The
Stolen Generations (also known as
Stolen Children) were the children of
Australian Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian
Federal and
State government agencies and
church missions, under
acts of their respective parliaments. The removals occurred in the period between approximately 1905 and 1969, although in some places children were still being taken until the 1970s. Documentary evidence, such as newspaper articles and reports to
parliamentary committees, suggest a range of rationales. Motivations evident include
child protection, beliefs that given their catastrophic population decline after white contact that Aboriginal people would die out, and a fear of
miscegenation by full-blooded Aboriginal people.