Indigenous History during and after Colonisation
The Stolen Generations in Victoria: Children Who Were Taken, Voices That Returned (1900–1970)
MLA Educational Series — Indigenous History, Law, and Cultural Healing
From the early 1900s until the 1970s, Indigenous children across Victoria were systematically removed from their families under government policies of “protection,” “assimilation,” and “welfare.” Known today as the Stolen Generations, these children were taken to missions, orphanages, foster homes, and training institutions — often without consent — in an effort to erase their identity and assimilate them into white society.
This article traces the history of removals in Victoria, focusing on Framlingham, Coranderrk, Lake Tyers, and Cummeragunja, and explores how Indigenous families resisted, survived, and reclaimed identity across generations. It also connects historical injustice to truth-telling, apology, and cultural renewal in the present.
Background: From “Protection” to Assimilation
By the turn of the twentieth century, Victoria’s Indigenous population had been confined largely to three government-controlled reserves: Framlingham (Gunditjmara Country), Lake Tyers (Gunai/Kurnai Country), and Coranderrk (Woi Wurrung and Taungurung Country).
The Board for the Protection of Aborigines, established in 1860, exercised almost total control over Indigenous life. By the early 1900s, its policies shifted from containment to assimilation, aiming to absorb Indigenous people of “mixed descent” into the white population while isolating those deemed “full blood” (Broome 2005).
The Aborigines Act 1910 (Vic) formalised these powers, allowing government officials to remove children on grounds of neglect, immorality, or racial classification. In practice, the criteria were subjective and racially motivated — any child with lighter skin could be taken away (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 1997).
This system transformed Indigenous family life into a landscape of constant fear. Mothers hid children in the bush or trained them to flee at the sound of approaching cars — the vehicles of “the Welfare” or police.
Mechanisms of Removal
Between 1910 and the late 1960s, child removal in Victoria occurred through three overlapping mechanisms:
Mission and Reserve Systems
Managers and Protectors at Lake Tyers and Framlingham had authority to remove children for “education” or “training.” Many were sent to industrial schools or domestic training homes in Melbourne and Geelong.Welfare and Church Institutions
From the 1920s onward, church missions and state welfare agencies collaborated to remove children into orphanages, foster care, or Christian training centres.
Institutions such as the Ballarat Orphanage, Royal Park Depot, and Turana Home housed Indigenous children far from their families (Broome 2005; HREOC 1997).Legislation and Policing
The Aborigines Act 1915 and Children’s Welfare Act 1928 gave police and welfare officers sweeping powers. Removal could occur without trial or family consultation.
In 1957, the Victorian Aborigines Welfare Board replaced the old Protection Board but continued removals under the same principles (Markus 1990).
These systems were designed not merely to “protect” children but to dismantle Indigenous identity and break the intergenerational transmission of culture, language, and kinship.
Framlingham and the Pain of Separation
The Framlingham Aboriginal Mission, established in 1861 near Warrnambool, became one of Victoria’s most significant sites of child removal. Mission journals from the early twentieth century record repeated instances of children being taken to “training homes” in Geelong or Melbourne. Many never returned. Superintendent reports describe mothers “crying and clinging to their young ones as they are removed for education” (Goodall Journal, 1905, quoted in Pritchard 2012). By the 1930s, Framlingham families lived in constant fear of police visits. Children were hidden in the bush or sent to relatives to avoid capture. Despite this, the community maintained a strong sense of belonging — gathering for song, language, and dance away from official supervision (Pritchard 2012). Today, Framlingham remains a centre of cultural strength for the Gunditjmara people — a symbol of both loss and resilience.
Lake Tyers and the Fight for Family
Lake Tyers Mission, founded in 1861 on Gunai/Kurnai Country, became the final government reserve in Victoria by the 1920s after Coranderrk and Framlingham were closed. Families from across the state were forcibly relocated there, creating a population of displaced nations. Conditions were poor, and mission managers exercised near-absolute power. Children were often removed to domestic training schools or to the Aborigines Welfare Board’s “care”. In the 1950s, women such as Bessie Rawlings and Ivy Morgan organised community resistance, forming delegations to Melbourne to protest the removal of children. Their activism contributed to growing public awareness that helped pave the way for reform in the 1960s (Broome 2005; Clark 1998). Despite state control, Lake Tyers families continued to hold cultural gatherings, tell ancestral stories, and maintain kinship networks — an underground form of resistance that sustained identity through generations.
