An Aboriginal commissioner has warned that Australia risks another Stolen Generation if the current “devastating rates” of Aboriginal children being removed from their families continue.
If current trends continue, the report found that “the number of Aboriginal children living in out-of-home care will increase by a further 50 percent over the next decade.”
An inquiry led by Lawrie has already heard from almost 1,000 people, including Aboriginal children, families, and elders, as well as people working in child protection and family support services.
According to a preliminary report released on Tuesday, many children shared feelings of “disbelief, sadness, and anger” at finding out, sometimes years later, that they were taken away from their homes when “there was one or more members of their family or community who could have brought them up.”
“One out of every two Aboriginal children [in South Australia] were subject to at least one child protection notification in 2020-21, while for non-Aboriginal children, these rates decreased to just one in every 12 children,” the report found.
The Stolen Generation refers to a period in Australian history where Aboriginal children were removed from their families at “systemic” levels, according to the commissioner’s preliminary report. It is estimated that between 10 and 33 percent of Aboriginal children were taken from their families in this way between 1910 and 1970.
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