Report of the Stolen Generations Assessor Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006 February 2008 Department of Premier and Cabinet Table of contents 1. Introduction ...................................................... 2 2. Context of the legislation .......................................3 2.1 Historical Context ...................................................................3 2.2 Child Welfare and Adoption Laws ..............................4 2.3 Education Policy and Procedures .................................5 3. The Act ......................................................................7 3.1 Aboriginal Person .................................................................................7 3.2 Eligible Categories ................................................................................7 3.3 Exclusion .....................................................................................................7 3.4 The Stolen Generations Fund.....................................................7 3.5 Timeframes ...............................................................................................8 3.6 The Stolen Generations Assessor ............................................8 4. The assessment process ..........................................9 5. Overview of applications .......................................11 5.1 Source of Applications .......................................................11 5.2 Category of Applications .................................................11 5.3 Sex of Applicants ...................................................................11 5.4 Age Profile of Category 1 and 2A pplicants .....11 5.5 Age Profile of Category 3A pplicants ....................11 5.6 Family Groupings ...................................................................11 6. Results of applications ...........................................12 6.1 Outcome of Claims .........................................................................12 6.2 Characteristics of Category 1 and 2 Applicants Eligible for Payment ..........................................................................12 6.3 Characteristics of Applicants Ineligible for Payment ...........................................................................................13 7. Key issues .................................................................14 7.1 Conviction of an Offence ............................................................14 7.2 Not Cared for by an Aboriginal Family .............................14 7.3 Adoptions ...............................................................................................14 7.4 Education .................................................................................................14 7.5 Communal Recognition................................................................15 7.6 Involvement of a Tasmanian Government Agency .....15 7.7 Aborigines Removed in Other States/Territories .......15 © Copyright State of Tasmania 2008 7.8 Aboriginality ..........................................................................................15 Office of theS tolen Generations Assessor 8. The Assessor’s reflections .....................................17 Department of Premier and Cabinet Contact: 1300 13 55 13 9. Appreciation ...........................................................19 Published February 2008 10. Appendix Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006 .....................21 ISBN 978 0 7246 5561 1 STOLEN GENERATIONS OF ABORIGINAL CHILDREN ACT 2006 – REPORT OF THE STOLEN GENERATIONS ASSESSOR – February 2008 1 This report provides background to the issue of the stolen 1. Introduction generations in Tasmania and outlines the process for assessing applications and related matters. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the historical context of The Report of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities policies and practices in Tasmania that led to the creation of Commission’s 1997 National Inquiry into the Separation the stolen generations. of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Chapter 3 examines the major provisions of the Stolen Families, Bringing Them Home, contained extensive evidence Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006. of past practices and policies that resulted in the removal of Aboriginal children from their families.1 The report found Chapter 4 is an overview of the assessment process and that between one in 10 and three in 10 Aboriginal and the approach taken in examining applications. Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly removed from Chapter 5 provides an overview of the applications their families between 1910 and 1970. Invariably these received. practices had profound and lasting impacts on those who were removed in this way. Chapter 6 includes statistics and results of applications. One of the principal recommendations of the Bringing Chapter 7 examines some key issues arising out of the Them Home report was that monetary compensation be applications. provided to Aboriginal people affected by forcible removal. Chapter 8 sets out the Assessor’s reflections on the In October 2006, Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon unveiled process. legislation to address this issue. Chapter 9 contains some concluding comments. Tasmania is the first state or territory inA ustralia to do so. A total of 151 claims were received. After assessing The Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Children Act 2006 (the each application, the Assessor determined that 106 Act) was passed unanimously by both Houses of Parliament were eligible to receive an ex-gratia payment. Eighty- in November 2006. The Act made provision for a $5 million four eligible members of the stolen generations each fund to provide payments to eligible members of the stolen received $58,333.33. Twenty-two eligible children generations of Aborigines and their children. of deceased members of the stolen generations received either $5000.00 or $4000.00 each depending on The legislation provided for the appointment of an how many people were within the particular family group. independent assessor, with responsibility to assess the eligibility of applicants. The Hon. Ray Groom accepted the appointment as Stolen Generations Assessor in December 2006. The Act became operational on 15 January 2007. The Office of the Stolen Generations Assessor also became operational on that day. 1 Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission: Bringing Them Home – Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families, Commonwealth of Australia, 1997 2 STOLEN GENERATIONS OF ABORIGINAL CHILDREN ACT 2006 – REPORT OF THE STOLEN GENERATIONS ASSESSOR – February 2008 to control their families, for the Government to take over the management of the younger 2. Context of the members of the Half Caste community at the legislation time of leaving School – with a view to their being distributed among the general population and further instructed during their minority in 2.1 Historical context methods best adapted to their future welfare. That is to me disappointing and it would now The history of the stolen generations in Tasmanian is seem that the best and only course open obviously linked to the policies and practices of past is to treat the community as a whole, and Tasmanian governments toward Tasmanian Aborigines. place the whole business under one uniform management, of a competent director who During most of the period covered by the Act (1935-1975), would devote the whole of his endeavours to successive Tasmanian governments denied the existence ameliorate the condition of these people, by of Tasmanian Aborigines and identified people with some a careful and constant supervision over their Aboriginal ancestry as ‘half castes’. daily life and habits, teaching and giving useful Although there were Aboriginal people living elsewhere in instructions to the young people in general Tasmania, the focus of much of the public policy was on employment and making good citizenship. ‘half-castes’ living on the Furneaux Islands. In that way they, or at any rate a fair proportion In 1881, 1,608 hectares of land was set aside for ‘exclusive’ of them would – I believe – voluntarily withdraw use by Aboriginal descendants on Cape Barren Island. off to other parts of the State…” Residing there was a number of families, which successive It was a view reflected in 1929 by A W Burbury in his government reports would refer to as the “half caste Report on The Condition of Half Castes at Cape Barren Island problem”.2 Reservation. His suggestion was equally clear: 4 The Cape Barren Island Reserve Act 1912 formalised the “Get the children away from the Reservation on strict system of governance established in the Reserve leaving school, teach the boys useful trades, and and invested responsibility for the welfare of ‘half-castes’ in the girls house-work. In this way it is believed that the Minister for Land. His department was responsible for they would mix with and become absorbed by managing and regulating the Reserve. the population elsewhere.” This initial policy of partition and separation later changed Following Burbury’s 1929 report, the Government to one of removal and assimilation. approached the Australian Board of Missions to take This often involved examining methods by which young responsibility for the Island. Their refusal to do so was children on the Island could be separated from their based on the view that the Islanders were not ‘full bloods’ traditional family connections.