Systematic policies of harm

The forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities was common government policy across Australia from the mid-1800s until the 1970s.

Stolen children were separated from their families, communities, Country, culture and language. They were placed in institutions, missions, training farms and schools, adopted by non-Indigenous families or fostered. They were often subject to harsh treatment in institutions. Many were abused, neglected, or both.  

In every state and territory, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were systematically removed as part of deliberate assimilation policies aimed at eliminating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  

This practice is consistent with the act of genocide as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Widespread denial of this history was the norm until the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families and subsequent Bringing them home report handed down in 1997.

The trauma and grief suffered by Stolen Generations survivors has caused deep and often lifelong impacts across the generations.

Learn more about intergenerational trauma.

Because of their forced removal, many Stolen Generations survivors face poorer health, economic and social outcomes compared to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples — ‘a gap within the gap’.

Learn more from our Make Healing Happen report. 

Many are still seeking access to records to find out who their families are and to understand their identities. Only some have had access to redress, with inconsistencies in amounts and eligibility between different states and territories.  

Today, many survivors are elderly and have complex needs. Too often survivors don’t access the services they need, particularly health and aged care, out of fear they will bring back traumatic memories or cause more harm.