Emotional labour in the archives

tn_jigsawmotifcrop3 The wonderful world of Twitter makes it possible to follow what’s happening at various conferences and events around the world, for those of us who can’t travel. The Association of Canadian Archivists has just had its annual conference, this year in Montreal, and following the #ACA2016 tweets has been fascinating.
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The next Find & Connect?

tn_ForgottenChildrenReport The past few years have seen massive public attention relating to children in immigration detention whether on the Australian mainland or offshore in places like Nauru. While it would be folly to argue the plight of Forgotten Australians, ‘Care’ Leavers and Former Child Migrants is identical to that of children who are in or have experienced immigration detention there are some disturbing similarities.
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A real bad egg

tn_jigsawmotifcrop3 “He is a bad egg. His history of offences and reoffences is too long to list. We’re talking graffiti-ing. Littering. Smashing stuff. Burning stuff. Breaking stuff. Stealing stuff. Throwing rocks. Running away … and that’s just the stuff we know about …” This is a description of Ricky Baker, the hero of the (now showing) NZ comedy film Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
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Let no child walk this path again…

The-Natural-Way-Of-Things-book-cover Last week, Charlotte Wood won the Stella Prize for her novel The Natural Way of Things. The Stella Prize celebrates Australian women’s writing and this book explores contemporary misogyny in Australia . In Charlotte’s Stella Interview she spoke about some of the inspirations behind the book:
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Do you recognise these Barnardos’ Homes?

tn_Barnardos Lindfield Family Group Homes have existed in Australia since the late 1940’s and became an increasingly common model of ‘care’ in the eastern states during the second half of the century. Family Group Homes were located on residential streets, in the suburbs, generally without organisational signs and were often only open for relatively short periods of time.
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All the little travellers: the children of ‘Morningtown Ride’

tn_seekers It’s a sad fact that many people who were in care do not know what they looked like as children. When I was the Find & Connect Client Liaison Officer I received many emails from people desperately searching for photographs and video footage of themselves and their relatives.
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We remember you …

tn_We remember you cover Some of our readers might be interested in a recent publication, commemorating the fifth anniversary of the unveiling of the memorial to Victorian Forgotten Australians.
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More photographs unearthed

tn_BM2-23-370.png In December 2015, ABC Online had an article about a precious collection of photographs that a woman discovered while cleaning out her deceased aunt’s home. The home belonged to Annie Woods, who had been a mothercraft nurse in the 1960s, working in a number of children’s institutions in Victoria.
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New Principles for Access to Records

tn_jigsawmotifcrop3 The Department of Social Services (DSS) recently released a new publication: Access to Records by Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants: access principles for records holders, best practice guidelines in providing access to records. This document is a landmark step in the ongoing implementation of the recommendations made in the Senate’s 2004 ‘Forgotten Australians’ report.
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Provenance journal – new issue

tn_jigsawmotifcrop3 Provenance is the journal of Public Record Office Victoria, the archives of the State Government of Victoria. Hot off the (digital) presses, its 2015 issue features an article written by Find & Connect’s editor, Cate O’Neill. Cate writes about the tragic story of ‘Jill’, a state ward who was in ‘care’ from 1952 until her death in 1955.
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