Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

people.The Victorian Stolen Generations group recently called for ‘the government topublish a full list of archival material … not only the records held by governmentdepartments but material held by universities, private individuals and organisationsthat record the history of Aboriginal people in Victoria’, ‘to collate and archive theinformation’ and ‘to instigate a moratorium on destruction’ (Resolution of Novembermeeting). This resolution echoes that of the Stolen Generations National Workshop1996.The National Workshop determines that all records relating to Aboriginal people and theircommunities, including those that are kept by governments, churches and private agencies,are the property of the people and communities to which they related. Thus, no agency(government or non-government) currently holding records relating to Aboriginal people hasthe right to destroy, alter or deny access by the owner to these records. Further, as the subjectAboriginal people and their communities are the owners of these records all intellectualproperty rights in such records reside in those people and their communities (submission 754page 23).RecommendationsBecause of the role played by churches and missions in the placement and careof Indigenous children and families generally, many records were created which maynow be essential to enable family and/or community links to be re-established. Likegovernment record agencies, the churches have reasons for retaining these records.Some lack the resources, however, to preserve them appropriately and administeraccess. Some churches have deposited their records in State Libraries or otherrepositories. For example the records of Sister Kate’s Home in Perth are now in theBattye Library.Private collectionsRecommendation 38a: That every church and other non-government agencywhich played a role in the placement and care of Indigenous children forciblyremoved from their families, at the request of an Indigenous language, culture andhistory centre, transfer historical and cultural information it holds relating to thecommunity or communities represented by the centre.Recommendation 38b: That churches and other non-government agencies whichplayed a role in the placement and care of Indigenous children forcibly removedfrom their families identify all records relating to Indigenous families andchildren and arrange for their preservation, indexing and access in secure storagefacilities preferably, in consultation with relevant Indigenous communities andorganisations, in the National Library, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander Studies or an appropriate State Library.Recommendation 38c: That every church and non-government record agencywhich played a role in the placement and care of Indigenous children forciblyremoved from their families provide detailed information about its records to therelevant Indigenous Family Information Service or Services.