Aileen's Legacy

At the turn of the twentieth century the systematic forced removal of Aboriginal children from their mothers, families and cultural heritage was commonplace. There were several reasons that the government and white society used to justify the separation but the prevailing ideology of nationalism and maintaining Australia for the ‘whites’ was the over-riding motivation and justification for their actions[1]. Progressive sciences such as anthropology espoused such theories as eugenics, miscegenation, biological absorption and assimilation which legitimated governmental policies relating to Aboriginal affairs[2]. It was

The Stolen Generation has had a great effect on Aboriginal rights and freedoms as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders didn’t even have the rights to raise and look after their children and as a result 100,000 Aboriginal Australian’s were displaced and placed into white families. The lack of understanding and respect for Aboriginal culture also meant that many people who supported the removal of these children really thought they were doing “the right thing”. The impact on Australian life today is still being felt as the Stolen Generation is seen as a recent event has it only ended in the early 1970s. Children that where taken away back then now cannot trace back their roots and therefore have no record of their family history or where

The Stolen Generation has left devastating impacts upon the Aboriginal culture and heritage, Australian history and the presence of equality experienced today. The ‘Stolen Generation’ refers to the children of Aboriginal descent being forcefully abducted by government officials of Australia and placed within institutions and catholic orphanages, being forced to assimilate into ‘white society’. These dehumanising acts placed these stolen children to experience desecration of culture, loss of identity and the extinction of their race. The destructive consequences that followed were effects of corruption including attempted suicide, depression and drug and alcohol abuse. The indigenous peoples affected by this have endured solitude for many

Throughout the early 20th century, the Australian public was led to believe that Aboriginal children were disadvantaged in their communities, and that there was a high risk of physical and sexual abuse. Aboriginal children were being removed in order to be exposed to ‘Anglo values’ and ‘work habits’ with a view to them being employed by colonial settlers, and to stop their parents, families and communities from passing on their culture, language and identity

Government policies authorising the removal of Aboriginal children have caused extensive and unrepairable damage to every aspect of Indigenous culture. It could be argued that the emotional turmoil which occurred as a result of this policy, is greater than any physical abused ever faced by the Australian Aboriginal people. The act of child removal would be a scarring experience for parents and children of any race or culture. This policy had a particularly damaging impact on the Indigenous people as their identity is based within a set of strong traditional guides and teachings. These lessons are not recorded, but can only be taught through speaking with elders and learning through a connection to others within the mob, connection to art forms

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has written a code of ethics that serves many purposes. The main purpose is to identify the core ethics and values that provide the foundation for the profession. It details six basic principles for social workers to follow: service, social justice, dignity and worth, human relationships, integrity, and competence (National Association of Social Workers, 1999). The code acts as an ethical guide for students, and those professionals just

The assimilation policy that removed Australian Indigenous children or children of Indigenous descent from aboriginal communities began in the late 1800s. This formally ceased in the 1970s but some would argue that it continues to this day. This essay will present evidence including the stolen aboriginal children's experiences in life and what changed in their life from when they were home to where they were taken. It is hypothesised that the Stolen Generations have had a live much tougher than most and should be fully reconciled for the damage done by the Government. It will also examine the Government's roles have been and how they have changed from during the period of stolen generations to their current standpoint on the reparations of the stolen generation.

The ongoing legacy of colonisation and government policies has had a severe effect on Indigenous peoples. The danger of an age of ‘new stolen generations’ is evident in that contemporary child protection agencies are replicating many of the discriminatory and destructive dynamics of the Stolen Generations era (Gibson, 2013). Systematic poverty is proficient for many Indigenous people despite a strong economy, efforts of self-determination and limited land right, the Indigenous disadvantage has not improved since the 1967 Referendum despite government policy and market opportunities (Mazel,

Aboriginal children forcefully removed from their families, known as “The Stolen Generation”. The Stolen Generation as

Between 1910-1970, many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families because of various government policies. The generations of children removed under these policies became known as the Stolen Generations. During federation in 1901, the Constitution states that Aboriginal People will not be counted in the census, and that the Commonwealth has the power to make laws relating to any race of people In Australia except for Aborigines. Kevin Rudd’s sorry speech in 2008 is a significant event in Indigenous Australians receiving civil rights. This point will be proven by previous events and impacts of the stolen generation on Indigenous right and freedoms.

To my acceptance, the social work profession’ vision and mission strives to promote a just society (NASW p.1). Sincerely, I believe a just society is communities composed of diverse and united populations who actively participate in the creation of peaceful norms, laws, practiced behaviors, and policies that aim to provide equal opportunities to all members within such society. Therefore, I am convinced, the social work profession’ mission is to promote the dignity, integrity, and the well-being of all persons (NASW p.2). For instance, the nation social work associations’ code of ethics (NASW) is composed of enriched sets of ethical principles and practiced behaviors; that focus on promoting adequate and equal distributions of resources to

The preamble of the NASW Code of Ethics states, “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty (www.socialworkers.org).” Following that statement, the six purposes of the NASW Code of Ethics are expressed to the reader in seriated form. The guiding principles for social work practice are outlined, ethical principles and their values

Between 1910 and 1970, many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families because of a range of various government policies. Since there were a lot of children removed due to these policies, Australia since named it the Stolen Generation. The policies of child removal left a legacy of trauma and loss that continues to affect Indigenous communities, families and individuals, even to this day. The children that were taken from their parents were taught to reject their Indigenous heritage, and were taught to adopt the ‘white’ culture. Their names were changed, and they were forbidden to speak their traditional language, having to learn the english language. Some were adopted by white families, and many were placed in institutions, where abuse and neglect were

In the 1830's and ending in the early 1970's, many aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their families, as the European settlement recognised Aboriginal’s for being flora and fauna and deemed them to be feral. European settlers aim was to supposedly enforce Aboriginal’s to be civil by assimilating them into European society and culture. However this was not the case as it was an excuse to wipe out the Aboriginal race and culture, which was ordered by the Australian Government at the time. The Government’s policies and practices regarding the removal of children, the ill treatment and the continuing effects eradicated many aboriginal generations. Government authorities claimed legal guardianship of all Indigenous children and

Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were systematically stripped of their traditional land rights, suffered abuse, massacres, racism, and the forced removal of children from the family Unit. Which became known as the “Stolen generations” (Craven, 2011). These factors contribute to the displacement and placement of Indigenous Australians, by being internally displaced from their country since colonisation, and out of home intervention in place to protect from harm (Australian Institute of Family Studies, AIFS, 2017). Cherbourg State School, once a missionary settlement where Aboriginal people were taken to ‘save’ them by making them ‘less Aboriginal” (Echo360, 2010a), because of this history, Cherbourg has complex challenges