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stolen Generation

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  • Allowing of the removal of Aboriginal children

    By 1969, all states have repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of 'protection'. In the following years, Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies are set up to contest removal applications and provide alternatives to the removal of Indigenous children from their families.
  • Period: to

    Stolen Generation

  • Reunion and support services

    The first Link-Up Aboriginal Corporation is established in NSW. It provides family tracing, reunion and support services for forcibly removed children and their families.

  • Adoption or Fostering

    The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle is introduced in the Northern Territory, aiming to ensure that Indigenous children are placed with Indigenous families when adoption or fostering is necessary. This is followed in NSW (1987), Victoria (1989), South Australia (1993), Queensland and the ACT (1999), Tasmania (2000) and Western Australia (2006).

  • 600 Aborigonals removed as children

    The 'Going Home Conference' in Darwin brings together over 600 Aboriginal people removed as children to discuss common goals of reparations.

  • Establishes national seperation of Aboriginals

    The Commonwealth Government establishes the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families.

  • Bringing them home

    The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC) presents 'Bringing Them Home', its report on the findings of the 'National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families to the Commonwealth Government'. The report made 54 recommendations, including a formal government apology, monetary compensation and other reparations to members of the Stolen Generations.

  • Bringing them home

    The parliaments and governments of all states and the ACT issue apologies to the Stolen Generations.
    The Australian Government unveils its response to the Bringing Them Home' report, featuring a $63 million practical assistance package but rejects the recommendations for an apology or compensation scheme.

  • Passes a Motion of Reconciliation

    The Federal Parliament passes a Motion of Reconciliation expressing “deep and sincere regret over the removal of Aboriginal children from their parents" but stops short of apologising.

  • Sorry

    Over 250,000 people participate in the Corroboree 2000 “Sorry" Walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge on 28 May. Similar walks are held in the other State and Territory capitals. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expresses concern about the Australian Government's decision not to make a national apology or consider monetary compensation and criticises its inadequate response to recommendations from Bringing Them Home.

  • Bring them home

    An inquiry into the Federal Government's implementation of the 'Bringing Them Home' recommendations is undertaken by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee. It results in the 'Healing: A Legacy of Generations Report'.

  • Apology

    The Northern Territory Government presents a parliamentary motion of apology to people who were removed from their families. Pope John Paul II issues a formal apology on behalf of the Vatican to the affected Aboriginal families for the actions of Catholic authorities or organisations in connection with the Stolen Generations. HREOC and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) host the Moving Forward conference which explores ways of providing reparations to the Stolen Generations.

  • 'Implementation Progress Report'.

    HREOC releases the 'Social Justice Report', which includes a summary of responses from the churches, and non-Indigenous community to the Inquiry's recommendations, and an 'Implementation Progress Report'.
    The National Archives of Australia launches its Bringing Them Home indexing project to identify and preserve records about Indigenous people and communities.
    The National Sorry Day Committee is formed to organise an annual National Sorry Day on 26 May to commemorate the history of forcible rem

  • Restoring Identity

    PIAC releases its report on the Moving Forward conference, titled 'Restoring Identity'. The report presents a proposal for a reparations tribunal. As part of the Victorian Government's response to the Bringing Them Home, Victoria establishes a Stolen Generations taskforce. The NSW Victims Compensation Tribunal awards compensation to Stolen Generations member Valerie Linow for sexual abuse suffered while in State care. Linow becomes the first member of the Stolen Generations to be awarded compe

  • Independent evaluation of responses to the Bringing Them

    The Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (MCATSIA) commissions and releases an independent evaluation of responses to the Bringing Them Home Report. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner publicly criticises the failure of governments to apologise and provide financial and social reparations to the Stolen Generation.

  • A memorial to the Stolen Generations

    The Commonwealth Government establishes a memorial to the Stolen Generations at Reconciliation Place in Canberra. 461 “Sorry Books", recording the reflections of Australians on the Stolen Generations, are entered on the Australian Memory of the World Register as part of UNESCO's program to preserve and promote material with significant historical value.

  • National Day of Healing for All Australians

    The National Sorry Day Committee announces that Sorry Day will become a “National Day of Healing for All Australians". The first official Sorry Day ceremony outside Australia is hosted in Lincoln Fields, London, on 25 May.