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Background Note
‘Forgotten Australians’ and ‘Lost Innocents’: child
migrants and children in institutional care in Australia
11 November 2009
Coral Dow and Janet Phillips
Social Policy Section
Contents
Introduction
This background note provides a brief overview and history of the arrival
of child migrants from the United Kingdom and government responses to
claims of their mistreatment whilst in institutional care in Australia.[1]
These children who arrived in Australia between 1920 and 1967 have been
referred to in a number of Senate inquiries as the ‘Lost Innocents’.[2]
Similarly, Australian-born children raised in institutional care during
this time have also claimed mistreatment. During the 1995 inquiry into
the removal of Aboriginal children from their families and the calls for
an apology and compensation to Aboriginal children, non-Aboriginal children
who also suffered in institutions called themselves the ‘Forgotten Australians’
and lobbied for similar recognition of past injustices.[3] This background note also provides an overview
of government responses to their claims.
Under the Empire Settlement Act of 1922 and 1937, the British
Government assisted private organisations to help people who wanted to
settle in ‘His Majesty’s Overseas Dominions.’ Although not specifically
aimed at assisting child migrants, this legislation allowed non-government
organisations to send child migrants to various parts of the British Empire.
The scheme intensified after the war when child migrants were sent under
the Children’s Act 1948. Although non-government organisations
had direct charge of most of the children at the recruitment stage, during
their passage, or after their arrival in the receiving countries, they
received encouragement and financial backing from British governments
and governments in receiving countries. About 150 000 children with
an average age of eight years and nine months emigrated from the United
Kingdom, the majority to Canada, until the scheme ended in 1967.[4]
A key motivation for child migration was to maintain the racial unity
of the Empire and populate the Dominions of Canada, Rhodesia, New Zealand
and Australia, with ‘good white stock’.
The exact number of child migrants to Australia is not known, but estimates
suggest that from 1947 to 1967, between 7000 and 10 000 children were
sent to Australia.[5] A
feature of the scheme was the care of children in residential institutions
rather than by foster care or adoption. Most were placed in the care of
Barnardos, the Fairbridge Society, the Church of England and the Christian
Brothers.[6] The House of
Commons Health Committee concluded that ‘children were placed in large,
often isolated, institutions and were often subjected to harsh, sometimes
intentionally brutal, regimes of work and discipline, unmodified by any
real nurturing or encouragement. The institutions were inadequately supervised,
monitored and inspected’.[7]
In 1987 a specialist social work agency, the Child Migrants Trust, was
established with branches in Perth, Melbourne and the United Kingdom.
The Trust contributed to public awareness of the history of child migrants
and the mental and physical abuses suffered by many of the children. It
continues to provide counselling services to child migrants, help with
reuniting families and acts as a lobby group. Although not all children
claim mistreatment, the Trust points out that ‘little attention was given
to the long-term implications of separating children from their families,
their friends, their social context and their country on a permanent basis’.[8]
In 1990 the Australian Government announced it would provide $120 000
over three years to the Child Migrant Trust to fund a case worker and
counselling services in Australia.[9]
Similar amounts were provided each year by the Government until funding
ceased in June 2008.[10]
Awareness of the history of the scheme and its legacy also resulted from
the work of Margaret Humphreys, founder of the Child Migrants Trust. Humphreys
visited Australia a number of times in the 1980s and assisted in establishing
the Australian branches. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 1993
for her work with child migrants in Australia. Humphrey’s book Empty
Cradles, along with a number of other books and television series,
notably Lost children of the Empire broadcast in 1989, helped in
the successful campaign to have the British government inquire into the
scheme and the welfare of former migrants.[11]
In 1997 the British House of Commons Health Committee accepted that responsibility
for matters relating to the welfare of former British child migrants rested
with the British Department of Health and commenced an inquiry into child
migration. The House of Commons Health Committee, chaired by David Hinchcliffe
MP, took evidence in Australia in June 1998. The Committee tabled its
report: The welfare of former British child migrants, in July 1998.[12]
In December 1998 the British Health Secretary Frank Dobson accepted the
report’s main recommendations. He accepted the policy had been misguided
and promised assistance to former child migrants by setting up a central
database of information in the UK to help former child migrants trace
their records and a Support Fund of £1 million over three years to help
pay for family reunions. To qualify for assistance under the Fund, former
child migrants had to be able to show that they had traced a close family
relative, (mother, father, brother, sister, aunt or uncle), and that they
wished to reunite for the first time, but could not meet the costs of
travel to the UK. The Child Migrant Support Fund (CMSF) operated until
October 2002.[13]
In January 2000 the Australian Minister for Immigration and Multicultural
Affairs, Phillip Ruddock, tabled the Australian Government response
to the British Government response to the recommendations of the British
House of Commons Health Committee’s report of its inquiry into the welfare
of former British child migrants.[14] The Australian Government agreed to cooperate with the British
Government in establishing a central database to help former child migrants
trace their families.
