On 24 February 2010, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an apology to child migrants, for the United Kingdom’s role in deporting thousands of children to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Some former child migrants were funded by the British Government to go to London and hear the Prime Minister’s statement…
The International Association of Former Child Migrants and Their Families (IAFCM&F) advocates for recognition, understanding and reparation for people who were sent as child migrants from their countries of birth. The IAFCM&F has presented submissions to various Inquiries into child migration. The International Association of Former Child Migrants and Their Families (IAFCM&F) advocates for recognition,…
The National Archives of Australia (NAA) was established in 1998. It was formerly known as the Australian Archives. The National Archives collects, preserves and makes publicly available records of the Australian government. The collection includes records related to family history research, as well as records relevant specifically to child welfare and child migration. The head…
Industrial Schools were institutions where children could receive industrial training. It was a model borrowed from England. The central idea was that neglected children with living parents needed to be taught to be industrious and be able to support themselves in the future. Notions about poverty in the nineteenth century saw poor people as lazy…
In December 2018, the UK government announced they were establishing a payment scheme for former British Child Migrants. The scheme was for people who had been separated from their families and sent overseas as part of the UK government’s participation in child migration programs. The payment scheme was established in response to the Interim Report…
The National Redress Scheme was established by the Commonwealth government in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It is administered by the Commonwealth Department of Social Services. The NRS was established in 2018 and was announced that it would run for 10 years. The National Redress…
The Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme was announced in 2021. The Scheme “seeks to recognise the harm and trauma experienced by Stolen Generations survivors”. The Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were children when removed from their families and communities, in: Northern Territory before 1 July 1978…
Training Homes (also known as Training Schools) were institutions where children and young people could learn habits of hard work and respectability, as well as skills suited to the workforce. In the early twentieth century, the work skills usually involved domestic service for girls and farm labour for boys. Later on the occupations considered suitable…
The Housing and Community Services Bureau was established on 14 December 1989. The aim of the Bureau was to provide and facilitate the delivery of housing and community services to individuals, facilities and the community. The Bureau operated under various administrative structures, but in 1995, the Housing and Community Services Bureau’s functions were separated. Some…
During the twentieth century, babies and children in Victorian orphanages and Homes were used as subjects for medical experiments. Reports from the Senate Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care contained details of studies carried out by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and the Commonwealth Serum Laboratory (CSL) between 1945 and 1970. One reason given…