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| Bring Them Home Report | |
|---|---|
| Title | Bring Them Home Report |
| Date | 1997 |
| Commission | Human Rights Commission (Australia) |
| Authors | National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Stolen Generations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples |
Bring Them Home Report
The report, published in 1997 by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, presented a national inquiry into the historical removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children across the Commonwealth of Australia, assessing actions by colonial administrations, state parliaments such as those of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania, and institutions including missions, churches like the Anglican Church of Australia and Catholic Church in Australia, and welfare agencies associated with the Australian Government. It combined legal analysis, oral testimony, and comparative study referencing international instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and precedents from commissions like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and inquiries such as the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
The inquiry was established under the auspices of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission following advocacy by organisations including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), National Aboriginal Congress, New South Wales Department of Family and Community Services, and activists connected with figures such as Mick Dodson, Linda Burney, Eddie Mabo supporters, and legal advocates from institutions like the Australian Law Reform Commission and the High Court of Australia. Public campaigning by groups linked to events at sites such as Redfern and reports in media outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and ABC influenced federal ministers from administrations led by Paul Keating, John Howard, and later Kevin Rudd.
The inquiry collected testimony from thousands of claimants relying on methodological frameworks drawn from comparative commissions like the Commission for Aboriginal Peoples (Canada) and academic centers including the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), universities such as the Australian National University, University of Sydney, and Monash University. It used statutory powers under commissions legislation, subpoena powers similar to inquiries like the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and cross-referenced archival materials from repositories such as the National Archives of Australia, state archives, church archives, and records of institutions like the Aboriginal Protection Boards and Chief Protector offices. The methodology combined qualitative oral history with quantitative analysis informed by demographers and historians associated with projects at the University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland.
The report concluded that systematic policies of removal amounted to a breach of rights and, in many cases, genocide under definitions influenced by the UN Genocide Convention debates, citing patterns comparable to removals in contexts studied by scholars of South Africa and settler colonial analyses of Canada and New Zealand. It documented emotional, cultural, and socio-economic harms to communities including those from Gamilaraay, Yolngu, Noongar, Arrernte, and Torres Strait Islanders populations, and it recommended measures including apologies, reparations, financial compensation schemes akin to settlements seen in cases like Mabo v Queensland (No 2), establishment of healing services paralleling models from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa), comprehensive records searches like those undertaken by Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council initiatives, and incorporation of teachings into curricula at institutions such as the Australian National University and state education systems.
Initial responses varied: some state premiers and federal ministers offered expressions of regret while others contested legal characterisations, producing debates in forums including the Australian Parliament and coverage by media outlets like SBS (Special Broadcasting Service), The Australian, and The Guardian. Apologies were later formalised by leaders such as Kevin Rudd in 2008 and echoed by state leaders including premiers of South Australia and Victoria, while legal challenges and political resistance involved figures and parties such as Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party of Australia and prompted activism from community organisations like Reconciliation Australia and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.
Implementation included state and federal initiatives establishing reparative mechanisms, funding for cultural programs via bodies like Department of Indigenous Affairs successors, records retrieval programs at the National Archives of Australia, and community healing projects modeled on international practices from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Canada) and South Africa processes. The report influenced cultural works by artists and writers associated with institutions like National Gallery of Australia exhibitions and authors who had been active in debates following cases such as Mabo v Queensland (No 2), contributing to scholarship at universities including University of Technology Sydney and Griffith University and public memorials in places like Canberra and Redfern.
Legally, the inquiry informed discussions in the High Court of Australia and state courts concerning compensation claims and administrative law, intersecting with legislation such as native title reforms following Mabo v Queensland (No 2) and subsequent policy instruments developed under ministers like Malcolm Fraser's successors. Policy outcomes included frameworks for compensation schemes, amendments to archive access laws, and integration into national policy programs administered by agencies like National Indigenous Australians Agency and advisory bodies such as Reconciliation Australia, shaping ongoing debates in parliaments, courts, and institutions including the Australian Human Rights Commission and catalysing comparative inquiries in other countries confronting colonial-era child removal policies.
Category:Indigenous Australian history