WA Memorial
Located on James Street, Perth, in the grassed area in front of the WA Museum.
This memorial is jointly funded by the Western Australian and Commonwealth Governments and is dedicated to all Western Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children.
This memorial brings the “Forgotten Australians” out of the shadows and into the light. Their most enduring legacy will be that the people now and in the future will know their stories and build upon them a platform for better care.
There is a strong thread that links the way a child is raised with the person they become in adulthood. This memorial stands as a reminder of that thread to all who create policies that affect children.
The Native Union (WA)
The Native Union was formed by Aboriginal activists in WA. Its aim was “to secure equality for Aborigines in all spheres of West Australian cultural and social life”, through the establishment of cultural centres with educational facilities in metropolitan and country areas (State Library WA).
Key people: William Harris.
Further Reading: "Early Aboriginal Civil Resistance in WA", Overland, 2018.
Deputation to WA Premier
A group of Aboriginal men met with the WA Premier to advocate for repeal of the Aborigines Act 1905.
Key Organisations: The Native Union.
Key People: William Harris, Edward Harris, Norman Cleaver Harris, Algernon Kickett, Edward Jacobs, Wilfred Morrison, William Bodney.
Links: Western Mail, 15 March, 1928
The Leaving of Liverpool
A TV mini-series broadcast over three evenings on the ABC in Australia, and the BBC in the UK. It tells the story of children forced to migrate from the UK to Australia in the 1950s, and their experiences in institutional Care. It was a very popular show that helped entrench the experiences of child migrants into the popular consciousness.
Key people: John Alsop* - writer. Sue Smith* - writer
Bringing Them Home Report
A critically important text that paved the way for recognition of the Stolen Generations - the thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children removed from their families over generations of Colonisation in Australia. Written by the Australian Human Rights Commission as the Final Report of the “National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families”, which was the culmination of many years of advocacy by Aboriginal and Islander activists and survivors.
Key Organisations: Australian Human Rights Commission
Who Am I?
A nationwide research project that focussed on recordkeeping and archiving practices for people who experienced Out-of-Home Care as children. It developed the web resource known as pathways, which eventually became Find & Connect. Key people and organisations: Cathy Humphreys, University of Melbourne; Gavin McCarthy, University of Melbourne; Shurlee Swain, Australian Catholic University; Leonie Sheedy, CLAN
https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/vic/biogs/E000123b.htm