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National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Children from their Families Print E-mail
Asia & Australasia - Australia
 
 
NAME OF MECHANISM

National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families (Alternative Process).

Carried out by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission.
http://www.humanrights.gov.au/

 
YEARS OF OPERATION
1996-1997
 
MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: The Commission, which is a permanent governmental human rights monitoring body, undertook the special inquiry into the separation of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, between 1910 and 1975.

Structure: Took evidence in public and private sittings from Indigenous people, government and church representatives, former mission staff, foster and adoptive parents, doctors and health professionals, academics, police and others. Written statements were also accepted.

Results: A total of 777 people and organisations provided evidence or a submission; 535 were Indigenous people who gave evidence or submissions about their experiences of forcible removal.
 
FINAL REPORT

Bringing Them Home:  Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. (Mary 1997)
[Click here for the report]

Report contained 54 recommendations, which can be grouped (a) acknowledgements and apology, (b) guarantees against repetition, (c) restitution, (d) rehabilitation, and (e) monetary compensation.

Report led to the establishment of an annual “Sorry Day” and “Sorry Books” were made available to public for signature.

Information about the National Inquiry available at
http://www.humanrights.gov.au/bth/

LATEST UPDATE		 
COUNTRY LOCATION
MECHANISM
STATUS

COMPLETE
 


January 2008: In November 2007, Australia's new government, headed by Kevin Rudd, announced that it would be issuing a formal apology to Aborigines, early in the Labour Party's first term, for the abuses that they suffered in the past. Outgoing Prime Minister John Howard had repeatedly refused to issue such an apology, arguing that the current generation should not answer for the mistakes of past generations.

In September 2007, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, together with the Indigenous Law Centre in the University of New South Wales, hosted a one-day conference entitled "Ten Years On: Bringing Them Home and the Forced Removal of Children". The proceedings will be published in a book by Prof. Chris Cunneen and Megan Davis.