In Western Australia aboriginal children continue to be removed from their families

Translated by Irene Cecchi

Twenty-six years after the Australian federal government's formal apology to the so-called Stolen Generations, Western Australia is once again under scrutiny. According to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the state currently has the highest rate of overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in foster care in all of Australia. The HRW report, published in March 2025, paints a picture of a country seemingly ignoring its past.

In 2003, there were 570 Aboriginal children in foster care in Western Australia, making up 35 percent of the total. Twenty years later, that number has risen to over 3068, now comprising 59 percent. Most of the families interviewed by HRW reported that the primary reason for the removal of their children was not direct abuse, but rather poverty, inadequate housing and domestic violence experienced by the mothers.

The testimonies of Aboriginal women interviewed suggest a punitive approach toward them. The Western Australia Department of Communities, the government agency responsible for both child protection and services for victims of family and domestic violence, as well as public and emergency housing, often acts by removing children instead of supporting mothers to escape violent situations. This behavior has led many women to refrain from reporting their partners or seeking medical help out of fear of losing their children. The department’s policies have been described as blaming the victims, while also being insufficient and inadequate for ensuring stability and recovery.

The current approach in Australia evokes memories of the past policies that led to the Stolen Generations. This term refers to the historical practice, from the early 1900s to the 1970s, of systematically removing tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. The goal was forced assimilation into white society, placing children with European families to erase their Indigenous cultural identity and deny them the ties to their families and communities.

It wasn't until 2008 that then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a formal apology on behalf of the federal government to the families affected. However, the wounds remain open. The children and grandchildren of the Stolen Generations continue to experience high levels of stress due to the disconnection from their families, resulting in intergenerational trauma. The lasting trauma is due not only to abuse suffered in state care but also to the shame instilled in them regarding their cultural identity. Many of these children were told they had been abandoned or that their parents were violent. For those raised in state institutions, life was even harder due to the cold and impersonal environment and staff. With minimal affection and a particularly low level of education, many of these children ended up becoming the manual and domestic laborers the government expected them to be, marginalized from society.

A national inquiry conducted between 1995 and 1997 by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, culminating in the Bringing Them Home report, documented the profound damage caused by these policies. The report aimed to offer recommendations for addressing the failings committed against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Between 1997 and 1999, all Australian parliaments officially apologized to the Stolen Generations and their families. However, more than two decades later, the situation in Western Australia shows that many promises of change remain unfulfilled.

Today, Western Australia has the highest rate of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care compared to any other Australian state or territory. These children are more than 20 times more likely to be removed from their homes than non-Indigenous children. Although both state legislation and policy agree that removals should occur only when they are "in the best interests" of the children, many parents argue that the Department of Communities often takes their children without adequate justification. The consequences of these policies continue to be deeply harmful, as the separation of children from their families still causes immense trauma and fosters growing mistrust of institutions among parents.

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