Class action begins for First Nations children allegedly wrongfully taken from families by WA department

Local Indigenous woman Sarah* was taken from her family when she was six years old and lived in more than 10 foster homes during her time in the system. At times, she lived 600km away from her mother and remembers crying for her every day. Sarah is part of a class action which Shine Lawyers launched last Tuesday with the Australian Human Rights Commission against WA’s Department of Communities over the allegedly discriminatory removal of First Nations children from their families. It is the second of four complaints filed against State Government child protection authorities. Shine special counsel Caitlin Wilson believes the removal of First Nations children was simply a continuation of the Stolen Generation. “Some people are calling it a second Stolen Generation or modern Stolen Generation, but what I really think of it, and what a lot of people that work in this space think, is a continued Stolen Generation,” she said. Ms Wilson believed the present day removal of Indigenous children had a much more sinister undertone. “Rather than being done out in the open as it was, historically, it’s now being done under the guise of legislative intervention,” she said. Claimants believe the product is a generation of children and adults who feel whitewashed, with a loss of identity and complete disconnect from their culture. Sarah told 7 Regional News last week that child protection services “destroyed everything I could’ve had with my family”. Now 20, Sarah had her own baby daughter taken away when she was six weeks old. “I never got a chance to love her before they decided to take her away from me,” she said. Aboriginal children in WA are 19.1 times more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be extracted from their families, as reported by the 2023 Family Matters report card. WA has the highest over-representation rate of Indigenous children in the out-of-home care system in Australia. As at June 30, 2023, there were 5174 children in care in WA, with 3068 of those children Aboriginal, which is more than 59 per cent. Shine Lawyers has been working on the class action for more than 18 months, visiting Geraldton last year to form relationships with stakeholders to help connect them with victims. There are three routes of claims, including adults who were taken from their families, parents who had children taken or family of children who nominated to be their carer when being removed from parents, but were not successful in their application. Ms Wilson said one of the solutions was to ensure pregnant First Nations women have access to wrap-around services to counteract the reasons their babies were being taken from them, such as housing instability or domestic violence intervention. A spokesperson for Department of Communities said the department did not tolerate racism in any form. “Communities undertakes significant work to deliver better outcomes for Aboriginal people and to ensure Aboriginal people are included in shaping policy,” they said. *Not her real name 1800 RESPECT