There are currently more than 17,000 Stolen Generations survivors in Australia. Over one third of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are their descendants. In Western Australia almost half of the population have Stolen Generation links.
There were 17,150 Stolen Generations survivors alive in 2018. Around 33 per cent of adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are descendants of Stolen Generations survivors. In Western Australia, this figure is as high as 46 Per cent. Today, Stolen Generations survivors live right across Australia.
In Australia, between 1910 and the 1970s*, governments, churches and welfare bodies forcibly removed many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. These children became known as the Stolen Generations.
The Bringing Them Home report (produced by the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families in 1987), says that "at least 100,000" children were removed from their parents.
The removal of children broke important cultural, spiritual and family ties and has left a lasting and intergenerational impact on the lives and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
These children were exploited. They had to work from as early as 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. As many as 20% were abused, physically and mentally, during these years.
The stolen generations never ended – they just morphed into child protection.
These children were forcibly removed from their families and communities through race-based policies set up by both State and Federal Governments. They were either put in to homes, adopted or fostered out to non-Indigenous families.
We say sorry to those Aboriginal people forcibly removed from their families through the first seven decades of the 20th century. In doing so, we reach from within ourselves to our past, those whose lives connect us to it, and in deep understanding of its importance to our future.
To apply for the Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme, complete an Application Form and submit it before 30 June 2023. Further information and guidance material can be found at: FACT SHEET 1: Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme and Funeral Assistance Fund - Overview.
For Stolen Generations survivor Deb Hocking, the long road towards healing began at the age of 20, when an innate sense of belonging told her it was time to find her mum. "Mine has been a personal journey of sadness and survival," she said.
The NSW Aborigines Protection Board loses its power to remove Indigenous children. The Board is renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board and is finally abolished in 1969. By 1969, all states have repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of 'protection'.
To be eligible for Bureau of Indian Affairs services, an Indian must: be a member of a Tribe recognised by the Federal Government. have one-half or more Indian blood of tribes indigenous to the United States, or. must, for some purposes, be of one-fourth or more Indian ancestry.
In an analysis by Guardian Australia based on the data, Aboriginal deaths were estimated to be 27 to 33 times higher than coloniser deaths. Between 11,000 and 14,000 Aboriginal people died, compared with only 399 to 440 colonisers.
In the 1860s, Victoria became the first state to pass laws authorising Aboriginal children to be removed from their parents. Similar policies were later adopted by other states and territories – and by the federal government when it was established in the 1900s.
He died on July 30 at a hospital in Warrnambool, a city in southeastern Australia, his sons Amos and Eban announced on his website. He was 66. The announcement did not cite the cause, but Mr. Roach had struggled with lung cancer and emphysema, requiring him to perform while breathing through a nasal cannula.
The islands were settled by different seafaring Melanesian cultures such as the Torres Strait Islanders over 2500 years ago, and cultural interactions continued via this route with the Aboriginal people of northeast Australia.
1969. By 1969, all states had repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of 'protection'.
We fund programs and services that help members of the Stolen Generations and their families reconnect and heal. We fund programs that help strengthen the health, wellbeing and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and we fund workforce support and training for workers in the field.
Besides the A$75,000 payment, eligible “Stolen Generations” applicants will also receive a one-off “healing assistance payment” of A$7,000 and an opportunity to tell their story to a senior government official along with “a face-to-face or written apology.”
For Indigenous Australians, Age Pension: 53%, Total: 53%, JobSeeker Payment: 28%, Youth Allowance (other): 20%, Disability Support Pension: 10%, Youth Allowance (student and apprentice): 1%, Parenting Payment (single): 8%, Carer Payment: 3%, Parenting Payment (partnered): 2%, ABSTUDY (Living Allowance): 2%.
One of the earliest pieces of legislation in relation to the Stolen Generation was the Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act 1869, this legislation allowed the removal of Aboriginal people of mixed descent from Aboriginal Stations or Reserves to force them to assimilate into White Society.