Bringing Them Home

Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families

Cover of the Bringing Them Home report
Also known as	Stolen Generation
Outcome	Bringing Them Home report (1997) Parliamentary apologies from: Qld (26 May 1999) WA (27 May 1997) SA (28 May 1997) ACT (17 June 1997) NSW (18 June 1997) Tas (13 August 1997) Vic (17 September 1997) Australian Government Motion of Reconciliation (26 August 1999) Parliamentary apologies from: NT (24 October 2001) Australia (13 February 2008)
Inquiries	National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families
Commissioners	Sir Ronald Wilson Mick Dodson
Inquiry period	11 May 1995 (1995-05-11) – 26 May 1997 (1997-05-26)

Bringing Them Home is the Australian Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. The report marked a pivotal moment in the controversy that has come to be known as the Stolen Generations.

The inquiry was established by the federal Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, on 11 May 1995, in response to efforts made by key Indigenous agencies and communities concerned that the general public's ignorance of the history of forcible removal was hindering the recognition of the needs of its victims and their families and the provision of services. The 680-page report was tabled in Federal Parliament on 26 May 1997.

Aboriginal organisations pushed for a national inquiry as early as 1990. The Secretariat of the National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) resolved at its national conference in 1992 to demand a national inquiry. Other state Aboriginal organisations were also active during this period.

In 1994, the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (ALSWA) began soliciting statements from Aboriginal people who had been removed from their families as children or who were parents of removed children. The service interviewed over 600 people during this time and produced a report titled Telling our Story.

The inquiry was primarily conducted by Sir Ronald Wilson, President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and Mick Dodson, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

Indigenous women, appointed as co-commissioners, provided support to the people who gave evidence in each region the inquiry visited. The co-commissioners were: Annette Peardon, Marjorie Thorpe, Dr Maryanne Bin Salik, Sadie Canning, Olive Knight, Kathy Mills, Anne Louis, Laurel Williams, Jackie Huggins, Josephine Ptero-David and Professor Marcia Langton. The co-commissioners also assisted in the development of the report and its recommendations.