No Child Should Grow up Like This: Identifying Long Term Outcomes of Forgotten Australians, Child Migrants and the Stolen Generations
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No Child Should Grow Up Like This: Identifying long term outcomes of Forgotten Australians, Child Migrants and the Stolen Generations Never Stand Still Arts Social Sciences Social Sciences A Research Study on Life Outcomes for Children Growing up in ‘Care’ in the Twentieth Century in Australia Elizabeth Fernandez, Jung-Sook Lee, Hazel Blunden, Patricia McNamara, Szilvia Kovacs, Paul-Auguste Cornefert For further information: Professor Elizabeth Fernandez School of Social Sciences Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences UNSW Australia, Sydney 2052 Australia [email protected] http://www.forgottenaustralians.unsw.edu.au/ © UNSW Australia 2016 ISBN: 978-0-7334-3687-1 Suggested Citation: Fernandez, E., Lee, J.-S.,Blunden, H., McNamara, P., Kovacs, S. and Cornefert, P.-A. (2016). No Child Should Grow Up Like This: Identifying Long Term Outcomes of Forgotten Australians, Child Migrants and the Stolen Generations. Kensington: University of New South Wales. This study was funded by the Australian Research Council. The project administering organisation was The University of New South Wales. ii Acknowledgements On behalf of the research team I would like to extend thanks to the following individuals and organisations for their contribution to this research endeavour: A special tribute is due to the research participants – Forgotten Australians, former Child Migrants and members of the Stolen Generations – who gave generously of their time in sharing their feelings, perceptions and views with researchers to assist in the process of knowledge building, providing valuable insights into their lived experience and compelling evidence to underpin policy and service development and improvements to the child welfare system. We hope this monograph does justice to their aspirations for better outcomes and services for their peers and for children and young people currently in care. The research presented in this report was made possible by funding from the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant. This support is gratefully acknowledged. This work was accomplished in close collaboration with research partners: Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (Andrew McCallum, Wendy Foote); Alliance for Forgotten Australians (Caroline Carroll); Families Australia (Stella Conroy); Berry Street (Julian Pocock, Simon Gardiner); Relationships Australia (Rebecca Gray, Lisa Johns, Yvonne Porter); CatholicCare Diocese of Broken Bay (Stephen Mondy); Micah Projects (Karyn Walsh, Adele Renwick, Lachlan Douglas). We are indebted to our partners for providing funding contributions to complement the ARC Linkage Grant, for their extraordinary leadership and unwavering commitment in supporting this research, reviewing research instruments, facilitating data collection, providing feedback on the drafts of the report and recommendations, and steering this project to its successful completion. Dr Wendy Foote initiated community and academic dialogue in relation to the need for urgent national research in this field, and was instrumental in assembling the community partnership supporting this research. We acknowledge her thought leadership, consultation and collaboration. Members of the Critical Reference Group and research partners have extended their expertise through the different phases of the project providing critical commentary on research instruments, data collection strategies, and drafts of this monograph. As a subcommittee of the Critical Reference Group Dr Tiffany McComsey (Kinchela Boys Home Corporation), Julie Welsh, Dr Paul Gray (AbSec), Uncle Steve Williams (National Stolen Generations Alliance), Professor Clare Tilbury (Griffith University) and Debra Anne Hocking (University of Wollongong) have been integral to the development of the research component focused on the Stolen Generations and Aboriginal care leavers. They have provided valuable guidance and insights in developing culturally appropriate research instruments, advised on data collection and provided critical comment on drafts of the report and its recommendations. Their expertise is gratefully acknowledged. In addition, I thank Wendy Foote, Rebecca Gray, Stella Conroy, Caroline Carroll, Deirdre Cheers, Simon Gardiner, Tiffany McComsey, Paul Gray, David Hill and Joseph McDowall for their studious reading of multiple drafts of this report and providing critical commentary. iii Find and Connect services nationally, as well as Tuart Place in Western Australia, efficiently facilitated the fieldwork by assisting in co-ordinating the researchers’ visits, providing meeting spaces, and providing information about their services. I thank them for their involvement and support. I thank research participants