Submissions

Sian Prior, a sixty-year-old white person, acknowledges their privilege and the injustices faced by First Nations people in Australia. They call for truth-telling, a treaty, and self-determination for First Nations communities, suggesting a percentage of land tax to support these initiatives. They emphasise the need to recognise the value of First Nations culture and the contributions of First Nations people to Australian society.

Recordkeeping and Rights of the Child Research Program, is a transdisciplinary research agenda investigating how multiple and lifelong rights in records and recordkeeping can be recognised, respected and enacted in child welfare and protection systems utilising digital and networking technologies.

This submission outlines their support for the recommendations of the Yoorrook for Justice Report (2023) for both urgent reforms (Recommendations 3-26) and comprehensive systems transformation (Recommendations 1-2) across Victoria’s Child Protection System. They believe that a vital part of this is re-imagining and re-designing the data, information and recordkeeping infrastructure that underpins the current system.

Anonymous 1505 recounts the story of Eliza Nowen, taken by sealers in the 1830s, and her descendants’ struggles with intergenerational trauma and denial of their culture. They emphasize the importance of telling Eliza’s story and preserving her legacy through education and resilience.

The Healing Foundation is the national organisation that platforms and elevates the voices and lived experiences of Stolen Generations survivors, their families, and their communities.

This submission provides information about the ongoing issues Stolen Generations Survivors face in relation to records access. It also calls on Yoorrook to investigate and report on work being done to improve access to records, including both public and private collections, for Stolen Generations survivors, descendants, and organisations.

An individual adopted through the Victorian forced closed adoption system of the 1970s discusses discovering how their paternal great-grandmother is part of the Stolen Generation. This discovery has profoundly impacted their ability to connect with their Aboriginal heritage, highlighting intergenerational trauma. They share their story to contribute to the truth-telling process.

Anglicare Victoria outlines in its submission how facilities operated by its founding agencies included many children’s homes that accepted First Nations children who had been forcibly removed from their families and communities and were separated from kin, culture and Country. It acknowledges the extensive nature of forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families across Victoria and Australia. It outlines its historic practices around historical records and its services today in responding to requests for files and records, as well as its work to be culturally safe in its current practices.

This submission reflects on the author’s grandmother, who was forced to live ‘white’ after being sent to Cootamundra, had eight children, and faced family separation. They feel a strong connection to country but have limited cultural knowledge and feel deprived.

Anonymous 1287 believes their Grandma was stolen from her Indigenous mother in 1933, severing their connection to culture and Country. They face challenges uncovering this history due to family reluctance and the impacts of settler colonialism.

This submission comprises three volumes titled The Whole Truth And The Problem With Truth Telling.