Forced adoption in Australia was the practice of taking babies from unmarried mothers, against their will, and placing them for
adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
. In 2012 the
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
Inquiry Report into Forced Adoption Practices found that babies were taken illegally by doctors, nurses, social workers and religious figures, sometimes with the assistance of adoption agencies or other authorities, and adopted to married couples. Some mothers were coerced, drugged and illegally had their consent taken.
Many of these adoptions occurred after the mothers were sent away by their families 'due to the stigma associated with being pregnant and unmarried'. The removals occurred predominantly in the second half of the twentieth century. According to Sydney Morning Herald journalist, Marissa Calligeros, it was a practice which has been described as 'institutionalised baby farming'. In evidence given to the New South Wales Parliamentary Inquiry into Adoption, Centrecare's (Catholic Adoption Agency Sydney) Chief Social Researcher was quoted as admitting to "a stolen white generation."
In response to the Senate Inquiry, on 21 March 2013
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...
, the
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
offered a national apology to those affected by forced adoptions;
and outlined a range of other government responses.
Adoption practices in twentieth century Australia
Modern adoption is a peculiarly twentieth century phenomenon, with most adoptions taking place between the 1950s and the 1980s. For much of this period, adoption had two key features: the application of 'clean break theory', and the framework of 'closed adoption'. Clean break theory involved the removal of a baby from the mother immediately after birth, often with no contact taking place between parent and child, followed by permanent placement of the baby with an adopting family usually within a period of several weeks. Closed adoption involved the sealing of the record of adoption. Records were thus closed, so that the parties to the adoption remained permanently unaware of the identity of others.
There are no precise estimates of the number of adoptions that took place in Australia, with estimates of around 250,000 being feasible. An unknown proportion of these adoptions involved the placement of the babies of single mothers.
[
Because of the stigma attached to being born out of wedlock, and the absence of any financial support for single mothers, there was a widespread view at the time that adopting out the babies of unmarried mothers was in the 'best interests of the child'.
]
Apologies
On 19 October 2010, Parliament of Western Australia
The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...
became the first parliament in Australia to apologise for forced adoption policies of babies born to unwed mothers. "I now apologise to the mothers, their children and families who were adversely affected by these adoption practices," Colin Barnett
Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...
said. On 18 July 2012, the Parliament of South Australia
The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...
formally apologised for forced adoption. "Our apology will recognise that those practices directly affected many of those parents whose children were adopted by force and many of those people who were separated from their parents as children," said Premier Jay Weatherill
Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian politician who was the 45th Premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill represented the House of Assembly seat of Cheltenham as a member of ...
. "This apology is long overdue but we hope it will be a significant moment for those affected."
It is estimated more than 17,000 children were adopted out before 1980 and some of these involved forced adoption practices. The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...
endorsed a formal apology, delivered by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher
Katherine Ruth Gallagher (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Gover ...
, on 14 August 2012. On 20 September 2012, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell
Barry Robert O'Farrell (born 24 May 1959) is a former Australian politician who has been Australia's High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan since May 2020. O'Farrell was the 43rd Premier of New South Wales and Minis ...
delivered an apology on behalf of the Parliament of New South Wales
The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...
to the parents and children who were affected by past forced adoption policies. This apology was passed as a resolution of both chambers of the parliament. On 25 October 2012, the Parliament of Victoria
The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...
apologised for forced adoption practices. The apologies were delivered by Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu
Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of ...
and opposition leader Daniel Andrews
Daniel Michael Andrews (born 6 July 1972) is an Australian politician serving as the 48th and current premier of Victoria since December 2014. He has been the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since December ...
. "We express our sincere sorrow," the Premier told parliament. "These were misguided, unwarranted and they caused immeasurable pain. Today Victoria parliament is standing up and saying sorry." On 6 August 2012, the Parliament of Tasmania
The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the Governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly (the lower house), and T ...
announced that it would present a formal apology over forced adoption policies. and on 23 August 2012, the Queensland government announced that it would also deliver an apology through the Parliament of Queensland
The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the Monarch of Australia and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral s ...
, this leaving the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
as the only jurisdiction not to apologise, or announce a forthcoming apology on the matter.
On 21 March 2013, Julia Gillard apologised on behalf of the Australian Government.[ The ]National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...
was commissioned to develop a website and exhibition to increase understanding of forced adoption practices in Australia, as recommended in the Senate report.[
]
See also
* Adoption in Australia
Adoption in Australia deals with the adoption process in the various parts of Australia, whereby a person assumes or acquires the permanent, legal status of parenthood in relation to a child under the age of 18 in place of the child's birth or b ...
* Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...
References
{{Adopt
Stolen Generations
Adoption history