Stolen Generations

The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals occurred in the period between approximately 1905 and 1969, although in some places children were still being taken until the 1970s. Documentary evidence, such as newspaper articles and reports to parliamentary committees, suggest a range of rationales. Motivations evident include child protection, beliefs that given their catastrophic population decline after white contact that Aboriginal people would die out, and a fear of miscegenation by full-blooded Aboriginal people.

Some historians dispute that substantial numbers of Aboriginal children were ever forcibly taken from their families, and that those that were, were mainly to protect the children from abuse.

Emergence of the child removal policy