Editing Stolen Generations (section)

==Effects on the removed and their descendants==
===Removed people===
The stated aim of the "resocialisation" program was to improve the integration of Aboriginal people into modern [European-Australian] society; however, a 1989 study conducted in [[Melbourne]] reported that there was no tangible improvement in the social position of "removed" Aboriginal people as compared to "non-removed". Particularly in the areas of employment and post-secondary education, the removed children had about the same results as those who were not removed. In the early decades of the program, post-secondary education was limited for most Australians, but the removed children lagged behind their white contemporaries as educational opportunities improved.<ref name="Bereson1989">{{cite book |last=Bereson |first=Itiel |title=Decades of Change: Australia in the Twentieth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tUKNAAAACAAJ |year=1989 |publisher=Heinemann Educational Australia |location=Richmond, Victoria |isbn=978-0-85859-483-8}}</ref>

The study indicated that removed Aboriginal people were less likely to have completed a secondary education, three times as likely to have acquired a police record, and were twice as likely to use illicit drugs as were Aboriginal people who grew up in their ethnic community.<ref name="Bereson1989"/> The only notable advantage "removed" Aboriginal people achieved was a higher average income. The report noted this was likely due to the increased urbanisation of removed individuals, and greater access to welfare payments than for Aboriginal people living in remote communities.<ref name="Bereson1989"/> There seemed to be little evidence that removed mixed-race Aboriginal people had been successful in gaining better work even in urbanised areas.

By around the age of 18, the children were released from government control. In cases where their files were available, individuals were sometimes allowed to view their own files. According to the testimony of one Aboriginal person:

<blockquote>I was requested to attend at the Sunshine Welfare Offices, where they formerly (sic) discharged me from State ward ship. It took the Senior Welfare Officer a mere 20 minutes to come clean, and tell me everything that my heart had always wanted to know...that I was of "Aboriginal descent", that I had a Natural mother, father, three brothers and a sister, who were alive...He placed in front of me 368 pages of my file, together with letters, photos and birthday cards. He informed me that my surname would change back to my Mother's maiden name of Angus.<ref>Confidential submission 133, Victoria.</ref></blockquote>

The ''Bringing Them Home'' report condemned the policy of disconnecting children from their cultural heritage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/bringing-them-home-chapter-11#Heading14 |title=Bringing them Home – Chapter 11 |publisher=[[Australian Human Rights Commission]] |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601134509/https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/projects/bringing-them-home-chapter-11 |archive-date=1 June 2023}}</ref> One witness said to the commission:

<blockquote>I've got everything that could be reasonably expected: a good home environment, education, stuff like that, but that's all material stuff. It's all the non-material stuff that I didn't have—the lineage... You know, you've just come out of nowhere; there you are.<ref name="Scope of Inquiry"/></blockquote>

In 2015, many of the recommendations of ''Bringing Them Home'' were yet to be fulfilled.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://apo.org.au/system/files/54628/apo-nid54628-86971.pdf |title=Bringing them home: Scorecard Report 2015 |last1=Rule |first1=John |last2=Rice |first2=Elizabeth |location=Canberra |publisher=National Sorry Day Committee Inc. |date=28 February 2015 |access-date=25 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612021605/http://apo.org.au/system/files/54628/apo-nid54628-86971.pdf |archive-date=12 June 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2017, 35% of all children in out-of-home care in Australia identify as being Aboriginal, an increase from 20% in 1997 when ''Bringing Them Home'' was published.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/may/23/too-many-indigenous-children-are-taken-from-their-families-it-doesnt-have-to-happen |title=Too many Indigenous children are taken from their families – it doesn't have to happen |last1=Sarra |first1=Chris |location=Canberra |newspaper=The Guardian |date=23 May 2017 |access-date=13 July 2017}}</ref><!-- Examples? discussion -->

===Generational effects===
A 2019 study by the [[Australian Institute of Health and Welfare]] (AIHW) found that children living in households with members of the Stolen Generations are more likely "to experience a range of adverse outcomes", including [[Indigenous health in Australia|poor health]], especially [[mental health]], missing school and living in poverty.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/13/trauma-and-poverty-transferred-directly-to-children-of-stolen-generations-study |title=Trauma and poverty transferred directly to children of stolen generations – study |first=Lorena |last=Allam |date=13 June 2019 |access-date=13 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/children-living-in-households-with-members-of-the/contents/table-of-contents |website=Australian Government. Australian Institute for Health and Welfare |title=Children living in households with members of the Stolen Generations |date=11 June 2019 |author=AIHW |access-date=13 June 2019}}</ref> There are high incidences of [[anxiety]], [[major depressive disorder|depression]], [[PTSD]] and [[suicide]], along with [[alcohol abuse]], among the Stolen Generations, with this resulting in unstable parenting and family situations.<ref name="Australians Together 1997">{{cite web |title=The Stolen Generations |website=Australians Together |date=26 May 1997 |url=https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/stolen-generations |access-date=16 January 2020}}</ref>