The Commission of Inquiry into the Farm Home for Boys, Westbrook, was established by Order in Council 16 May 1961. The Commission was directed to look specifically at the circumstances surrounding the escape of a number of inmates on Sunday 14 May 1961. It also investigated other matters relating to the conduct of the institution…
A public inquiry into the Abuse of Children in Foster Care in Queensland was conducted by the Crime and Misconduct Commission in 2003. The report from the inquiry, Protecting Children: an inquiry into abuse of children in foster care, was published in January 2004.
The Queensland Government introduced the Redress Scheme in May 2007. The scheme provided ex-gratia payments to victims of abuse and neglect as children in Queensland institutions. Applications for a payment under the scheme opened 1 October 2007 and closed 30 September 2008. The scheme was finalised in June 2010. After that date, any claims for…
In August 1998 in Queensland, the Minister for Families, Youth and Community Care established a Commission of Inquiry to examine whether there had been any abuse, mistreatment or neglect of children in Queensland institutions. This Inquiry is widely known as the Forde Inquiry, in reference to the Chairperson, Leneen Forde. In May 1999, the Committee…
The Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services in NSW was established in November 2007, when the Governor commissioned The Hon. James Wood, AO, QC to conduct an inquiry to determine what changes within the child protection system were required to cope with future levels of demand. The Report was handed down in November…
TheInquiry into Health Services for the Psychiatrically Ill and Developmentally Disabled was chaired by David T Richmond in 1983 and its findings are usually referred to as ‘The Richmond Report’. It changed mental health and disability provision in New South Wales, and influenced other services, including out-of-home care for children. Richmond evaluated mental health services,…
On 18 June 1997 then New South Wales Premier, Bob Carr issued an unreserved apology to the Aboriginal people of the state of New South Wales for the policies and practices that led to the removal of generations of Aboriginal children from their families. This was the first response by an Australian state government to…
On Thursday 20 September 2012 both Houses of the New South Wales Parliament apologised for forced adoption practices. The motion read as follows: “This House acknowledges the traumatic effects of the forced adoption practices of the past that have echoed through the lives of tens of thousands of mothers, fathers, people adopted as children and…
An Inquiry into Adoption Practices in NSW was completed by the Social Issues Committee of the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2000. The Committee considered adoption practices from 1950 to 1998. However, the primary emphasis of the Inquiry was on the practices occurring before the introduction of the Adoption Information Act 1990.
On 19 September 2009 then New South Wales Premier, Nathan Rees, held a special ceremony in the Botanic Gardens to formally apologise to the state’s Forgotten Australians and child migrants. Mr Rees and then Community Services Minister Linda Burney unveiled a memorial as ‘a lasting tribute to the children who suffered in care in NSW’….
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