The Stolen Generation Research Paper

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.

The taking of half-caste Indigenous children was implemented into Australian law in the late 19th century, and continued as late in to the mid 1960's. Many politicians and everyday Australians agreed that it was helpful for the indigenous so that they were not 'disadvantaged'; “The greatest thing we have achieved” (Former PM William Hughes

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 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” was caused by the Assimilation policy. Children under fourteen years old were taken away from their parents and placed in “training homes” such as the “Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls”. It was easy for the governments to defend their decision to remove Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children due to the destitute conditions of the reserves. In 1939 the “Exemption Certificate” was introduced.

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 Stolen Generation refers to the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families and assimilated into European communities between 1880 and 1970. These children were made to adopt white culture in attempt to allow aboriginal people to “die out”, through forced rejection of their heritage and banning the use of their own language. Children faced physical, psychological and sexual abuse, sexual and labour exploitation, racism, grief, and suffering. Between 1 in 10 and 3 in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were taken by government, church, or welfare authorities and placed into institutional or foster care with non-Indigenous families.

These children were put into the white homes and were prompted to adopt on the white ways. Parents had neither say nor rights in regards in keeping their child. This law stood from the 1900 to 1969 and in some cases until the 70’s. The aim for this law was to get rid of the Indigenous Australians leaving only the British settlement. On February 13th 2008 our former prime minster Kevin Rudd had apologised for the stolen generation.

Contentious debate continues to rage in present society opening a floodgate of ethical issues which can have detrimental effects on all parties involved. Ethics vary from each individual and tend to stem from their own belief systems external to that person (Dosen, Harris, Brock, Imariso and Smith 2007:336). These ethics give rise to conflicting arguments in present society. 50 years ago, Indigenous Australians were not entitled to enter a bar, cafe, swimming pool, or a cinema, if that deprivation of basic rights wasn’t enough; they then took children from their mothers later on known as the ‘stolen generation’ (www.creativespirits.2008). The stolen generation, estimated at over 100,000 children were taken from their homes and placed in missions, reserves or dormitories (www.creativespirits.2008). “I feel our childhood has been taken away from us and it has left a big hole in our lives” an Indigenous Australian part of the stolen generation (www.creativespirtis.2008). The loss of ones culture and identity was deemed worse then being poor and living in sub standard living with their families.

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.

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 Aboriginal Australians. In 1869 the aborigine’s protection act established the Aborigines protection board in Victoria, to manage the interests of the Aboriginal peoples. This then allows the governor to order the removal of Aboriginal children from their families, culture and tribes to a reformatory or industrial school to be housed in dormitories. Legislation was passed later in other colonies; NSW in 1883, QLD in 1897, WA in 1905, SA in 1911. The stolen generation was known to officially start in 1910 this is most likely as this is when approximately the last piece of legislation passed to make the stolen generation an official movement. The official end date of the stolen generation was 1970. But the stolen generation was still occurring

These children who were forcibly removed became known as The Stolen Generation. Children were the centred focus of the policy as it was believed that they were able to adapt more into their white society rather than adults. To Europeans, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were classified as flora and fauna of Australia, they were viewed as disadvantaged and a threat to their society. They believed that the Indigenous people would receive a better education and learn proper behaviour if they were to be brought up in their kind of lifestyle. The main reason of the removal of these children were to ‘breed out’ their race and prevent the passing on of culture and language (NSDC 2015).

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

The Stolen Generation was between the times of 1910-1970. An estimate of 6,200 children in New South wales were forcefully removed from their homes and many more, due to the government policies at the time. The policy of Assimilation, it was the black inferiority and white was more superior. This removable was to teach the children the “white” way of living, teaching the western way of living, making them neglect their culture languages and making them hate their own background. Half of the children would either be adopted or put into an institution, where they would be abused. This is dark past of Australians’