My PhD thesis from Federation University Australia is now available on line. This is a very brief summary:
Australia has a long history of removing children from their families when they are deemed to be neglected or ‘in moral danger’. Placed in orphanages, children’s Homes and foster ‘care’ out of the public gaze, these children were rendered silent, their voices simply unheard or deliberately supressed by the exercise of total institutional power. Children were marginalised and framed as deserving no better than they got.
A series of inquiries into child maltreatment in institutions, which came about following Care Leaver advocacy, relied heavily on direct testimony that enabled the public to better understand what children experienced. Care Leavers are now effectively challenging the traditional one-dimensional accounts of historical ‘care’. This challenge has gained impetus from the opening up of records through rights legislation, especially access to personal case files. Large numbers of Care Leavers have found their files inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, and this discovery has stimulated many to produce compelling counter-narratives of the lived experiences of their childhood, and the living experiences that endure long into adulthood.
The thesis reflects new interpretations of these emerging histories, assesses changes in the status of Care Leavers, and identifies directions warranting further development.
If you want to download a read the whole thesis (100,000 words) you can find it here