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Why did the government take Aboriginal children

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Why did the government take Aboriginal children

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Between 1910 and 1970 the Australian government took 100,000 Aboriginal children away from their homes. These children, known as the Stolen Generation, were often under five years of age. They were taken away from their families because the government did not believe in the future of the Aborigines. They thought it would be better to bring them to white families.

Many methods were used to separate Aboriginal babies and children from their families. Children were simply taken away by government officials and later told that they were orphans. Mothers often were given documents to sign. They could not read or write and they were told it was some kind of vaccination programme. Others were taken to hospitals and never seen by their families again. In most cases rich white families were given money to bring them up. Some went to orphanages or church missions.

In 1995 an investigation was stated to bring more truth to the topic. The government however did not apologize to the victims. The new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was the first Australian politician to make a formal apology to the Aborigines in 2008. However, he also said that the government would not give any money to the victims. He claimed that it was in the interests of government to raise the children in the best way.

Up to now only one member of Australia's Stolen Generation has received money from the government. Bruce Trevorrow was taken to hospital on Christmas Day in 1957. His father never saw him again and the government sent him to a white foster family. He came back to his mother when he was ten years old. In his further life he suffered from depression and turned to alcohol. In 1998 he went to court and succeeded in getting about 500,000 dollars from the Australian government as a form of compensation.

There are many others in Australia who have suffered the same fate. Organizations are being set up to work for the rights of the Aborigines and to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.

Related Topics

Words

Aboriginal = from Aborigines, the Australian natives

Aborigines = someone who belongs to the group of people who lived in Australia long ago

apologize = to say you are sorry

claim = to say officially

compensation = the money you get because someone hurt you or someone has done something wrong to you

court =place where a trial is held and a judge and the jury try to find out if someone is guilty or not

fate =the things that will happen to someone, especially if they are bad

foster family = a family that brings up a child that is not theirs

further = later

government = the people in power and who rule a country

investigation = an official attempt to try to find out the truth about why or how something happened

official = someone who has a position in the government

orphan = child with no mother or father

orphanage = a place where orphans live

raise = bring up

receive = get

separate = to bring apart

set up = organize

sign = to put your name on a piece of paper

succeed =to get the result that you wanted

suffer = to feel pain

truth = facts

vaccination =to protect a person from illness or disease by giving them medicine

victim = a person who has had to suffer because of what someone has done to them

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Aboriginal Children-Australia's Stolen Generation | How the Government Took Away Aboriginal Children

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Between 1910 and 1970 the Australian government took 100,000 Aboriginal children away from their homes. These children, known as the Stolen Generation, were often under five years of age. They were taken away from their families because the government did not believe in the future of the Aborigines.

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"He witnessed and suffered abuse that left emotional and physical scars so deep they would have a lasting impact on his life and all his relationships."
— Bill Simon, taken aged ten

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Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation

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This video was launched on national Sorry Day 2016 to highlight the broad impact that the forced removal of Aboriginal children continues to have on the Aboriginal communities, and call for a comprehensive reparations scheme in NSW. You can read more about the production here: http://www.piac.asn.au/news/2016/05/new-video-time-reparations-nsw We thank the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation and WEAVE youth services for their help and support.

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Happy and cheerful with my family one day

With tears and screams I was taken away

Put into an Aboriginal children's home

Who was I to turn to? Where was I to go?

The sisters were nice and looked after us

Until the sad day my friends were put on the bus

The bus took them away from me because they were too dark

They were sent to be slaves, because our skin leaves a mark

I was so lonely and so sad

Just because of our skin colour we are judged as bad

Then my day came to leave Bomaderry

To turn white and to be put in a white family

As I got on the train I couldn't stop crying

Why did the matron make me leave? Why am I still going?

As I got off the train I felt like everyone was watching

Watching the dark girl that was approaching

Now I lived in Sydney with my white family

Why do I have to be white? Why can' t I be me?

To white people I am introduced as the coloured child

Why do people act like that? It's like I've been pulled out of the wild.

On Australia Day I am going to fight

Against the government for our Aboriginal rights

Fight to be with my real family and fight to be free

For I am an Aboriginal and proud to be me

Poem by Kate Hughes, Fauconbridge, NSW.