The forcible removal of Aboriginal children irrevocably broke parental links, severing cultural connection to family and country. As a measure of remedy, the emergence of the Link Up services across the country now mean that increasingly, Stolen Generations members are able to receive assistance and support when seeking to be reunited with their families. The journey that Stolen Generations survivors embark on when looking to trace their family members as adults can be fraught with a range of varied and mixed emotions. Even when the opportunity to become reunited with ones family arises, it is incredibly difficult to shift the deep and understandable sense of resentment that is felt by many Stolen Generations survivors and their families. For many, the question 'how could the policies of forcible removal ever have been justified in light of the trauma and loss they caused' has still yet to be answered.
The Link Up service is similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in the services that it provides the survivors of these schooling systems.
How can Link-Up assist me?
Link-Up organisations provide a range of services to members of the Stolen Generations, their families, and foster and adoptive families. These include:
http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/fhu/linkup.html
The Link Up service is similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in the services that it provides the survivors of these schooling systems.
How can Link-Up assist me?
Link-Up organisations provide a range of services to members of the Stolen Generations, their families, and foster and adoptive families. These include:
- Researching family and personal records
- Emotional support when accessing family and personal records
- Finding family members
- Assistance and support at family reunions
- Support and counseling before, during and after family reunion
- See the websites of individual Link-Up organisations or contact them for the range of services they provide
http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/fhu/linkup.html