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The final report included 54 recommendations to support healing and reconciliation for
the Stolen Generations, their families and the Australian public more broadly. One of these
recommendations was to ensure that Australian school students learned about the history of the
Stolen Generations. The AHRC developed a suite of education resources in the years following
the release of the Bringing them home report.
In 2017, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the report, the AHRC launched a new website
and updated suite of education resources. The project’s primary aim was to increase the
knowledge and awareness of both teachers and students in regard to the historical policies and
practices of forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Throughout the development process, AHRC sought to ensure that the voices of the Stolen
Generations themselves, through testimonies given to the National Inquiry and stories told
since, were at the centre of the resources. The project’s reference group, made up of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander and Stolen Generations peak groups as well experts in reconciliation,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and education, was key to ensuring that the voices of
the Stolen Generations remained at the heart of all of the resources.
The final product is an interactive website with a broad range of content, including free Australian
curriculum mapped classroom resources for primary and secondary school teachers. These
teaching resources were developed in collaboration with an Aboriginal Studies and history
teacher, who is herself a proud Aboriginal woman.
One key feature is an interactive map131 that allows students to learn more about the impacts of
forced removal in their local area. By clicking on markers on the map, visitors can read the stories
of individuals who were taken from their families and learn about the places where they were
forced to live and the local laws and policies that allowed children to be taken from their families.
Since the site launched in November 2017, there have been over 191,000 page views. It remains
one of the Commission’s most popular education resources, with new and returning visitors
continuing to visit the site and download the teaching resources every day.
The primary aim was to increase the knowledge and awareness of both teachers and students
in regard to the historical policies and practices of forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children.
The teaching resources were developed in collaboration with an Aboriginal Studies and history
teacher, who is herself a proud Aboriginal woman.
The reference group was made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Stolen Generations
peak groups as well experts in reconciliation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and
education
Since the site launched in November 2017, there have been over 191,000 page views.
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Ibid. Interactive map. Available online at https://bth.humanrights.gov.au/our-stories/map.