Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website contains the names and images of people who have passed
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website contains the names and images of people who have passed
52
Funding for Link-Up and organisations performing similar functions
That funding should be made available to organisations such as Link-Up which have the support of Aboriginal people for the purpose of re-establishing links to family and community which had been severed or attenuated by past government policies. Where this service is being provided to Aboriginal people by organisations or bodies which, not being primarily established to pursue this purpose, provide the service in conjunction with other functions which they perform, the role of such organisations in assisting Aboriginal people to re-establish their links to family and community should be recognised and funded, where appropriate.
The Steering Committee recommends that all current Victorian Stolen Generations services be enhanced to support Stolen Generations eligible for the Stolen Generations Reparations Package through post reunion programs.
Aboriginal Justice Caucus Assessment
The intent of Recommendation 52 was that governments fund organisations like Link-Up to support Aboriginal families and communities to restore connections that were weakened or broken by previous government policies.
Actions taken partially align with the intent of the recommendation. There are several services available to assist Aboriginal families and communities to reconnect with people that were separated. This includes Link-Up, Connecting Home and the Koorie Family History Service. We remain concerned about how long it has taken to put these in place, and whether funding is sufficient to meet the needs of community and these organisations.
They have Link-Up in Mildura and it was very successful with the people that were coming home and looking around for their families. It's a pity it wasn't around in the in the 70s when all the Aboriginal people just started coming back home, because there was no support available whatsoever.
(Jemmes Handy, Chairperson, Loddon Mallee Regional Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee (RAJAC))
Link-Up provides services to Aboriginal people who have been separated from family, community and culture. This includes providing copies of records about themselves and family, organising counselling and providing cultural healing programs and activities. In addition, Link-Up organises reunions between Aboriginal people who were adopted, fostered or placed in an institution, with their families, and assists them to reconnect with their culture, communities and traditional Country.
Connecting Home provides tailored wrap-around support for Stolen Generations survivors and their families aimed towards achieving healing and breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma. They offer specialised case management services and support, including assistance in applying for the Stolen Generations Funeral Fund.
The Koorie Family History Service aims to provide members of the Stolen Generations, their descendants and the Aboriginal community in Victoria with knowledge of their family tree, family history, culture and community connections. The service provides confidential client-based genealogy research and referrals.
Applicants to the Stolen Generations Reparations Package (SGRP) can access a range of support services funded by the Department of Justice and Community Safety. This includes trauma informed counselling, financial planning or advice and legal advice.
These organisations have assisted Stolen Generations survivors and their descendants; however, current arrangements are not sufficient, given the ongoing and intergenerational effects of separation. We are concerned that families are not informed about the services available to them, and unable access them, particularly in regional locations:
It's worrying, in that the mob don't know about it and that the services that our mob are part of are not conveying this properly.
(Lawrence Moser, Chairperson, Eastern Metropolitan RAJAC)
I've had a lot of people contact me here in Shepparton wanting to know how they can get connected back into their families and communities and sometimes when I say, ‘have you contacted Link-Up?’ They don't know about it. I know they promoted the services in Melbourne but there’s very little information out there in the country and rural areas.
(Bobby Nicholls, Chairperson, Hume RAJAC)
I've sat on Koori Court, and this was a couple of years ago, but people would come through the Koori Court, and they were involved in foster care, and they had no understanding of Link-Up.
(Lawrence Moser, Chairperson, Eastern Metropolitan RAJAC)
There needs to be greater engagement with Aboriginal communities across Victoria to spread awareness and inform community members about services available for Stolen Generations survivors and their descendants.
Whether the community knows about it is a big thing. There should be more local services and more ways to let communities know about it, because I don't know how many people know about this. I know people that have passed that never heard of Link-Up. Their families had never heard of Link-Up. It's really sad.
(Marion Hansen, Co-chairperson, AJC and Chairperson, Southern Metropolitan RAJAC)
We support the Healing Foundation’s submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which called for adequate and sustainable long-term funding for Stolen Generations organisations to provide services and support to survivors, their families and communities. This must address the unique needs of Stolen Generations survivors, including access to intergenerational projects, memorials and culturally sensitive services.
I wish people would just listen to the stories from the Stolen Generation themselves. The heartache that these people have gone through, without the love from their mother and father. It is shocking. That system has destroyed my family, and my community.
(Jemmes Handy, Chairperson, Loddon Mallee RAJAC)
Stolen Generations survivors need to have access to a broader suite of Aboriginal-led cultural and therapeutic healing supports for themselves, their families and communities. For example, the Return to Country program provides opportunities for Stolen Generations survivors to strengthen their connection to land and Country in partnership with Traditional Owner groups. The establishment of the Return to Country program needs to progress immediately.
