Stolen Generation In Australia

The stolen generation has created a long-term impact on reconciliation in Australia and has created a significant impact in Australian history by affecting the lives of indigenous. “The stolen generation has created many negative implications in Australian society, further disbanding therefore greatly slowing reconciliation attempts done by various prime minister and organisations “We say Sorry” Kevin Rudd persistently repeated in his apology speech to The Stolen Generation. Where at least one hundred thousand indigenous children were forcibly removed from their parent’s care, this policy went on for 6 decades (1910 to 1960) this was the result of various government policies introduced in 1910.

Throughout the 1890’s and 1970’s the event of the Stolen Generation occurred. The Stolen Generation is where Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander children were taken out of their parent’s custody, by the Australian State and Federal agencies and church commissions. These children were forced to live in so called ‘white’ methods and were to follow their teachings and understandings. This presentation of the Stolen Generation will be demonstrating; what the stolen generation was, why the white’s only took away the Aboriginal children away from their families, how did the Stolen Generation affect the children and their families, what happened to the Stolen children and what happened to the family members that weren’t stolen.

The stolen generation has impacted the lives of countless Indigenous Australians. The common perceptions of the Aboriginal people are negative. We think they should get jobs and work as hard as most white Australians do today. We don’t consider the emotions and effects the stolen generation has had on our indigenous Australian’s. We understand the past events were bad but we can’t fathom why they don’t just move on, forget it and leave the past behind? By looking through sources, recounts and information we can mould our narrow ideas and preconceptions to be considerate, understand the horror and respond better towards our indigenous people.

How was the removal of Aboriginal Children from their families justified by the Australian Government and white society??

Only in recent years have we seen the recognition that the stolen generation deserves and the essential part it has play in the struggle of Aboriginal rights. Since the end of the stolen generation, numerous organisations and government agency has come out and said sorry for what happened for seventy years and as a result Aboriginal rights are becoming more apparent. The famous “I’m sorry” speech said by Kevin Rudd was the first Parliament apology to the Stolen Generation and was seen as a huge leap forward in the recognition of the Stolen Generation. The Bringing Them Home Report in 1997 was a strong campaign for The

The stolen generation is a term to describe aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from families by federal and state governments and by church missions. The aim of this was to bring aboriginal children up in white families and teach them to reject their original culture, therefore if they continued successfully there would eventually be no indigenous people remaining.

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

The National Inquiry into the separation of the children concluded that 'between one-in-three and one-in-ten Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities in the period from approximately 1910 until 1970' (Wilkie, 1997). It was the 1960s, at the earliest, when the various 'protection' Acts were either abolished or discontinued.

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 period (1814-1980s) saw the establishment of the Stolen Generations where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly separated from their families. Neglect was used as the basis for removal (Anderson, 2002). The direct impact of this policy was the death of hundreds of Aboriginal children in residential care, due to physical, nutritional and psychological neglect (Kidd, 2000). From an Indigenous perspective, this removal policy and practice has been considered a genocidal act, which spread injury trans-generationally. It continues to cause considerable grief, loss and trauma among Aboriginal families thus impacting on Aboriginal health and wellbeing (Healing Foundation, 2016). The 2014-2015 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey

The impact of the Stolen Generations on Australian Indigenous peoples is seen in the sense of isolation and separation that overwhelms the children that were forcibly removed under the policies of the assimilation legislation. The children experienced not only separation from their family but also had their identity taken away, this includes not being able to speak their own language or practice their culture and religion practices.

The British invasion of Australia has unfortunately had multiple negative impacts on all Indigenous Australians, and additionally has created historic legacies that frequently effect the way in which people perceive, and work with Indigenous peoples. One of the historic legacies evident throughout Aileen’s case is the horrific occurrence of the stolen generation. One of the most profound consequences of colonisation, involving the removal of Aboriginal children from their families into missions, reserves or other institutions (Dudgeon, Wright, Paradies, Garvey & Walker, n.d.). This historic legacy can be identified in Aileen’s case, which has potential to impact on the processes taking place, and the decisions being made by the stakeholders.

The Stolen Children had a major impact on Indigenous Australians because thousands of children were taken from their families, abused and the impacts have stayed with them for their whole life. Stolen generation is a period of Australia’s history that ruined the lives of so many Indigenous Australians and created a gap in Aboriginal Culture, where the traditions and knowledge of their heritage is endangered of being forgotten.

During the 1890’s and 1970’s, Indigenous Australians did not have equal rights as the ‘white’ Australians and were treated callously, anguished and tortured due to their race. The Stolen Generation was the event where children, who were of an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, were removed from their families. Many Indigenous children were forcefully removed from their families, never being able to see them again. The treatment towards the Indigenous Australian’s was horrific, as these children were taken away from their community, placed into an institution to be changed into the ‘white’ ways of doing things whilst being treated with brutality in the procedure. To demonstrate to what extent did the Stolen 3 Generation affected the Australian population several key areas of the will be examined. This includes; what was the Stolen Generation, when did the Stolen Generation start and when did it end, what was the cause of the Stolen Generation. how did the Stolen Generation affect the Indigenous Australians and the non – Indigenous Australians and how significant was the event to Australian History. Once these aspects have been observed, it will become clear that the affect of the Stolen Generation to the Australian population was a significant part of the Rights and Freedoms movement which change the way the Indigenous population were recognised in our society.

In conclusion the stolen generation was a traumatizing time for young indigenous children, as being a children were torn from families and forced to live with white people and forget their heritage and culture which lead to the aboriginal culture which would lead to the culture being forgotten. The policy assimilation was introduced by the government, individuals were traumatized by assiliamation. The stolen generation affected the whole indigenous