ABSTRACT
In May 1995 the Labor government directed the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission to investigate the past and present separation of Aboriginal children from their parents and communities, the need for any changes in current laws and practices, and principles relating to compensation. The President of the Commission, Sir Ronald Wilson, presented the report ‘Bringing Them Home’ to the Coalition government in April 1997. It may be argued that the various Aborigines protection and welfare authorities acted under a general express or implicit directive to assimilate Aborigines. Such a defence might not absolve the states themselves from responsibility for enacting such a policy. As well as international considerations and rulings, there is also much legal and bureaucratic Australian evidence on the long-term effects of removing Aboriginal children. In considering what reparation is necessary and appropriate, the authors need to consider the effects of child removal on individuals, Aboriginal communities, and the Aboriginal Nation as a whole.