Further, more supports need to be available for descendants of Stolen Generations caught up in the justice system. Previous Aboriginal Justice Agreements focused on providing support to people in custody that were Stolen Generations survivors. However, these commitments did not extend to Aboriginal children and young people in Youth Justice custody. Expansion of the Koorie Heritage Trust’s Koories in Custody program to include youth justice precincts would help to ensure Aboriginal children and young people can access Link-Up or other services.
Priority for Further Work:
High
Relevance and potential impact | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low (0-2) | Moderate (3-4) | High (5-6) | |||
Extent of action taken and evidence of outcomes | High (5-6) | ||||
Moderate (3-4) | |||||
Low (0-2) | |||||
Potential Actions for Further Work
Support for Stolen Generations
1. That, in relation to the Stolen Generations Reparation Scheme, the Victorian Government:
a) Progress the establishment of the Return to Country program immediately, and that this includes funding for a coordinator position within an ACCO to oversee the delivery of the program.
b) Resource a broader suite of Aboriginal-led cultural and therapeutic healing supports for Stolen Generations, their families and communities.
c) Undertake a review of the financial counselling program to assess whether it is meeting the needs of recipients of the scheme.
2. Victorian Government to fund the development of an Aboriginal-led therapeutic support service for Stolen Generations and their families.
3. Programs for Stolen Generations include a 20 percent evaluation levy with all program funding provided to ACCOs.
Support for Descendants of Stolen Generations in Youth Justice Custody
Expand the Koorie Heritage Trust Koories in Custody program to service youth justice precincts for descendants of Stolen Generations survivors.
Background
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) highlighted the importance of increased funding for Aboriginal-run organisations like Link-Up, which support individuals and communities affected by past child removal policies. It recognised that these policies caused lasting harm, including cultural disruption and loss of community resources. Strengthening funding for such organisations was essential to address ongoing emotional and psychological impacts, help people reconnect with family and culture, and support broader community healing and reunification.
Actions Taken Since Last Review
Victorian government agencies provided updates on this recommendation in 2025:
Public Record Office Victoria
No further specific actions have been undertaken since 2018. However, for over 20 years the Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) has had a dedicated Koorie Records Unit (KRU) that promotes awareness of Victorian Government records about Aboriginal people within the PROV collection and aims to improve accessibility of these records to First Peoples in appropriate and culturally respectful ways.
The KRU offers tailored services and support for First Peoples, including Stolen Generations survivors and their families wishing to access historic Victorian Government records relating to themselves and their families. This includes a Koorie Reference Service delivered in collaboration with the National Archives of Australia’s Victorian office, as Victorian Aboriginal affairs records are held in both collections. A jointly employed staff member (Koorie Reference Officer) supports access to both organisations’ records.
The KRU provides advice and assistance to support a broad range of requests from individuals, Aboriginal organisations (including the Koorie Heritage Trust, Link-Up, Bringing Them Home workers and Connecting Home) and service providers relating to family and community history research. Copies of relevant records are provided to KRU clients, Aboriginal organisations and groups free of charge.
The KRU is staffed by a Manager, Koorie Records Unit (VPS 5, 0.8 FTE) and a joint Koorie Reference Officer (VPS 3, 0.5 FTE). PROV has limited resources and is also dealing with an increase in demand for the KRU’s services. As a result, PROV only has limited capacity to undertake regular outreach and training, develop further resource materials for use by Aboriginal communities and support a volunteer indexing program of historical records related to Aboriginal people in Victoria.
In 2023 National Archives Australia and PROV agreed to conduct a joint review to consider the efficiency and effectiveness of the joint Koorie Reference Service. Specifically, to determine if the current arrangements meet the needs of each organisation and external clients.
Department of Premier and Cabinet
A Steering Committee oversaw consultations with Stolen Generations across Victoria in early 2021 about the design of a Victorian reparations scheme. Their Final Report sought to address outstanding recommendations of the Bringing them Home Report within the design of Stolen Generations Reparations in Victoria. Overall, the recommendations aimed to enhance the quality of life for Stolen Generations and their families and provide recognition of the impacts of Stolen Generations separation from family, community, culture, Country and the subsequent loss of identity and sense of belonging.
The Victorian Government agreed to implement all Part One recommendations from the Stolen Generations Reparations Steering Committee’s Final Report concerning the design of the reparations package. Part Two recommendations, relating to enhanced service provision and outcomes for Stolen Generations members and descendants, are being considered.
Funding for organisations
While this recommendation was assessed as fully implemented in the 2005 and 2018 reviews due to the Victorian Government providing funding to Link-Up and similar services, DPC considers ongoing funding commitments should be made in line with increasing demand.
