AAPA (NSW)
The Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) is recognised as Australia’s first formal politically organised united Aboriginal activist group, although it built on earlier Aboriginal activism and protest movements. It had 13 branches and more than 600 members across New South Wales. It campaigned for land rights, citizenship, self-determination, and an end to the practice of removing Aboriginal children from their families.
SNAICC
In 1981, the first ever SNAICC Conference was held, at which a "Statement of Purpose" was formulated. Since then, through the provision of advice and activism, SNAICC has helped guide the development of policies and programs by government and non-government sector, for the achievement of better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Link-Up NSW
Link-Up NSW was the first of many Link-Up services established by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who had been directly affected by past policies and practices of child removal. They focus particularly on family tracing and helping families to reunite. Link-Up organisations and programs have subsequently been established in each State and Territory around Australia, except the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. Coral Edwards and Peter Read were instrumental in Link-Up’s establishment.
Reference: Peter Read, 2020, “‘Like being born all over again’: the establishment of Link Up”, in A Rape of the Soul so Profound: The Return of the Stolen Generation, Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon.
Neerkol Action Support Group (Qld)
The Neerkol Action Support Group began meeting in mid-1997. Survivors of the St Joseph’s Home, Neerkol (near Rockhampton), approached the Sisters of Mercy seeking an apology and access to counselling and other support services for the abuse and neglect they experienced as children in the institution. The group, though small, was instrumental in instigating the broader political movement towards the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions (1999), commonly known as the Forde Inquiry. The group’s approaches were also influential in subsequent models of recognition and redress used across Australia.
Primary documents relating to the Neerkol Action Support Group are held at the CLAN Orphanage Museum.
CLAN
The Care Leavers' Australasia Network (CLAN) was founded in July 2000, to be a membership organisation for people who grew up in out-of-home care. It has led many campaigns and protests aimed at achieving justice for its members, and holds an enormous repository of documents relating to out-of-home care at its museum based in Geelong, Victoria.
Tuart Place (WA)
Tuart Place traces its history to 2007 with the establishment of Forgotten Australians Coming Together (FACT) in Perth. Led by a group of Care Leavers, FACT was intended to provide a ‘drop-in centre’ for people who had experienced out-of-home care as children. In 2012 FACT became the governing body for the newly formed Tuart Place, based on services designed by Care Leavers and specialists. Former Bindoon Orphanage resident Laurie Humphreys was instrumental in its establishment.
SNYPIC
The New South Wales (NSW) State Network of Young People in Care, known as SNYPIC, was auspiced by the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (ACWA) and funded modestly by government, following a recommendation of the 1992 "Review of Substitute Care Services in NSW" (Usher Report). It was the first of several state and territory-based networks that would soon form into the Australian Association of Children and Young People in Care (AAYPIC), and eventually in 1999 into the CREATE Foundation.
CREATE Foundation
The CREATE Foundation was established in March 1999 following a meeting in Brisbane of the Australian Association of Young People in Care (AAYPIC). It is a leading participatory organisation for young people in out-of-home care, providing platforms and opportunities for advocacy and activism.
AAYPIC
The Australian Association of Children and Young People in Care (AAYPIC) was established to give people a say in the out-of-home care systems that they were part of. It was initially made up of a number of different state and territory groups from around Australia, and in March 1999 these AAYPIC networks formed a single organisation called CREATE.
Voice of a Survivor
The Voice of a Survivor is a private company that helps victims of institutional abuse to find justice. It does this primarily through legal support, but also through social and political activism. It was founded in 2017 by Russell Manser, a survivor of institutional abuse. The Voice of a Survivor was featured in a report on the 7.30 program on ABC TV in February 2023.