First Peoples
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Why the caged bird sings: issues with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
In 2013, the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Inc) (‘ALSWA’) received funding from the Federal Government to support the activities of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (‘RCIIRCSA’). Since its inception, ALSWA has been a strong advocate for recognition of, and reparation for, the various state practices of forced removal of Aboriginal children into institutional care, which took place until the 1970s and came to be known as the Stolen Generations. Given the state policies in relation to the Stolen Generations, and the continued disproportionate number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care, it is a logical inference that Aboriginal people are disproportionately affected by institutional child sexual abuse. However, for a number of reasons, which will be discussed in this article, ALSWA is concerned that the extent of institutional child sexual abuse against Aboriginal children will be under-reported to the Commission.
