he people sometimes called Forgotten Australians are the survivors of government policies that resulted in at least 500,000 children growing up in 'out-of-home' care in Australia in the 20th Century.[2] Forgotten Australians are also known as 'Care Leavers'.[3]Other terms for people who spent time in out-of-home care include 'homies', 'state wards' or 'wardies'.[2][4]
The majority of children in care were not orphans. Many had either one or both parents still living, or other living relatives. Children spent varying amounts of time in institutions and foster care and the majority entered care at a young age. Many spent their entire childhood and youth in an orphanage or children's home.[5]
The Australian Senate used the figure of half-a-million when reporting on its 2003–04 'Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care'.[6]The Senate's 2004 report on the inquiry began by saying that 'Upwards of, and possibly more than 500,000 Australians experienced care ... during the last century'.[1][7] The 500,000 includes 450,000-plus Australian-born, non-indigenous children, 30,000–50,000 Indigenous children from the Stolen Generations, and 7,000 Former Child Migrantsfrom Britain, Ireland and Malta.[8]