DPC does not provide funding to Link-Up, however continues to provide funding to Connecting Home and the Koorie Family History Service (KFHS). Connecting Home is Victoria’s only dedicated service provider for Stolen Generations members and their descendants. Connecting Home provides culturally safe wrap-around support services for Victorian members of the Stolen Generations and their families, including case management, identity research, advocacy and linkages to healing programs.
DPC has provided funding to Connecting Home Limited since 2013. From 2018-19 to 2024-25, DPC provided Connecting Home with around $9.2 million to support its operations and deliver case management services. DPC has continuously funded the KFHS since its establishment in 2001. There is increasing demand for KFHS services, likely driven by the Victorian Government’s Stolen Generations Reparations Package, which did not allocate funding for the KFHS to support Stolen Generations members.
Stolen Generations Reparations Steering Committee Report
The Stolen Generations Reparations Steering Committee was formed in 2020 to provide expert advice and recommendations on the design of Victoria’s Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme.
At the time, Stolen Generations in Victoria could access specialised support at Link-Up Victoria, Connecting Home, KFHS, and through thirteen Bringing Them Home Workers in Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs). The Steering Committee discussed supports for applicants through these agencies that are relevant to Recommendation 52:
- The applicant is provided support during the entire application process, including after receiving the Reparations Package.
- That external agencies engaged to provide support to Stolen Generations Reparations applicants include those that currently provide services to Stolen Generations.
- That external agencies engaged to provide to support Stolen Generations Reparations applicants receive additional funding to meet the increased caseload.
- That additional uncapped funding is provided for disability support workers outside of an applicant’s National Disability Insurance Scheme benefit. This is to ensure that those with a lived experience of disability are supported to engage, participate, apply and receive continuity of care through the Stolen Generations Reparations process.
- That any service options provided are not limited by regional options and support for applicants to travel to urban areas for support is provided.
Impact
Public Record Office Victoria
When the Koorie Reference Officer role was first established, the focus was on providing access to records for members of the Stolen Generations. However, increasingly the enquiries being received are about broader family and community history.
The Voice referendum, the establishment of multiple redress schemes for members of the Stolen Generations, stolen wages class actions and other legal cases are all driving increased use of records relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples.
Department of Premier and Cabinet
The Victorian Government opened the Stolen Generations Reparations Package (the Package) on 3 March 2022 backed by an investment of $155 million. The Package was designed by the Stolen Generations Reparations Steering Committee and seeks to address the trauma and suffering caused by the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families, culture and Country. The Package will remain open for applications until 31 March 2027. Reparations available under the Package include a financial payment of $100,000, government apologies, healing programs and access to records. The Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) is responsible for leading delivery of the Package, supported by DPC.
Funded Support Services in the Stolen Generations Reparation Package
Applicants to the Stolen Generations Reparations Package can access a range of support services funded by DJCS. These include:
- Trauma-informed counselling - up to 35 hours at up to $240 per hour
- Financial planning or advice– up to five hours at up to $250 per hour
- Legal advice – up to five hours at up to $400 per hour
In addition, the Package offers restorative programs run in conjunction with Link-Up Victoria that include family reunion, reconnection to Country and language programs.
Link-Up Victoria
Link-Up supports Aboriginal people who have been separated from family, community and culture, by:
- Providing people with copies of records about themselves and family.
- Organising reunions between Aboriginal people who were adopted, fostered or placed in an institution, with their families, and assisting them to reconnect with their culture, communities and traditional Country.
- Organising counselling and providing cultural healing programs and activities.
Connecting Home
Connecting Home provides tailored wrap-around support for Stolen Generations survivors and their families aimed towards achieving healing and breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma. They offer specialised case management services and support, including assistance in applying for the Stolen Generations Funeral Fund.
Koorie Family History Service
The Koorie Heritage Trust runs the Koorie Family History Service. The main purpose of the service is to provide members of the Stolen Generations, their descendants and the Aboriginal community in Victoria with knowledge of their family tree, family history, culture and Community. The service provides confidential client-based genealogy research and referral service.
The Healing Foundation, Submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission
The Healing Foundation wrote to Yoorrook about a meeting of Stolen Generations organisations from across Australia in September 2024.
In terms of government funding, organisations discussed facing financial constraints, staffing issues and the need for sustainable, long-term funding from governments. There were calls for adequate and sustainable funding for Stolen Generations organisations to continue to provide services and support to survivors, their families and communities.
Community Views
Muriel Bamblett
We have lost many community members who will never be able to receive redress. This step towards justice and healing is for all who have suffered, for those who are no longer with us and their families…
The trauma and suffering is ongoing, and no compensation can ever make up for this, but it will hold government to account and ensure our history is understood and never forgotten. This Scheme alongside the treaty and Yoorrook process must bring about truth telling, justice and healing for our community.