Synod and the NorthernRegional Committee of Congress to continue discussions with the former Croker Islandresidents and if appropriate to bring recommendations as to how the Uniting Church withinthe limits of its resources may best express its support for the Croker Islanders and theirdescendants (submission 457).The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission recognised the need forconsultation with Indigenous people in the design of any programs the churches mightoffer.… in seeking to compensate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the pain that itsinvolvement in separation has caused, the Church must enter into honest and open dialoguewith those people, in order that true reconciliation can occur (submission 479 page 36).Of particular interest to Inquiry witnesses affected by forcible removal are,1. provision of access to personal and family records and other information held inchurch archives,2. the availability of counselling and related services provided by churches and nongovernmentagencies, and3. the return of mission and institution lands.Access to personal and family recordsNeed for recordsChurches, adoption agencies and other non-government agencies may holdcritical information in their records to enable former residents or clients to establish
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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
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8 South AustraliaThe general opinio
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South lobbied for the power to remo
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In 1936 David Unaipon spoke on the
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Confidential submission 112, South
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tried to place all Indigenous child
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culture was gone, our family was go
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Goldsmith, argued for the establish
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At The Bungalow in the 1920s about
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future ‘absorption’. He wanted
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The stated intentions of the missio
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The assembled children were loaded
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emoval only on a children’s court
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Department of Aboriginal Affairs wh
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All the girls slept in one dormitor
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Part 3Consequences of RemovalChapte
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Totality of separationThe overwhelm
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When I first met my mother - when I
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Institutional conditionsThe living
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Confidential evidence, New South Wa
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Sexual assaults reported by Inquiry
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A good home with a kindly mistress
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They had to - if they didn’t do i
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and babies, infants and young child
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Confidential submission 109, Queens
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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
Page 303 and 304: That a consistent approach be adopt
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Page 307 and 308: Murri academic Henrietta Fourmile m
Page 309 and 310: Recommendation 29b: That the Counci
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Page 313 and 314: can be kept to a minimum because of
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Page 317 and 318: • consultation regarding record a
Page 319 and 320: operation.The funding constraints l
Page 321 and 322: States when James was six. The adop
Page 323 and 324: Confidential evidence 553, Northern
Page 325 and 326: expectations of two different cultu
Page 327 and 328: In other cases psychiatrists do not
Page 329 and 330: The need for trauma and grief couns
Page 331 and 332: worker is based at the State’s ps
Page 333 and 334: The Yorgum Aboriginal Family Counse
Page 335 and 336: When we began [in 1991], we were se
Page 337 and 338: Most States and the Northern Territ
Page 339 and 340: Territory Health Service [must] rec
Page 341 and 342: services, Aboriginal and Islander C
Page 343 and 344: It is a model that takes into accou
Page 345 and 346: There are very strong and cogent ar
Page 347 and 348: The effects of forcible removal are
Page 349 and 350: needed services. The point was clea
Page 351 and 352: Carol[Carol’s grandmother was rem
Page 353: me how to be a good mother. A year
Page 357 and 358: Policy deficienciesThe general expe
Page 359 and 360: Likewise there can be cases where r
Page 361 and 362: We have proposed that the churches
Page 363 and 364: A further problem is that we alread
Page 365 and 366: issues with relevant communities’
Page 367 and 368: Part 6Contemporary SeparationsThere
Page 369 and 370: disappointment in the family is you
Page 371 and 372: when I got my holidays from work. S
Page 373 and 374: missing information in both of thes
Page 375 and 376: part of welfare practice. The forma
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Page 379: Reliance on a view of culture as fi
Page 382 and 383: 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
Page 388 and 389: identified an urgent need for statu
Page 390 and 391: Inadequate consultation with AICCAs
Page 392 and 393: The assessment of prospective foste
Page 394 and 395: seen as pathological or dysfunction
Page 396 and 397: It is not surprising, given the exp
Page 398 and 399: Department of Social Security inacc
Page 400 and 401: acknowledged and addressed.Conclusi
Page 402 and 403: 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
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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
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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
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conferences lack specific time fram
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Similarly, when questioned about th
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Repeat offendersRecent changes to s
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justice system’ (1995 page 69).Pu
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[Significantly] contributes to on-g
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The Inquiry was repeatedly told tha
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oys will have no family visits for
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people or to reduce the levels of p
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Education (interim submission page
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dispossession and marginalisation -
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• the implicit or explicit interp
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their initiatives include programs
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private dwellings, of which three-q
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During the early part of the twenti
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always associated with the alienati
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Because of their high unemployment
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26 A New FrameworkAn entrenched pat
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ecognised international right of al
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ange of possible outcomes other tha
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Aboriginal local governing bodies r
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submission 309, Anglican Church Soc
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matter holding instead that ‘we m
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‘internally legitimised tribal au
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and/or the establishment of regiona
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In 1992 the Council of Australian G
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3. That negotiated agreements will
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Recommendation 44: That the Council
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It is not surprising, given the exp
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inevitably face and be able to addr
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ureaucratic procedures (Homes for B
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designed for Indigenous children mu
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Rule 8. RecordingEvery interview mu
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currently sets out four principles
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