who offered valuable comment on the final draft of the report: Ellen Bucello, Suzanne Mitchell, Mary Dolores Brownlee, Brendan Jones, and Dr Gregory Smith. I would like to acknowledge Chief Investigator Dr Jung-Sook Lee for her support and collaboration in the implementation of the research, for her expert contribution to the analysis and presentation of the quantitative data, and for refining drafts of the report. Special thanks are due to Professor Mark Courtney, University of Chicago and Professor Mike Stein, University of York for their collaboration and their insights on international dimensions of the issues addressed by this research. Thanks are due to the researchers Dr Hazel Blunden, Dr Patricia McNamara, Szilvia Kovacs and Paul-Auguste Cornefert who contributed in different and significant ways to the implementation of this project: Paul-Auguste Cornefert’s significant role in the initial stages of establishing the project and responding to research enquiries was invaluable. Dr Hazel Blunden has been pivotal in conducting interviews and focus groups across the country, assisted by Dr Patricia McNamara, and has worked tirelessly through the different stages of compiling this report. Dr Hazel Blunden, Szilvia Kovacs and Dr Patricia McNamara have analysed a voluminous amount of rich qualitative data to extract key themes and capture the voices of research participants. Thanks are due to Hazel and Szilvia for formatting and producing the manuscript with exceptional care. Paula Jops, Kylie Wong, Grace Johnsen and Maureen Lodsman provided excellent transcription of interviews and focus groups. I thank Andrea Fernandez for critical editing of the full manuscript. Elise Hawthorne’s co-ordination of the media campaign which achieved a high level of care leaver participation, nationally, in this research must be acknowledged. Professor Elizabeth Fernandez PhD School of Social Sciences Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences The University of New South Wales iv Research collaboration Research Team Professor Elizabeth Principal Researcher UNSW Australia Fernandez Dr Jung-Sook Lee Chief Investigator UNSW Australia Professor Mark Courtney Chief Investigator University of Chicago Professor Mike Stein Chief Investigator University of York Dr Hazel Blunden Research Associate UNSW Australia Dr Patricia McNamara Research Associate UNSW Australia Szilvia Kovacs Research Assistant UNSW Australia Paul-Auguste Cornefert Research Assistant UNSW Australia Research Partners Dr Wendy Foote Deputy Chief Executive Officer Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies Inc. Dr Rebecca Gray Senior Manager, Research Relationships Australia and Evaluation Julian Pocock Director Public Policy and Advocacy Berry Street Victoria Caroline Carroll OAM Team Leader, Find and Connect| Alliance for Forgotten Open Place, Support Service for Australians Forgotten Australians Stella Conroy Deputy Chief Executive Officer Families Australia Karyn Walsh Chief Executive Officer Micah Projects Inc. Dr Stephen Mondy Chief Operating Officer CatholicCare Diocese of Broken Bay v Critical Reference Group Maree Walk Deputy Secretary NSW Department of Family and Community Services Deirdre Cheers Chief Executive Officer Barnardos Australia David Hill Former Child Migrant Patron CREATE Foundation of the CREATE Foundation Dr Margaret Humphries Director Child Migrants Trust Derek Moriarty President Old Fairbridgians Association, Molong Lily Arthur Chair Origins NSW Dr Joseph J. McDowall Executive Director (Research) CREATE Foundation Dr Daryl Higgins Deputy Director (Research) Australian Institute of Family Studies Dr Ilan Katz Professor Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Dr Judy Cashmore Professor University of Sydney Dr Paul Delfabbro Professor University of Adelaide Indigenous Critical Reference Group Dr Tiffany McComsey Strategic Development Manager Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation Julie Welsh Policy Officer, El and OOHC AbSec Dr Paul Gray Executive Leader, Strategy, AbSec Policy and Engagement Uncle Steve Williams NSW Aboriginal Delegate National Stolen Generation Alliance Terry Chenery Chief Executive Officer Link-Up NSW Clare Tilbury Professor Griffith University Debra Anne Hocking Lecturer University of Wollongong Nicola Atwool Associate Professor University of Otago vi Contents Preface ............................5 Chapter 2: Methodology..............34 Aims . 34 Foreword ..........................6 Study design .......................34 Executive summary ..................8 Participants.........................35 While in care.........................8 Surveys .........................36 Entry into care .....................8 Interviews and focus groups .........38 The environment ...................8 Interviews........................38 Placements .......................9 Interviews with specialist informants ...39 Contact with