The Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 was a Commonwealth law. It defined an “immigrant child” as any person under the age of 21 years who came to Australia as an immigrant otherwise than in the charge of, or for the purpose of living in Australia under the care of, any parent or relative of…
Truancy means intentional absences from schooling. Truancy became an offence when education became compulsory (under state education laws). This meant children charged with truancy could be arrested by police or truancy officers and committed to institutions such as industrial schools and reformatories. Magistrates could also fine parents for allowing a child to truant, and order…
Youth Migration to Australia comprised young people (post-primary school age, usually ranging from 14 to 20 years old), who had made their own decision to migrate to Australia, often to work in rural areas. They commonly came to Australia as assisted migrants, subsidised by colonial, state or Commonwealth governments. Non-government organisations were also involved in…
Child Migration to Australia refers to children who were sent to Australia unaccompanied by their parents, and who had no family ties or contacts in Australia. Child migrants were generally aged between 7 and 14, although some were younger, and were sent to Australia from Britain and Malta under formal child immigration schemes. Although some…
On 16 November 2009, the Australian Parliament issued an apology to Forgotten Australians and former child migrants. The Apology in November 2009 was an endorsement of Recommendation 1 from the ‘Forgotten Australians’ report of 2004, which read: That the Commonwealth Government issue a formal statement acknowledging, on behalf of the nation, the hurt and distress…
The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families was established by the Federal Attorney-General in 1995. It was conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). In April 1997, the Commission handed down the report, Bringing them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the…
The Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care was referred to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee on 4 March 2003. This inquiry was directed primarily to those affected children who were not covered by the 2001 report Lost Innocents: Righting the Record, inquiring into child migrants, and the 1997 report, Bringing them Home, inquiring into…
Voluntary placement is a term to describe the practice of parents or relatives putting a child into a Home, outside of child welfare legislation. These children (sometimes referred to as ‘voluntary wards’, ‘non wards’, or ‘private children’) came into ‘care’ under informal arrangements, often due to economic difficulties or a family crisis that made it…
In May 1982, an inquiry began by the Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare. The result of this inquiry was the report, ‘Children in Institutional and Other Forms of Care: a national perspective’ (1985). The Committee noted that little work had been done to date in this area, on a national basis. The Committee’s terms…
Holiday hosts looked after children from institutions for weekends or short stays during school holiday periods, so that staff employed at the children’s Home could take leave. The Senate’s ‘Forgotten Australians’ report (2004) noted that the use of holiday hosts was ‘often undertaken in an uncoordinated manner with expediency rather than child welfare being a…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
