Lost Innocents Report
The Australian Senate Community Affairs Committee released its report relating to child migration schemes to Australia in the twentieth century, through which children from Britain and Malta were transported without their or their families' consent to Australian institutions.
Instigated by Australian Senator Andrew Murray, himself a former child migrant forcibly removed from Britain to Zimbabwe, in response to "a number of calls from different groups and individuals for an independent national inquiry into child migration to Australia" (section 1.12, Lost Innocents Report). In particular the International Association of Former CHild Migrants and their Families had advocated effectively for the inquiry (Section 1.12).
Forgotten Australians Report
Following years of advocacy, research and testimony, the Australian Senate Community Affairs References Committee published ‘Forgotten Australians: A report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children’. It contains 39 recommendations based on a comprehensive outline of the historical and ongoing experiences of ‘upwards of… 500,000’ people (page xv), hundreds of whom provided direct personal testimony to the Committee.
Forde Inquiry (Qld)
The "Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions," known as the Forde Inquiry after its Chairperson, Leneen Forde, contained a wide-ranging description of "repeated physical, emotional and sexual abuse" of children in the care of the state over many generations, and a "failure to provide for the basic human needs of children" in institutions, including "limited education, little instruction in life skills and an emotional coldness that had a profound effect on their later lives." (page xii-xiii). It found that “unsafe, improper or unlawful” practices, in “breach… of relevant statutory obligations” occurred in Queensland institutions (p.iii).
Moseley Royal Commission (WA)
The Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Investigate, Report, and Advise Upon Matters in Relation to the Condition and Treatment of Aborigines is commonly known as the Moseley Royal Commission after its Chair, Dr H.D. Mosely. In 1934, the Native Union and allies presented a range of issues, including forced removal of children, to the British Commonwealth League Conference in London. This triggered criticism in Britain about WA's treatment of Aboriginal people, which played a role in instigating the Mosely report. While Moseley noted the cruelty of forcible removal, he ultimately rejected calls for change. (See Anna Haebich, “Forgetting Indigenous Histories: Cases from the Histories of Australia’s Stolen Generations”, Journal of Social History, 2011, Vol.44, No.4, p. 1038.)
Mullighan Inquiry (SA)
The Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of Sexual Abuse and Death from Criminal Misconduct—better known as the Mullighan Inquiry after its Chief Commissioner, Ted Mullighan—was presented to the South Australian Government in March 2008 after four years of hearings.
Usher Report (NSW)
The New South Wales Minster for Health and Community Services appointed Fr John Usher, Catholic Priest and Director of Centacare Sydney, to lead a formal review of “Substitute Care Services” in that state. SNYPIC (NSW State Network of Young People in Care), one of the first advocacy organisations for the interests of young people in care, was established as a recommendation of this report.
NSW Inquiry into Adoption Practices
Known as the “Releasing the Past” report, the NSW Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Issues led an inquiry into adoption practices in between 1950 and 1998. It focussed on the experiences of children who were adopted and, significantly, on the experiences of mothers who lost children.
National Forced Adoption Inquiry
The Australian Senate’s Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into “Commonwealth Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices,” followed earlier reports such as the New South Wales Report into Adoption Practices (2000), which had highlighted and documented the terminology of ‘forced adoption’.
NT Youth Detention Royal Commission
The Royal Commission and Board of Inquiry in the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory (NT), triggered by revelations of intense mistreatment at the Don Dale Youth Justice facility in Darwin, examined conditions for incarcerated children in the NT. It found that that youth detention centres in the NT were not fit for accommodating children. Chapter 35 covers what it describes as “the crossover of care and detention”, and included a range of recommendations aimed at addressing the connection between out-of-home care and the criminal justice system.
Victorian Forced Adoption Inquiry
The Victorian Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee prepared and presented a report on their “Inquiry into responses to historical forced adoptions in Victoria”. It made 56 recommendations related to acknowledgement of harms, redress, records and legislative reform.