Victorian Government Apology
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan led an apology to all Victorians who experienced abuse and neglect as children in institutional care. In her official apology delivered in Victorian Parliament, Premier Jacinta Allan said, "Today we acknowledge a shameful chapter in our history, and the experience of a group of Victorians who have fought for a long time to be heard."
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.
Victorian Redress Campaign
Through the latter half of 2022 a social media, media and in-person campaign led by CLAN (Care Leavers Australasia Network) resulted in the Victorian Government announcing a new redress scheme for people who grew up in out-of-home care with the precise scope and terms of the scheme to be co-designed with survivors. It came after similar Victorian schemes were introduced in relations to the Stolen Generations and Forced Adoptions.
Cummins Report (Vic.)
The report of the Protecting Victoria's Vulnerable Children Inquiry by the Victorian Government - known as the Cummins Report after its Chair Philip Cummins - provided a comprehensive overview of the contemporary Child Protection and out-of-home care sectors. It made a range of recommendations that led to the development of new services.
Open Place (Vic)
Open Place is a support and advocacy service for survivors of institutional placements in Victoria. It was established and funded by the Victorian Government as one of its commitments after its formal apology to Victorian Forgotten Australians in 2006. Initially funding was provided to the community sector organisation Berry Street to manage Open Place. In July 2020 Relationships Australia Victoria became the provider of Open Place.
National Apology to Forgotten Australians and Child Migrants
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a national apology to Forgotten Australians and Child Migrants in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra. "We come together today to deal with an ugly chapter in our nation’s history … To say to you, the Forgotten Australians, and those who were sent to our shores as children without your consent, that we are sorry." Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 2009.