Coranderrk and the Dispersal of Families
After decades of advocacy by leaders like William Barak and Louisa Briggs, the Coranderrk Reserve near Healesville was closed in 1924. The residents were dispersed to Lake Tyers or into the general population. Children were the first targeted. Archival records show that “half-caste” children from Coranderrk were removed to industrial schools in the 1890s and 1900s under claims of “education and advancement.” Once removed, they were often cut off permanently from family and Country (Barwick 1998). The dispersal of Coranderrk families destroyed one of Victoria’s strongest centres of Indigenous self-determination — but its legacy lives on in descendants who continue to advocate for truth-telling and reparations.
Living Through Silence: Voices of the Taken
Testimonies from survivors of the Stolen Generations reveal the emotional and cultural toll of removal:
“We were told our parents were dead. I didn’t learn my language again until I was fifty.”
— Anonymous testimony, Bringing Them Home Report (1997, p. 120).
“At night, we would whisper our mother’s name so we wouldn’t forget it.”
— Testimony from Victorian survivor, Yoorrook Justice Commission (2022).
Many survivors recall being punished for speaking language, praying in their own way, or crying for their parents. Some were told they were white and forbidden to associate with Indigenous communities after leaving institutions. These stories demonstrate how removal was not just a physical act but a psychological and cultural weapon — one that aimed to erase identity itself.
Resistance and Family Reconnection
Despite systemic oppression, Indigenous families across Victoria resisted removal through courage, ingenuity, and endurance.
Mothers hid children in the bush or smuggled them across district boundaries.
Elders kept track of taken children through kinship memory, reconnecting families decades later.
From the 1930s onward, Indigenous organisations such as the Aborigines Advancement League (founded 1957) advocated for the rights of parents and for the return of children.
These acts of resistance ensured that cultural memory survived, even as generations were scattered across the state.
Policy Change and the End of Forced Removals
Public opinion began to shift after World War II. Global movements for human rights, combined with Indigenous activism, led to gradual policy changes. The 1967 Referendum, though federal, symbolised a turning point in national attitudes toward Indigenous citizenship and rights. In Victoria, assimilation policies began to collapse in the early 1970s, replaced by emerging frameworks of self-determination. However, the legacy of trauma was far from over. Many children grew up without knowing their families or language. Reconnection and healing would take generations.
Truth-Telling, Healing, and Return
The Bringing Them Home Report (1997) was the first national acknowledgment of the Stolen Generations, documenting testimonies of survivors from Victoria and across Australia (HREOC 1997). It led to the creation of Link-Up Victoria, which helps families trace ancestry and reunite. In 2008, the National Apology delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd marked a watershed in national recognition, but healing remains ongoing. Today, initiatives such as the Yoorrook Justice Commission (2022) and Victoria’s Treaty process place Stolen Generations voices at the heart of truth-telling. Survivors and descendants share stories once silenced — returning to Country, language, and identity. Many now work in community leadership, health, education, and art, transforming personal pain into collective healing.
Cultural Survival: The Children Who Returned
The story of the Stolen Generations in Victoria is not only one of loss, but of endurance. Children who were taken — and their descendants — have returned to their lands and families, restoring broken connections. At Framlingham, Lake Tyers, and Healesville, descendants of those once removed now lead language revival, cultural heritage programs, and memorial events. Their stories are recorded in schools, museums, and digital archives, ensuring that truth and memory remain living forces. These voices remind us that the act of survival itself is resistance — and that the return of children to Country is a sacred form of justice.
Conclusion
Between 1900 and 1970, hundreds of Indigenous children in Victoria were taken from their families under the guise of protection and welfare. Their removal severed cultural ties and inflicted intergenerational trauma, yet their endurance ensured the survival of identity and memory. The return of their voices through truth-telling, testimony, and community renewal represents not just healing but sovereignty. The children who were taken have become the storytellers of the nation — their courage transforming silence into truth.
References
Barwick, D. (1998). Rebellion at Coranderrk. Canberra: Aboriginal History Inc.
Broome, R. (2005). Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Clark, I. D. (1998). The Journals of George Augustus Robinson, Chief Protector, Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate. Melbourne: Heritage Matters.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1997). Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
Markus, A. (1990). Governing Savages. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Pritchard, J. (2012). Untold Stories: Framlingham and Its People. Warrnambool: Jan Pritchard.
Victorian Government (2022). Yoorrook Justice Commission Interim Report. Melbourne: Yoorrook Secretariat.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 October 2025)
MLA
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