Child Migrants

Trafficking:
"The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation."
The Palermo Protocol to the UN Convention Against Transnational Crime, 2000.

Senator Murray was the force behind establishing the Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Child Migration. He was also a committee member. As a nearly invisible part of our history, the story of shipping children to Australia from the United Kingdom and Malta needed to be told. In so doing, it exposes the role the British, Australian and State Governments played, as well as that of the receiving agencies entrusted with the day-to-day care of these children, such as the Christian Brothers, the Sisters of Mercy, Fairbridge and Barnardos.

The 2001 Report of this Inquiry - Lost Innocents: Righting the Record - now stands as an historical and social record not only of a tragic and shameful episode of Australia's history but also of its enduring consequences. It chronicles evil, catalogues pain and suffering, and charts ruined lives. It also touches on the mystery and beauty of the human spirit.

The Inquiry itself received over 250 written submissions and the Committee took evidence in most major capital cities in Australia. Being an international issue too, Prime Minister John Howard granted the Committee delegation status to travel to England and Canada.

Although some former child migrants have positive memories of their time in institutional care, most can only recall childhoods of loneliness and great hardship. There was a complete disregard for their emotional and physical needs with many being subject to physical and sexual assault. The greatest scar of all for former child migrants has been their loss of identity. Their sense of dislocation and not belonging, of loss of family and of emptiness has had a profound impact on their lives and on the lives of their partners and children. As adults, a sizable proportion has lived with addiction problems, post-traumatic stress disorder, unemployment, homelessness and difficulties in sustaining loving and productive relationships. Tragically, some have even suicided.

Fortunately, such bruising stories were partially tempered by stories of how some have triumphed over adversity, of how the humanity, love and compassion of other human beings have helped heal their scars. For former migrant child migrants themselves, the Inquiry became part of a long journey to be believed and understood. It provided them with a forum in which they could tell their stories and know they were accepted as the truth.

The unanimous recommendations of the Committee included various forms of funding, grants and assistance for former child migrant to address their current needs. In May 2002, the Howard Coalition Government delivered its response to Lost Innocents. The package of measures include:

• A rather paltry $125,000 per year for 3 years to fund the family tracing and counselling services of the Child Migrants Trust;
• A $100,000 contribution to State initiated memorials to commemorate former child migrants; and,
• A $1 million per year for 3 years in travel funding to assist former child migrants of British and Maltese origin to return to the UK or Malta to reunite with family members.

Child Migrants Documents

Title	Date	Size
Genesis of child migrant inquiry media release	15 Feb 2000	84 KB	email
Federal Government Response to "Lost Innocents: Righting the Record	13 May 2002	76 KB	email
Media release on the Federal Government response to "Lost Innocents : Righting the Record"	14 May 2002	27 KB	email
ELECTION 2007 - Former Child Migrants	16 Oct 2007	33 KB	email
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