{"id":15692,"date":"2021-09-03T11:07:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T15:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=15692"},"modified":"2021-09-03T11:07:16","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T15:07:16","slug":"the-conversation-justice-elusive-for-aboriginal-children-stolen-from-their-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/03\/the-conversation-justice-elusive-for-aboriginal-children-stolen-from-their-families\/","title":{"rendered":"The Conversation: Justice elusive for Aboriginal children stolen from their families"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Australian<\/a>
The Australian Aboriginal Flag<\/a> represents Aboriginal people in Australian. It is one of the officially proclaimed flags of Australia and it holds special legal and political status in the nation. Photo: Dawn Sajn<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
The government\u2019s Stolen Generations redress scheme is piecemeal and\u00a0unrealistic<\/div>\r\n
Friday, September 3, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Peter Read<\/a> (Australian National University<\/a>) and Lizzie May<\/a> (Indigenous Knowledge<\/a>)<\/div>\r\n
The Conversation<\/div>\r\n
theconversation.com<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThis article contains mentions of the Stolen Generations, and policies using outdated and potentially offensive terminology when referring to First Nations people.<\/em>

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\r\n\r\nEarlier in August, the Commonwealth government announced<\/a> a reparations scheme for Stolen Generations survivors in the Northern Territory, Jervis Bay and the ACT.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nWhile well-intended, this scheme suffers from the same fatal flaw as similar schemes in other states in that not every eligible person will qualify.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nDue to the government\u2019s misplaced faith in the records of child removal policies, possibly less than half the elderly Stolen Generations survivors will qualify under the current compensation packages.

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Not the first redress scheme<\/div>\r\n\r\nSome states have already financially compensated Stolen Generations survivors with varying amounts, while others are under considerable pressure to do so.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nIn NSW, for instance, survivors may claim compensation if they were removed by or came into the care of the state Aboriginal administration between 1909 and 1969.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nBecause of the current guidelines, however, it is likely the NSW scheme will apply to fewer than half of the living Aboriginal children who were removed under separation policies.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nThe new reparations scheme from the government follows sustained pressure for financial compensation, including the threat of a class action lawsuit, ever since the Bringing Them Home report<\/a> in 1997.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nSupporters of this redress scheme may well see it as a necessary element of Closing the Gap.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nWelcoming the announcement, the CEO of the Northern Territory Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation, Maisie Austin, asks<\/a>:

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\r\nWhat price is there to pay for children who have been institutionalised and have lost their identity, their family, their culture, their country? Some of them never met their mothers again, they\u2019ve lost their hierarchy in their country. The main thing is, they feel like they don\u2019t belong anywhere.<\/strong><\/em>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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A history of stolen children<\/div>\r\n\r\nIn the late 1960s, when most state agencies were winding up their punitive, Indigenous-specific acts relating to child removal, there would have been many thousands eligible to claim compensation. Now, it is almost too late because many of the original Stolen Generations have passed away without seeing justice.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nUnder the current scheme, no provision has been made for the intergenerational trauma endured by the children of the survivors who often suffered, and suffer still, the same crippling disadvantages outlined by Austin.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nIn NSW until 1969, Aboriginal children could be removed either through the Aboriginal protection and welfare acts, or under other acts, such as the Child Welfare Act 1939 (NSW), not specific to Aboriginal children.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nIf a child welfare inspector removed a child under the Welfare Act, Aboriginal children could be sent to non-Aboriginal institutions like Mittagong, rather than the homes established specifically for Aboriginal children at Cootamundra and Kinchela. This is because the act didn\u2019t specify where they should go.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nIn these circumstances, Aboriginal children potentially might not have even known of their Indigeneity. This was a tactic used by the government to separate children from their culture for forced integration.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nThe consequences of this legalised sleight of hand for three of four generations of children were enormous. It\u2019s possible more NSW Aboriginal children were removed under state welfare laws than under the Aborigines Protection Act<\/a>.

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