Barriers to family contact 1788-1968
During the 1800s, laws did not specifically restrict family contact. However, the Aboriginal child removal policies of this era were centred around protection and then assimilation, which sought to remove all elements of Aboriginal culture from a child.
The NSW government’s submission to the inquiry which resulted in the Bringing Them Home Report (1997) notes that in 1814, the early ‘native institution’ for Aboriginal children would hold an annual feast to reunite parents with their children (). Parry notes that records from the State Children’s Relief Department in 1882 indicate that, while parents were supposed to have contact with their children once a quarter, this rarely occurred as it was believed best to cut the relationship between parent and child ().
Later laws, such as the Aborigines Act 1909 (NSW), also allowed for the removal of children to remote locations, such as in an institution or apprenticeship, which made contact with families very difficult (). The Aborigines Protection Board (APB) and the child’s employers were able to refuse contact with the family ().
The Child Welfare Act 1939 (NSW) () and the Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act 1940 (NSW) () made it an offence for families to try and contact their children in the APB’s institutions. Children were often kept in the institutions and discouraged from contacting their families, with letters being thrown away by institution staff. As a result of this, only a portion of children removed from their families ever returned to live with their communities, other Aboriginal people or their families ().
The removal of children has been shown to result in significant emotional trauma. The denial of family contact and denial of contact with kin and culture increases this trauma dramatically. Menzies touches on this in her article, examining the intergenerational trauma which resulted from forced removals, segregation and the constant rejection of any connection to family and Aboriginal culture ().