In June 2000 the Senate referred the issue of child migration to the
Senate Community Affairs References Committee for investigation and report.
In August 2001 the committee published its report, Lost innocents:
righting the record—report on child migration. The Committee noted
that ‘the two dominant concerns of child migrant witnesses were their
loss of identity and their need to have the opportunity to tell their
story, be heard and believed’.[15]
It concluded that the ‘Committee’s inquiry clearly showed that issues
associated with child migration to Australia had not been extensively
covered and deserved the thorough Australia-wide attention the Senate
inquiry was able to deliver’.[16]
The report made 33 recommendations, including continued funding to assist
reunions, tracing and access to records; that all state and territory
governments undertake inquiries into the abuse of children in institutions;
and that the Commonwealth and state governments all issue ‘formal statements’
expressing ‘deep sorrow and regret for the psychological, social and economic
harm caused to the children’.[17]
On 13 May 2002 the Government tabled the Commonwealth Government response
to Lost innocents: righting the record: the report of the Community Affairs
References Committee on child migration. The response supported and
welcomed the committee’s report and expressed regret for ‘the injustices
and suffering that some child migrants may have experienced as a result
of past practices in relation to child migration’.[18] There was no promise of a formal statement
of apology. The government emphasised practical measures and announced
a $3.7 million package that included: $1 million per year over three years
for travel funding to assist former child migrants to return to the UK;
$100 000 for state memorials to commemorate former child migrants; and
$125 000 per year over three years to the Child Migrants Trust.[19]
In 2003 the Senate Community Affairs References Committee
conducted a broader inquiry into the treatment of all children in institutional
care.[20] In August 2004
the committee released the first report, Forgotten Australians: a report
on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children.[21] This report documented in detail the role played
by governments, religious groups and others in the institutional care
of children in Australia; the types of abuse experienced; the lifelong
impacts of care; and some of the apologies or expressions of regret that
had been made by various institutions at that time. It made 39 recommendations,
including that the Commonwealth and state governments (that had not already
done so) issue formal statements acknowledging the harm experienced by
many children in institutional care.
On 17 March 2005 the Senate Community Affairs References
Committee released the second report on institutional or out of home care,
Protecting vulnerable children: a national challenge.[22]
This second report documented some of the responses by churches and other
agencies to the first report; gave more details on issues such as children
in care with disabilities; and listed some of the state and territory
reports on child protection and care. The report made 18 recommendations
including the need for a national commissioner for children to drive a
national reform agenda for child protection.
On 10 November 2005 the Government tabled the Australian
Government response to the Committee's reports: Forgotten Australians:
a report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care
as children, and, Protecting vulnerable children: a national
challenge: second report on the inquiry into children in institutional
or out of home care.[23] The Commonwealth Government
welcomed both reports and stated in its response that the ‘suffering experienced
by so many children placed in institutional care is a matter for shame
for this country’.[24]
However, the response asserted that most of the recommendations in both
reports were a matter for the state governments to consider, not the federal
government.
On 25 June 2009 the Senate Community Affairs References
Committee released the Lost innocents and forgotten Australians
revisited progress report on the implementation of recommendations
from the Lost Innocents and Forgotten Australians reports.[25] The report documented the progress made to
date on the implementation of the recommendations of the previous two
reports. The report found that the responses had been variable with some
progress being made in some jurisdictions and little or none in others.
