Author Description

The 2016 study, 'No child should grow up like this', investigated the long-term life experiences of people who had been in out-of-home care in Australia. This new report provides more detail on one of the groups that took part in that study: Stolen Generations survivors and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families as children. Drawing on surveys, interviews, and focus groups, the report explores their entry into care, the care environment, experiences of maltreatment, contact with family, leaving care, education and employment outcomes, income, involvement with the justice system, relationships and parenting, social contact and community involvement, religion, physical and mental health, suicide, seeking help and support, barriers and access to services, dealing with authority figures, and public responses and formal apologies. Overall, this report presents an extremely grim picture of Aboriginal children's 'care' in the twentieth century. The multiple losses related to child removal and relentless neglect and abuse have resulted in untold damage. However, the Aboriginal participants in this study have showed remarkable resilience, courage, self-healing and activism. The report concludes with recommendations for supports for survivors and contemporary child welfare policy.