The impacts of the Stolen Generation on Australian Life

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The Stolen Generation has had a great effect on Aboriginal rights and freedoms as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders didn’t even have the rights to raise and look after their children and as a result 100,000 Aboriginal Australian’s were displaced and placed into white families. The lack of understanding and respect for Aboriginal culture also meant that many people who supported the removal of these children really thought they were doing “the right thing”. The impact on Australian life today is still being felt as the Stolen Generation is seen as a recent event has it only ended in the early 1970s. Children that where taken away back then now cannot trace back their roots and therefore have no record of their family history or where they come from and is still causing problems today. The Stolen Generation is seen as a grave chapter in our countries history and in Aboriginal History. Stolen Generation didn’t come to light until the 1960s and early 1970s with public shock and anger. The rights of Aboriginal peoples during this point were increasingly low as many were forced to live on reserves or missions and their children were taken at a young age. The rights of the stolen generation were somewhat better than their previous generation as they had a right to have a good job, health care and have and raise children as their parents had none of these rights. The assimilation program was a way to turn these Aboriginal children and essential “turn them white”; this can be seen as a violation of human rights and international law. The Aboriginals had virtually no rights when it came to starting a family and the stolen generation was used to show Australia the atrocities that have been happening in this country for two hundred year... ... middle of paper ... ...mismanagement of the economy. Under Whitlam there was widespread unemployment and inflation and several scandals in his ministry that eventually became his downfall. Gough Whitlam did however introduce major policies that shaped Australia’s development into what it is today. Gough Whitlam made major social, economic and cultural reforms that continue in Australia today such as free university and health care. Gough Whitlam as greatly impacted Australian life; he has made it easier for Australia to go to university and get health care and because of his actions back in the 70s more immigrants from Asia are continuing to come to Australia. Because of the contributions that Gough Whitlam made to this country; Australia is now very multicultural, aboriginal have greater rights, women have equal pay and University and health care are now free in Australia.

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