Once again, the Committee recommended that the Commonwealth Government,
state governments and religious organisations (who have not already done
so) issue ‘formal acknowledgement and expression of regret’ both to child
migrants and other children who suffered abuse in institutions. The report
made 16 recommendations, including a call for South Australia, NSW and
Victoria to establish redress schemes; and a call for a whole of government
approach and consistency across jurisdictions for the provision of support
services and the handling of abuse claims.[26]
Stakeholder groups were disappointed with the responses. In its submission
to the most recent Senate Community Affairs References Committee inquiry,
the Child Migrants Trust commended the Commonwealth for holding the original
inquiry into child migration, but believes that responses so far have
been ‘too half hearted in tone and spirit’.[27] In another submission, the International Association of Former
Child Migrants called for a formal apology and spoke of the ongoing grief
still felt by child migrants today:
It would give us a level or a measure of how far the
present government is prepared to take our cause. What needs to be put
to the committee is the level of grief that is still being suffered
today by hundreds of former child migrants.[28]
Many of the state governments have issued general apologies to children
abused in institutions (QLD, NSW, SA, TAS and VIC), but Western Australia
is the only state to have apologised specifically to child migrants. While
these apologies have been received positively by stakeholders, many are
critical of the substance of the statements, claiming that state governments
have generally failed to accept full responsibility for the wrongdoing.[29] A number of states have also
established redress schemes (QLD, TAS and WA) or are considering them
(SA). However, Victoria and NSW have indicated that they will not establish
schemes.[30]
The following section briefly documents the major state government responses
to the issues associated with child migration to Australia or children
in institutional care.
On 13 August 1998 the Western Australian Government apologised
to former British child migrants who suffered sexual, physical and emotional
abuse in Western Australian orphanages and institutions. However, the
Western Australian government voted against a proposal to re-establish
a select committee set up by the previous government to investigate the
needs of former child migrants, or to implement the recommendations of
the Select Committee's Interim Report. The parliamentary motion was:
That this House apologise to the former child migrants
on behalf of all Western Australians for the past policies that led
to their forced migration and the subsequent maltreatment so many experienced
and express deep regret at the hurt and distress that this caused.[31]
On 7 April 2005 the Western Australian Government issued
an apology to ‘people who were harmed in institutional care’.[32]
On 17 December 2007 the Western Australian Government announced
the establishment of Redress WA for children abused and neglected in state
care.[33] Benefits from Redress WA for children abused in institutions
include counselling services, compensation payments, an acknowledgement
of abuse and an apology.[34]
In 1999 the treatment of child migrants in Queensland was
included in the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children
in Queensland Institutions (Forde report), tabled in the Queensland
Parliament on 8 June 1999.[35] Following the tabling of the report, a formal
apology was issued by: the then Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie;
the Minister for Families, Youth and Community Care, Anna Bligh; the Catholic
Archbishop of Brisbane; the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane; the Moderator
of the Uniting Church in Australia (Qld Synod); the Territorial Commander,
Australian Eastern Territory, of the Salvation Army; the President of
the Baptist Union of Queensland and the Conference President for the Churches
of Christ in Queensland.[36] The Forde inquiry led to the creation of a
redress scheme on 1 October 2007.[37]
In November 2004 the Commission of inquiry into children
in state care was established by the South Australian Parliament (the
Mullighan inquiry). In 2005, the Interim report of the Children in
State Care Commission of Inquiry, was completed, and in 2008 the final
report, Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry: allegations of
sexual abuse and death from criminal conduct, was presented to the
South Australian Parliament by the chair, E.P. Mullighan QC. The reports
documented detailed allegations of systematic abuse in South Australia.[38]
On 17 June 2008 the South Australian Government, together
with the churches, issued a formal apology to those who suffered or witnessed
abuse or neglect whilst in state care.[39]
In July 2008 the South Australian Government established
a task force to examine redress schemes for child victims of sexual abuse.[40]
On 23 June 2005, the NSW Government formally apologised
for the harm and distress suffered by children in NSW institutions.[41]
On 9 August 2006 an apology was delivered in the Victorian
Parliament to all those who suffered abuse, neglect or a lack of care
in out-of-home care.[42]
In 2008 Victoria announced it would not establish a redress
scheme, but that it would deal with abuse claims on a case-by-case basis.[43]
In August 2003 the Tasmanian Government announced a redress
scheme for past abuse of children while in state care (in response to
an inquiry by the Tasmanian Ombudsman).[44]
In December 2004 the Premier of Tasmania issued an apology
to those people abused while in state care. It was delivered in the Legislative
Assembly on 17 May 2005.[45]
In terms of responses from the churches and other responsible agencies,
the Senate Community Affairs References Committee noted in its latest
report that very little of note has occurred since the church apologies
made in response to the Forgotten Australians report published
in 2004.[46]
The following briefly documents some of the community and religious organisation
responses to the issues associated with child migration to Australia or
children in institutional care:
- In July 1993 the Christian Brothers issued a public apology for the
abuses that they admitted had taken place at their child-care institutions.
They have funded travel by former child migrants to make family reunions.[47]
- In December 1996 the Australian Catholic Bishops and the Leaders of
Religious Institutes issued an apology to those abused whilst under
the care of Catholic institutions in the ‘Towards Healing’ document.[48] The apology stated:
As bishops and leaders of religious institutes of
the Catholic Church in Australia, we acknowledge with deep sadness
and regret that a number of clergy and religious have sexually abused
children, adolescents and adults who have been in their pastoral care.
