The children of the Aboriginal culture were denied contact with their communities and families in order to 'erase' tradition Aboriginal custom. This was due to the government’s long term strategy to change Australian Society. The continuation of the process of getting ‘rid’ of Aboriginal heritage was so that the society could one day be one of non-indigenous people.
Despite this, in 1995 the Commonwealth Attorney General established a National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families, to be conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). The Inquiry report, ‘Bringing Them Home’, was tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament on 26 May 1997.
Former High Court Judge, Sir Ronald Wilson, chaired the HREOC Inquiry. After ‘Bringing Them Home’ was released, he told an audience in Canberra that:
"Children were removed because the Aboriginal race was seen as an embarrassment to white Australia. The aim was to strip the children of their Aboriginality, and accustom them to live in a white Australia. The tragedy was compounded when the children, as they grew up, encountered the racism which shaped the policy, and found themselves rejected by the very society for which they were being prepared…”
The Inquiry found that between one in three and one in ten Indigenous children were removed from their families under past government policies.
The Inquiry was not acknowledged until the 26th of May 1998, this day is now known nation-wide as National Sorry Day.
Despite this, in 1995 the Commonwealth Attorney General established a National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families, to be conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). The Inquiry report, ‘Bringing Them Home’, was tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament on 26 May 1997.
Former High Court Judge, Sir Ronald Wilson, chaired the HREOC Inquiry. After ‘Bringing Them Home’ was released, he told an audience in Canberra that:
"Children were removed because the Aboriginal race was seen as an embarrassment to white Australia. The aim was to strip the children of their Aboriginality, and accustom them to live in a white Australia. The tragedy was compounded when the children, as they grew up, encountered the racism which shaped the policy, and found themselves rejected by the very society for which they were being prepared…”
The Inquiry found that between one in three and one in ten Indigenous children were removed from their families under past government policies.
The Inquiry was not acknowledged until the 26th of May 1998, this day is now known nation-wide as National Sorry Day.