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1869
The Aborigines Protection Act (Vic) establishes an Aborigines Protection Board in Victoria, giving the Governor the power to order the removal of any child from their family to a reformatory or industrial school. -
1883
The NSW Aborigines Protection Board is established to manage the lives of 9,000 people. -
1897
The Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act (Qld) allows the Chief Protector to remove local Aboriginal people onto and between reserves and hold children in dormitories. The Director of Native Welfare is the legal guardian of all 'aboriginal' children whether their parents are living or not until 1965. -
1905
The Western Australia Aborigines Act is passed. Under this law, the Chief Protector is made the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and ‘half-caste’ child under 16 years old. Reserves are established, a local protector is appointed and rules governing Aboriginal employment are laid down. -
1909
The Aborigines Protection Act (NSW) gives the Aborigines Protection Board power to assume full control and custody of the child of any Aborigine if a court found the child to be neglected under the Neglected Children and Juvenile Offenders Act 1905 (NSW). -
1911
The Aborigines Act (SA) makes the Chief Protector the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and 'half-caste' child. The Chief Protector is replaced by the Aborigines Protection Board in 1939 and guardianship power is repealed in 1962.
The Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance gives the Chief Protector power to assume custody of any Aboriginal or 'half-caste' if it is deemed 'necessary' or 'desirable'. -
1915
The Aborigines Protection Amending Act (NSW) gives power to the Aboriginal Protection Board to separate Indigenous children from their families without the need to establish neglect in court. -
1937
The first Commonwealth/State conference on 'native welfare' adopts assimilation as the national policy. -
1940
The NSW Aborigines Protection Board loses its power to remove Indigenous children. The Board is renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board and is finally abolished in 1969. -
1969
By 1969, all states have repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of 'protection'. In the following years, Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies are set up to contest removal applications and provide alternatives to the removal of Indigenous children from their families. -
1980
The first Link-Up Aboriginal Corporation is established in NSW. It provides family tracing, reunion and support services for forcibly removed children and their families. -
1983
The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle is introduced in the Northern Territory, aiming to ensure that Indigenous children are placed with Indigenous families when adoption or fostering is necessary. -
1994
The 'Going Home Conference' in Darwin brings together over 600 Aboriginal people removed as children to discuss common goals of reparations. -
1995
The Commonwealth Government establishes the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families -
1997
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission presents Bringing Them Home its report on the findings of the 'National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families to the Commonwealth Government.
The parliaments and governments of all states and the ACT issue apologies to the Stolen Generations. -
1998
Heron releases the 'Social Justice Report', which includes a summary of responses from the churches, and non-Indigenous community to the Inquiry's recommendations, and an 'Implementation Progress Report'.
The National Archives of Australia launches its Bringing Them Home indexing project to identify and preserve records about Indigenous people and communities. -
1999
The Federal Parliament passes a Motion of Reconciliation expressing “deep and sincere regret over the removal of Aboriginal children from their parents" but stops short of apologizing.