To these victims we offer our sincere apology.[49]
- In 1997 the Rockhampton Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy apologised
to former residents for abuses that occurred under their care at St.
Joseph's Home, Nerkool.[50]
- In 1999 the Christian Brothers, the Sisters of Mercy and the Poor
Sisters of Nazareth launched PHIND: the Personal History Index for former
child migrants to Catholic Homes in Australia.[51]
- In August 2003 the Salvation Army issued an apology for abuses to
children under their care in institutions.[52]
- In February 2004 Barnados and Wesley Mission issued apologies to children
for abuses under their care in institutions.[53]
- In September 2004 the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and
Goulburn issued an unreserved apology to people cared for in institutions
in that Diocese. On 6 October 2004, the General Synod of the Anglican
Church issued an apology to the children who experienced neglect or
harm in its institutions and on 25 October 2004 the Sydney Synod issued
an apology of its own.[54]
- On 27 September 2004 the Uniting Church issued a statement expressing
regret and sorrow at the neglect and abuse of children in institutional
care by the church.
- On 14 December 2004 the Australian Catholic Bishops and the Leaders
of Religious Institutes renewed an apology first made in the ‘Towards
Healing’ document from 1996.[55]
- On 19 July 2008 Pope Benedict offered a general apology to victims
of sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy in Australia.[56]
On 30 August 2009, the anniversaries of the tabling of the landmark committee
reports, the Australian Government announced that by the end of 2009 it
would ‘issue a formal statement of acknowledgement and apology, on behalf
of the nation, to Forgotten Australians and former child migrants. In
the spirit of the bipartisan nature of the Senate Inquiry reports, the
Government will work with the Opposition to develop the remembrance event’.[57]
The apology to the ‘Forgotten Australians’ and former child migrants
will occur in Canberra on 16 November 2009:
A formal remembrance ceremony will be held in the
Members’ Hall in Parliament House where the Prime Minister will apologise,
on behalf of the nation, to more than 500 000 Australians–many of whom
suffered abuse and neglect while in out-of-home care last century. They
include more than 7000 child migrants who arrived under historical child
migration schemes and who were often subsequently placed in homes and
orphanages.
The apology will acknowledge that what happened in
the past was both real and wrong. It will make sure that a largely invisible
part of our history is put firmly on the record. And it will remind
the community of what happened to many of these children–the loss of
family, the loss of identity and, in the case of child migrants, the
loss of their country.[58]
Following the event, the apology will be tabled in the House of Representatives
and the Senate.
Former Democrats senator and a former child migrant, Andrew Murray, said
‘the apology was the culmination of a decade-long Senate campaign. He
said it would be symbolic and emotional Rubicon for hundreds of thousands
of people who had been let down by governments that had failed in their
duty of care’.[59]
- Bean P, Lost children of the Empire, Unwin Hyman, London, 1989.
- Gill A, Orphans of the Empire: the shocking story of child migration
to Australia, Random House, Sydney, 1997.
- Hill D, The forgotten children: Fairbridge Farm School
and its betrayal of Australia's child migrants,
Random House Australia, NSW, 2007.
- Humphreys M, Empty cradles: one woman’s fight to uncover Britain’s
most shameful secrets, Doubleday, London, 1994.
- International Social Service (ISS), The journey
of discovery: a report on the Australian former Child Migrant Travel
Fund, Australian Branch, October 2005.
- National Archives of Australia (NAA): the National Archives published
a research guide to archival records on child migration, Good
British stock: child and youth migration to Australia 1901–83.
It includes an overview and history of child migration to Australia
as well as a guide to the National Archives records. Fact sheets include
Child
migration to Australia, fact sheet number 124; and Child
migrant records found in Sydney fact sheet number 147.
- Phillips J, Child abuse
and protection in Australia, Background note, Parliamentary
Library, Canberra, March 2009 (includes a list of state and territory
child abuse inquiries).
- Senate Community Affairs References Committee reports:
- Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare, Children
in institutional and other forms of care:
a national perspective, Canberra, 1985.
- Sherington G, Fairbridge, Empire and child migration, University
of Western Australia Press, 1998. Presents an alternative view of child
migration to Australia.
- Snow P, Neither waif
nor stray: the search for a stolen identity, Universal Publishers,
2000. Written from the Canadian perspective.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to
members of Parliament.
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