Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

Likewise there can be cases where records were written in a way that would now be foundoffensive to Aboriginal (and often equally to non-Aboriginal) people. Yet we feel history willbe distorted and yet further misunderstood if such materials are bowdlerised, dispersed ordestroyed. Other parties, including the New Norcia monks, are also mentioned in nearly allsuch records; they too should be recognised as having right of access to their contents.Enquirers are given every assistance, while we try to ensure that appropriate privacy ofinformation is respected. Our archival access policy is under constant review (submission486 pages 9-10).ProposalsThe National Standing Committee of the Uniting Church in Australia has urgedsynods and other church agencies,… to ensure that all assistance is given freely to people who were taken from their families,and, subject to privacy considerations, to other family members, who wish to study therecords of the Uniting Church relating to the taking of the children and their institutional care(submission 457).The Catholic Social Welfare Commission developed a detailed proposal for thepreservation of and provision of access to records held by the Catholic Church. Theproposal contemplated a standardised database with a capacity to make referralsnationally and a procedure to resolve conflicts which may arise regarding access torecords (Catholic Social Welfare Commission submission 479 pages 15-18). TheCommission called on State and Federal governments to fund the project.The Catholic family welfare agency Centacare similarly asserted thatgovernments are responsible for funding support. It complained that the absence ofgovernment funding has hampered a project commenced in 1992 to collate andcentralise personal information relating to Catholic Children’s Home residents(Centacare Sydney submission 478 page 4).The Aboriginal and Islander Commission of the National Council of Churchesalso recognised the need for an injection of funds without, however, asserting agovernment responsibility to provide those funds.One suggestion we have … is to raise funds for a qualified NCCA [National Council ofChurches] research team to organize the numerous church and mission archives which exist,but very many of which currently are in a woeful state of disarray. The goal is to locate,document, codify and research these church and mission archives, and to produce very highquality(well-researched) resources which would be made available to the public … We feelthat this would be the major contribution the ecumenical movement could make in redressingits involvement in this chapter of history, and in moving toward the process of healing andreconciliation between Australian Indigenous Peoples and the Christian community (letter toSir Ronald Wilson dated 15 January 1996).In 1993 the Aboriginal and Islander Commission of the National Council ofChurches hosted the ‘Martung Upah Indigenous Conference’ which called for thechurches to open their archives, mission and other church records to Indigenous