Stolen Generations Reference Group

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Stolen Generations Reference Group

The Healing Foundation’s Stolen Generations Reference Group guides our Stolen Generations work, ensuring these programs effectively meet the unique healing needs of Stolen Generations survivors and their families.

The group brings together a diverse group of Stolen Generations men and women from around Australia.

We gratefully acknowledge the contribution and commitment of our Stolen Generations Reference Group members:

Ian Hamm, VIC (Yorta Yorta), Chair
Michael Welsh, NSW (Wailwan, Coonamble, NSW)
Mark Bin Bakar, WA (Kitja/Gunian East Kimberley)
Maisie Austin, TI (Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal descent)
Tony Hansen, WA (Noongar and Wagyl Kaip tribal boundaries)
David Wragge, QLD (Wakka Wakka, Ghungalu, Juru, Bindal, and Wulgurukba)
Dr. Jenni Caruso, SA(Eastern Arrente)
Yvonne Mills, SA(Kokatha/Mirning)

See their full bios below.

Most recently our Stolen Generations Reference Group has contributed to the Stolen Generations Resource Kit for Teachers and Students. The teaching resource has been developed to introduce students from Foundation to Year 9 to the firsthand experiences of Stolen Generations survivors.

In 2017, the Stolen Generations Reference Group contributed to the design and development of the BTH20 anniversary artwork.

Ian Hamm

Ian Hamm is a Yorta Yorta man who has been actively involved in the Victorian Aboriginal community for many years. He has extensive government and community sector experience, particularly at executive and governance levels. Ian has overseen major policy and strategic reforms for government and community organisations. He is currently the chair of Connecting Home Ltd, a Victorian Stolen Generations service and also The Healing Foundation’s Stolen Generations Reference Group.

Michael Welsh

Michael Welsh is a Wailwan man from Coonamble in New South Wales and a survivor of the Kinchela Boys Home. As a child, Michael was forcibly removed from his mother and five of his siblings. As an adult, he was involved in establishing some of the first Aboriginal organisations in Coonamble. He has been a member of the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation (KBHAC) since 2009 and held the position of Treasurer since 2011.

Mark Bin Bakar

Mark Bin Bakar is a Kitja/Gunian man from the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Mark’s mother was forcibly removed and he is actively involved in seeking justice for members of the Stolen Generations. Mark was an inaugural deputy convenor of the Stolen Generations Alliance. He has also produced four albums of songs about the Stolen Generations.

Maisie Austin

Maisie Austin was born on Thursday Island, and is of Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal descent. She is currently the CEO of the NT Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation and a recipient of the Order of Australia Medal. Maisie passionately advocates for compensation/reparation for NT Stolen Generations peoples, and for ongoing funding for NT Link Up services to ensure recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report are implemented.

Tony Hansen

Tony Hansen is an Aboriginal man with connections to the South-West Boojarah region, Wilman tribe, which is located in Wagyl Kaip and Southern Noongar region. After being forcibly removed Tony was placed at the Marribank Mission, formally known as Carrolup Native Settlement, for 15 years. Many years later, Tony was able to reconnect with his family, and he now values the opportunity to be a voice of Stolen Generation survivors.

David Wragge

David is a Wakka Wakka man from Cherbourg, Queensland with traditional connections also to Central Queensland (Ghungalu), and North Queensland (Juru, Bindal and Wulgurukba). He is an advocate for the protection of children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. He believes that our children must be protected and taught about their respective cultural connections to the land and our traditional lore.

Dr Jenni Caruso

Jenni is an Eastern Arrente woman whose research focuses on the experiences of Stolen Generations survivors. She gained her undergraduate and honours levels as a mature-age student while lecturing in Indigenous Cultures and History at the University of Adelaide. The foundations underpinning Jenni’s teaching in History is that it is imperative education for all, but more so for the empowerment of Aboriginal peoples.

Jenni is the recipient of the prestigious Gladys Elphick Quiet Achiever Award (2017), the South Australian NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award (2018), and was the 2023 South Australian NAIDOC Elder of the Year. She has also been shortlisted for the Premier’s NAIDOC Award (2019) and was recently included in the South Australian Women’s Honour Roll.

Yvonne Mills

Yvonne was born in Port Lincoln South Australia and her connections to family are with the Kokatha and Mirning peoples of the far west coast, her mother’s people. She was separated from her mother, along with her four older siblings when she was 2 years old and placed in an institution, Seaforth Home.

Committed to working with and for Indigenous people, Yvonne’s career in the public service included; positions in the South Australian Public Service and a range of Indigenous policy and program areas in the Commonwealth Public Service and ACT Public Service. Key policy and project positions focused on Indigenous; Health, Education, RCIADIC, CDEP, Women’s Issues, ATSIC Elections, Youth programs, Culture, Sport, Cultural competency, and Reconciliation Action Plans.

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